COVER: Making the grade?
Merchants, residents and elected officials assess Projet Montréal’s first year running the Plateau borough
Nov. 1 marked the first anniversary of Montreal’s last municipal election—and one year since Projet Montréal swept the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council.
The third-ranked party campaigned on issues like public transit, environmental sustainability and participatory democracy. So far, the party has proven they can make headlines. For its champions, Projet Montréal is a breath of fresh air blowing from the left, free of corruption and determined to make the Plateau a sustainable and happy living place for its residents. To its critics, Projet Montréal’s Plateau team are rogue bike-huggers, prone to announcing policy without consultation and bent on making the Plateau better for young condo-owning families at the expense of artists, merchants and car drivers.
Running the Plateau isn’t easy. It’s one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods on the continent, with a reputation as a factory for artists, musicians and a vibrant nightlife that attracts thousands of visitors every night from all over the city. It’s also a financial mess, with a $2-million budget deficit left over from the previous administration that needs to be sorted out. November is report-card season, so what better time to take a look back at Projet Montréal’s performance in the Plateau? The Mirror contacted a number of merchants, residents and elected Projet Montréal officials to pick their brains on PM’s progress.
PAVED GREEN: Laurier Park, now car-free
Photo by RACHEL GRANOFSKY
GREEN STREETS
Projet Montréal followed through on its election promise to “calm” traffic within the borough by making certain streets one-way. Other measures included closing a stretch of St-Dominique by Parc Lahaie, where the borough painted the pavement bright green to indicate a future grass area. Mile-End city councillor Alex Norris says residents loved the green street and a summer farmer’s market that set up there. Projet also painted a parking lot in front of a community building in Laurier Park. This famously displeased a group of seniors who were no longer able to park near the entrance of the building, where their weekly bridge game is held. The hue and cry that followed was loud and sustained.
Plateau mayor Luc Ferrandez admits he did not anticipate a backlash to his plan. He says subsequent dialogue occurred with the seniors, and tensions are resolved.
“It’s not true!” fumes Hany Chehata, who directs the weekly bridge game at the centre. He says members were never consulted about the street closure, and Ferrandez has not followed through on an early promise to help them find parking solutions. He says the problem led members to stop coming, and to the cancellation of a weekly dance class. Chehata is “not at all” impressed with Ferrandez. “He’s acting like a dictator … he seems to be living on his own planet,” he says. He says seniors still coming to the centre fear crossing the icy lot come winter. Ferrandez defends the green pavement scheme. “This is why I won the election,” he says. The latter point may be debatable, but the green street is here to stay—until it gets replaced by grass in the spring. The borough is planning other street closures. Projet attaché Daniel Sanger says they are examining a stretch of Henri-Julien by the train tracks, but declined to make any further statement.
Comments: You can’t please all of the people all of the time. Green space is good, and they’re sticking to a campaign promise that got them elected. But is green paint silly?
Grade: A -
CATCH THE DRIFT? Snowy Mont-Royal and St-Laurent
SNOW JOB
As a cost-cutting measure, the borough made the decision to stop snow removal in non-essential areas on weekends, leaving some car-owners scrambling to find parking. Critics complained the announcement took them by surprise.
“Because of that, people were parking sideways, at an angle, and you couldn’t even pass in half the streets,” claims l’ Esplanade resident Peggy Gonzales. Ferrandez admits the move wasn’t part of his election platform, but maintains it was necessary. Sanger says it saved the borough $150,000 a week, and Norris adds they made sure to remove snow in front of essential buildings like hospitals and schools. However, Gonzales says the school bus was unable to visit her street some days, causing problems for parents.
Comments: Tough times call for tough measures, but cutting back on snow removal in the depths of winter is going to infuriate snowed-in car drivers.
Grade: B -
MONEY SPOT: Still sort of cheap parking on Parc and Labadie
Photo by RACHEL GRANOFSKY
PARKING HEADACHES
Facing a need for cash, Projet Montréal announced last month that they would be hiking parking meter rates by a dollar an hour, to $3 across the board, and installing 600 new meters on residential streets as of Jan. 1. Claiming the changes would bring in between $5- and $6-million a year, they promised 30 per cent of meter money would go towards beautifying commercial areas to help businesses compensate for lost revenue. But all three Plateau merchant associations (St-Denis, Mont-Royal and St-Laurent) say they are already struggling to survive in a rough economy and fear the new parking rules will drive customers to suburban mega-malls. They revolted, loudly, and anti-PM petitions and signs went up in stores across the borough.
