WATCH ABOVE: Dorval residents are concerned about possible plans to turn the Queen of Angels Academy soccer field and baseball diamond into condos. Rachel Lau has details.
DORVAL, Que. – “We feel that this is being shoved down our throats against our will,” said Eva Acs, as she sits in the living room of her Tremont Avenue home in Dorval.
It’s a battle angry residents have been fighting ever since Queen of Angels Academy announced it would sell off some of its land last summer.
The soccer field and baseball diamond are slated to be turned into condos.
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Eva and John Acs worry the project will destroy the peace they moved to the suburban city of Dorval for 15 years ago.
“We see our money going down the drain plus our quality of life as well,” said Eva.
The plan includes four, six and ten-storey buildings on Bouchard Boulevard, as well as rows of semi-detached townhouses on the Tremont side.
“On the other side they rezoned and the people are having problem parking,” said Joseph Guglielmi, another resident on the street.
“What we’re saying is this will probably carry over and probably open up on the street at the end.”
Residents met Monday night with city council and Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau to voice their concerns, but said their worries fell on deaf ears.
“We all felt that he’s not on our side,” said Eva. “He’s on their side.”
“That was the general consensus,” agreed John.
“Everybody brought this up. The mayor should be our representative but he’s much more a representative of the builders.”
Nevertheless, the mayor insists he is taking his residents’ worries to heart.
“The citizens on Tremont and Martin don’t want to be facing their backyards with a big building, which won’t happen,” Rouleau told Global News.
“It’s not the case.”
Guglielmi presented his petition against the project.
It was signed by every homeowner on Tremont Avenue.
READ MORE: Queen of Angels Academy forced to close
“When you come to this end of the world on the property line, please build the same type of homes that there are here,” he said.
“The same sort of value as well and same sort of community atmosphere, which we don’t think the developer will do.”
The land has not been sold yet but city officials said that the developer wants to start construction as early as this spring.
The city has already started the rezoning process.
“It’s taking an empty space that Queen of Angels Academy wanted to sell, and for us, it’s an opportunity for us to ‘densify’ the plan de demenagement,” said Rouleau.
The city’s attitude about selling this part of the campus has residents concerned over what will happen to the rest of the land once Queen of Angels closes its doors for good in June.
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