Pierrefonds farm land set for sale

One of the last pieces of land zoned as agricultural in the West Island could be up for sale as soon as the provincial government's agricultural territory commission approves a zoning change, according to City of Montreal public documents. "In the (Pierrefonds-West) area, agriculture hasn't really been practised for years," said Henri Primeao, acting spokesperson for André Lauzon, who owns the vertical 19.87 hectare strip of land near the Rivière des Prairies on Gouin Boulevard.

Lauzon, who has not practised agriculture on the land for years, is in negotiations with contractors to sell it, Primeao explained.

The vast, snow-covered land with a barn standing in the middle is to be a part of Montreal's future urban zoning plan, according to Pierrefonds/Roxboro spokesperson Johanne Paladini. "It's all part of the zoning plan," she said.

However, very little is known about the plan so far. "It would be a little premature to say what's going to happen with this land," said Stéphane Quesnel, an urban planner at the Pierrefonds/Roxboro borough.

Quesnel said the land in question was zoned as agricultural in 1990, back when Lauzon used to actively grow crops. "The land could either be developed residentially, or conserved, or be a part of the eventual L'Anse à L'Orme woods," Paladini said.

She added there are about 11 more landowners in the Pierrefonds-West area who are currently negotiating with different developers to sell their properties.

Last fall, Montreal announced a partnership with Ducks Unlimited Canada, a hunting and conservation group, to save around 180 hectares of land from development in Pierrefonds.

The Green Coalition, a local environmental lobby group, said it would carefully observe news on the urban plan. "We're going to be strategically looking at what our position will be," said spokesperson David Fletcher, a Roxboro resident.

However, he added the coalition is strictly opposed to development on the lands in question. Last fall, the group had welcomed the Montreal/Ducks Unlimited partnership announcement. "This is a good move," Fletcher had said back then. "We feel that (Ducks Unlimited) is a valuable partner in the conservation network."