The problem is, PM doesn’t have the authority to raise rates unilaterally. According to the Tremblay administration’s spokesperson Darren Becker, the nine boroughs in the old, pre-2001 mega-merged central city only have authority over residential street parking, and none over commercial thoroughfares. (The boroughs also have to give 50 per cent of revenues generated by residential parking meters back to the central city.) But the 10 former suburbs control both residential and commercial parking and so, “in the interests of equity,” says Becker, in late September, the city’s director of finances sent out a letter to the boroughs saying there was a plan to transfer control of commercial artery parking over to the boroughs—except the proposal was never approved by the city’s executive committee. Projet Montréal, seeing an opening to raise money, jumped on the proposal, only to learn this week that the plan was being reversed. Becker says PM reacted “prematurely” to the announcement.
On Monday, Nov. 22, Tremblay officially nixed the idea; Ferrandez called Tremblay’s decision “odious,” but he can’t fight it. Tremblay suggested on Monday that he isn’t necessarily opposed to such a hike, but said there needs to be a “consensus” on parking matters before changes are made. The merchants say they are satisfied, for now. Becker, meanwhile, says Ferrandez, Tremblay and the merchants’ associations will meet for talks “in the coming weeks.”
However, another Projet Montréal parking-related pilot project looks set to go ahead. In two designated areas, one near the École des métiers de la construction on de Lorimier above Masson and another in the McGill ghetto, “Parcojour” day passes will be available to drivers who want to park in residential, non-metered spaces (rates will vary according to where you want to park). Residents will be able to buy booklets of 15 Parcojour passes at a dollar each at the parking meter stations. More details are available on Projet Montréal’s website (projetmontreal.org).
Comments: This was a blunder, no doubt about it. There is more than enough blame to go around, but it would appear PM jumped the gun and alienated the merchants’ associations in the process. With luck and patience, the relationship might be repaired during the upcoming discussions. But at the very least, the proposed changes further lead to the impression that PM is anti-car.
Grade: C, due to the confusion and publicity fiasco, but with potential for improvement if Ferrandez can mend relations with the merchants and the Parcojour pilot project actually works
TINY TERRASSES
A new bylaw limits the amount of terrasse space for bars and restaurants on the Plateau. To make sidewalks more accessible, terrasses must now be 1.8 metres away from the exterior of the bar or restaurant in question, the same distance enacted by a 2008 pilot project on St-Laurent. Businesses can now expand their terraces onto the street by paying extra to Stationnement Montreal, the city’s parking authority. The borough says this was done to open sidewalks for pedestrians (especially ones with mobility issues).
According to Ferrandez, it was the Mont-Royal merchants’ association that pushed for a bylaw allowing their establishments to operate terrasses. Ferrandez extended the bylaw to the entire borough in the interest of fairness.
But the merchants now are complaining. Restaurant and bar owners have three big problems with the new bylaw. Francis Blouin, the executive director of the St-Laurent merchant’s association, argues the narrow terrasses lack ambiance, and complains diners share space with fire hydrants and other “city furniture.” Blouin says the system also poses a threat to restaurant staff, claiming waiters get hit while crossing from the restaurant to the terrasse by cyclists biking on the sidewalk illegally. Ferrandez denies this is a problem, and notes that similar terrasses exist in the downtown core.
And then there’s the cost. The borough’s aesthetic guidelines mean that the new terrasses have to look reasonably good, so on top of the $10,000 to be paid to take up two parking spots for the summer, they have to pay to build the terrasses in the first place—and open them in April and take them down in October, arguably weeks before and after the weather is consistently warm enough to eat and drink outside. Michel Depatie, the executive director of the Mont-Royal merchants’ association, says terrasse-owning establishments just broke even this year, although this may be due to the one-time cost of building the terrasse.
The new rules “might not please everybody, and maybe we are a bit wrong,” says Ferrandez. He admits that some people are unhappy with the change.
Comments: More terrasses are a good idea, and pedestrian safety is important, but it is unclear how truly dangerous the previous arrangement was. And again merchants are unhappy, particularly with the cost.
