Ste. Anne residents decry construction project

Residents of Euclide Lavigne in Ste. Anne de Bellevue are weary of a construction project on St. Marie Street, right down a hill from their homes, after watching trees torn down while German tile giant Schluter Systems Inc. builds what it calls an environmentally friendly training centre there.

"We were told that (the area) was going to be green and nothing was going to be built," said resident Nanci Di Paolo during an impassioned speech to city council Monday night at its meeting.

"It was disconcerting to see the Schluter building go up," she said, but added her larger concern, as well as that of other residents, is the eventual construction of other industrial buildings on the remaining swaths of empty land.

"(Real estate promoter) Broccolini owns all the land and they have signs ploughed all over the place for sale," she said.

Ste. Anne Mayor Bill Tierney maintained a 'wait and see' attitude would be the best way to deal with any eventual problems. "We'll have to wait and see for the (Schluter) building to be finished," he said, stating he does not know what the final lay-out will be like.

As for the possibility of other building plans in the area, Tierney said council had not seen anything yet. "The sort of things you're worried about are not going to be acceptable (to council)," he added.

He also reminded the small crowd of residents attending the meeting that Ste. Anne was, in the end, a town close to the highway and to a university campus. "You thought you were moving to St. Lazare, you weren't," he said.

Di Paolo, however, maintained she was not told by her real estate agent that the land she and her husband purchased their property on to build their home was zoned industrial. "We were misled," she told council.

Other residents of the street interviewed by The Chronicle today also seemed surprised by the construction.

"We knew that (the land) was semi-industrial," said Christine Zaccardelli, whose home directly overlooks the Schluter construction site.

"We didn't think the construction was going to be this long," she said, adding she watched as a wall of trees was cut down on the hill, exposing the view from her yard directly to the construction.

"My bedrooms are on this side of the house," gestured Zaccardelli on her porch, pointing to the wall closest to the hill. She hopes to see Schluter replant some of the trees it had to cut down during construction. "Or else I'm going to have to do it," she said.

"I wasn't told (that it was zoned semi-industrial)," said Karina Patricio, who also resides on Euclide Lavigne. "I'm not affected all," she said, since her home is rather far from the construction site.

Meanwhile, Schluter Systems prides itself on its commitment to the environment.

"Thoug we don't have any specific plans, we have hired a landscape architect," said the company's Canadian-branch marketing manager, Irene Plank, adding the company would definitely be replanting trees. "I don't have numbers for you right now," she said, since construction is not yet finished.

She also reminded that the building meets strict environmental standards, pointing to its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold standard awarded by a non-profit organization called the U.S. Green Building Council.



"I understand their concern," Plank said of the residents, adding the building is a training centre for the company's seminars, and should therefore not make too much noise. "They could have gotten a lot worse," she said.

Tierney agreed, pointing out his council rejected some proposals for the site by Broccolini, including a furniture factory.

With the site right across from the Ecomuseum, an ecological reserve and park, questions were also raised at the council meeting on whether it was consulted. "Did anyone ask the Ecomuseum what they thought of this?" Asked resident Paola Hawa.

However, the park's director of communications, Victoria De Martigny, said nothing had gone wrong so far. "They're good corporate citizens, as far as we've been able to tell," she said.

Schluter let the park take advantage of its parking lot earlier this year, she said.

This morning, signs could be seen near the Ecomuseum's parking lot asking Schluter construction trucks not to enter.

De Martigny said Schluter themselves got in touch with the park and asked permission to put up the signs, in order to ensure it was undisturbed by the coming and going of construction trucks.

At the council meeting, Di Paolo suggested the city could repurchase some of the land around Schluter from Broccolini, or plant a new wall of trees.

"We'll take a look at these suggestions," Tierney said.

He also promised any plans for new buildings in the area would be discussed at public council meetings.