City can’t stop Oratory development
Published on June 11, 2011
Published on June 11, 2011
Elisabeth Faure
Residents post video showing recently cleared wooded lot
A group of Westmount residents is upset that St. Joseph’s Oratory is cutting down trees behind the church to make room for property development, and wants the City of Westmount to do something about it.
Topics :
Westmount
“Everywhere we turn, we get the same answers,” stated the group Citoyens Westmount in an email to the Examiner. “(We get told) ‘There is nothing we can do .... The Oratory sold the land and the City gave the permits.’”
The group argues that the area, long a sanctuary for birds and other wildlife, is a valuable green space. In a video titled “Greed or Power” posted on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmX4iGpANMw), the group shows before-and-after scenes of a once-lush forested area, now barren land.
The group says Westmount can and should intervene in the matter, arguing that in the past the City intervened to protect land adjacent to this plot following pressure from local residents.
Not so, counters city councillor Patrick Martin, who represents District 1, where the lot in question is located. Martin says he is distraught by the tree-cutting, but says there is nothing the City can do in this case.
“The Oratory has owned a large number of building lots in Westmount for decades,” says Martin, adding that the church has always paid taxes on the land in anticipation of one day selling the lots for housing to support the Oratory's maintenance.
“They have every right to build houses on (the lots),” he says.
Martin also points out that all of this information is a matter of public record, and it was reported in local papers when the Oratory decided to put the lots up for sale roughly three years ago.
Furthermore, Martin contends the City of Westmount has never intervened in the sale or purchase of the Oratory’s building lots, or with construction plans.
“In one case that I know of on Lexington, neighbouring residents then bought an adjacent lot in order to integrate it with their own,” says Martin. The residents opted to keep the lot mostly forested.
Martin says to his knowledge no other groups of residents have come forward with similar purchase offers, with the result that some land was purchased by a developer. He says the Oratory has agreed to leave 14 of its lots undeveloped to create a buffer zone between the church and residents. The City supports this via a 25-year deal, swapping land protection for tax concessions.
Nevertheless, Martin maintains the loss of green space is “lamentable.” Quoting Joni Mitchell, he sums up the situation by saying, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”