Grade: C+
QUIET, YOU KIDS! Potential noise fines on St-Laurent
Photo By RACHEL GRANOFSKY
LOUDER THAN A BOMB
Perhaps no change enacted by the borough has caused more controversy thanProject Noise. The new bylaw allows police to fine bars, clubs and restaurants up to $12,000 for noise complaints. Musicians and venue owners say the borough passed the bylaw without consulting them.
Ferrandez says noise reduction was part of his election platform. According to him, PM couldn’t consult musicians or venue owners about Project Noise because “prices of fines are fixed to create a commotion, to create a reaction on the part of the people who are subject to them.” Mission accomplished. The ensuing backlash was swift and fierce. Critics contended the law is too subjective (officers do not have to measure decibel levels before issuing a ticket), and jeopardizes the small venues that nourish the Plateau’s famous local music scene. Ferrandez says he’s targeting large, profitable venues that make a million dollars a year but won’t spend $40,000 to install soundproofing, not smaller venues.
In an effort to reach out to Plateau artists (and maybe do some damage control), PM has begun holding meetings with stakeholders to see how it can best support the local scene. New initiatives under discussion include measuring noise levels in bars and clubs and looking at ways the borough can subsidize venues that want to install soundproofing. “Right now, I have complete faith in their (the borough’s) willingness to solve the problem,” says Sébastien Croteau, executive director of l’Association des petits lieux d’art et de spectacles (APLAS), who has been participating in the talks. He acknowledges success will depend on actions, not words, from the borough, but laughs, “Right now, they are walking the walk and talking the talk, so it’s fine.”
Comments: The bylaw is vague, the fines are excessive and local artists should have been consulted. But subsequent efforts by PM members to ease tensions in the artistic community are promising. Norris says Project Noise is identical to the downtown Ville-Marie borough’s bylaw. But how relevant is a downtown policy to a neighbourhood like the Plateau?
Grade: C+ with potential for improvement
SIGNS OF THE TIMES
OPEN SKY: Soon to be banned billboard on Parc and Villeneuve
Photo by RACHEL GRANOFSKY
The borough has banned billboards, and given ad companies until November 2011 to remove existing ones, claiming they are eyesores and bring minimal revenue to the borough. Advertisers responded with a legal notice. Chris Karidogiannis says that while he understand Projet Montréal wants to be “different” and “aesthetically pleasing,” he’s not sure it’s fair to the businesses who advertise in the Plateau. “How many people are going to lose their jobs because there won’t be these billboards anymore?” he says. Others disagree, saying they like the idea of banning “corporate spam.” The borough is confident that they won’t face a problem getting rid of the billboards. Norris says provincial law is on their side, and gives municipalities the right to regulate signage—even to the extent of taking down old ones, as there are no acquired rights when it comes to signage. He says Projet Montréal isn’t backing down.
If advertising companies refuse to remove them? “We know exactly what we’re going to do,” says Norris, who would not divulge further details.
Comments: Why billboards are such a pressing problem that the borough needs to enact this law now, when there are arguably other, more important matters at hand, isn’t clear. It seems like nitpicking, but there haven’t been widespread complaints about this, oth er than from advertisers. This suggests the population is either quietly in favour of the decision or at least indifferent.
Grade: B
ONE DOWN, THREE TO GO
Whether you like them or not, Projet Montréal still has three more (unopposed) years to show what they can do in the Plateau.
If you like them, that’s great news. “I think they are doing fantastic!” says Arshad Kahn, who lives on Hutchison. “People have a different attitude, they’re more engaged in their neighbourhood, and I think that Projet Montréal has a lot to do with that.”
If you don’t like them, your options are limited. Critics say the party is inflexible and doesn’t consult enough. Until now, Projet Montréal decisions have often been made in consultation with a series of “citizen’s advisory committees,” which study problems like traffic and noise. The borough says the committees are staffed by volunteer “experts,” although most committee members serve at the invitation of the borough, and are invited because they are known to be active citizens concerned about certain issues. So, in order to get on the traffic committee, you don’t need to be an urban planner—you just need to be interested in traffic.
The borough is now holding Town Hall-style meetings to discuss new projects with citizens, which may let residents and merchants voice their complaints and at the same time hear what the politicians have to say.
“He needs to remember he works for us,” warns Dzaghgouni. “He was elected by us.”
Comments: Enthusiastic, driven, energetic. Must learn to play well with others.
Grade: Incomplete ■
