Pointe-Claire city council voted in favour Tuesday night of reimposing a construction freeze at the Fairview shopping centre.
The Interim Control Bylaw (ICB) means a proposed real estate project submitted by Cadillac Fairview cannot be approved.
“We’re not anti-development. I just want a development that fits the community. I don’t want a development that everybody is going to lament for 50 years. I want a development that everybody’s happy about,” Tim Thomas, Pointe-Claire Mayor, told Global News.
The mayor argues more time is needed to consult with the residents before any project goes forward.
“It means that eventually there will be development and it will be development that fits the desires of the citizenry,” he said.
One of the councillors who voted in favour of the ICB agrees.
“We have to review the project, we have to discuss with them, we have to do what’s appropriate for the citizens,” Eric Stork, Pointe-Claire city councillor, told Global News.
But the freeze is drawing a strong rebuke from Cadillac Fairview, the owner of the land and the shopping mall.
The real estate company had proposed a new project with hundreds of new housing units, a senior’s residence and an open area for the public. The development was slated to be built on 900 parking spaces near the future REM train station where no housing exists.
“It does put the property and the development of the site very much in jeopardy for the future,” Brian Salpeter, Senior V.P. Development, Cadillac Fairview, told Global News.
READ MORE: Pointe-Claire residents share views on Cadillac Fairview parking lot development at town hall
On April 19, council had voted in favour of removing Cadillac Fairview from the construction freeze, two months after initially imposing a freeze on almost all residential and commercial development in the city. The property owner filed a lawsuit in February against the city.
“We’re going to have to look at all our options and continue to assert and protect our rights, including, regrettably, our lawsuit which is underway thanks to the city,” Salpeter said.
The land is owned by Cadillac Fairview and is zoned for mixed residential and commercial use.
A conservation group looking to protect a nearby forest supports the decision by council to impose the construction freeze.
“The freeze allows for public consultations to take place, they allow for the community to be involved.” Geneviève Lussier, a spokesperson for Save the Fairview Forest, told Global News.
The mayor says traffic studies and public consultations need to be held but no date has been given when that will begin.