Paul Desmarais Junior, the former chairman and CEO of Power Corporation, will ultimately be unable to build the residence and indoor tennis court he had hoped for on his vast private property in Stanstead township on the lakeshore. Memphremagog.
In a split 5-1 vote before Christmas, council members in the small Eastern Townships community rejected a request for a minor exemption made by the wealthy and influential resident over the summer.
The multimillion-dollar project included the construction of a house and indoor tennis court totaling 1,111 square meters and 120,000 square feet, respectively.
The land in the township of Stanstead was earmarked for the construction of a house and indoor tennis court. The presented project would have required the deforestation of 2,500 m2 of forest area, three times more than the approved volume. Google Earth
To achieve this, the businessman applied through a French engineering firm for permission to deviate from zoning regulations and exceed the permitted deforestation area by three times.
“In municipal jargon, we call this a minor exception. But in fact, depending on the project and our point of view, the requested exemption can be considered quite important,” Stanstead Canton Mayor Pierre Martineau told the Journal.
Contrary to the advice of the CCU
The value and details of the wealthy businessman's real estate ambitions for this property remain confidential, the township's planning department told us. No building permit was granted.
Paul Desmarais Jr.'s private estate in this sector covers a total area of 28.5 hectares on the shores of Lake Memphremagog. Google Earth
However, we understand that the implementation of the project required the clearing of a total area of 2,500 m2 (or 27,000 ft2) of forest, which is considered mature, much of which is a “natural landscape of higher interest”. However, municipal regulations limit deforestation on this land to 800 m2, three times less than the targeted 2500 m2.
Despite everything, members of the community's planning advisory committee (CCU) gave their conditional approval to the project in September. However, in an extremely rare case, after months of discussions behind closed doors and several postponements of decisions, the members of the local council overruled the CCU's recommendation and rejected the request for exemption from representatives of the Desmarais family.
Pierre Martineau, Mayor of Stanstead Canton. Stanstead Parish
A resolution passed 5-1 in December, forcing the former ruler to abandon his project or modify it to comply with current regulations in hopes of winning approval from the small community.
“Subsequent replanting of trees, as often suggested, can sometimes compensate for the loss. But when we talk about ancient forests populated with trees around 75 years old, that's different. It’s not easy to replace,” explains Mayor Martineau.
Virginia deer
In its resolution adopted in mid-December, the city council argues that the destruction of a “large part of the forest” combined with the establishment of a “strong human presence” has not made it possible to respect several objectives of its development plan. urban planning, including those to “ensure the preservation of forest cover” and “preserve sensitive or fragile environments.”
According to the community, the presented project is located in a wildlife refuge for white-tailed deer. Decency
In addition, it is emphasized that the entrepreneur's project is located not only in a “white-tailed deer containment area”, but also in a natural landscape zone that is considered “of higher interest” in the planning plan. Development of the MRC of Memphrémagog.
For these reasons, “the Council considers that the project does not meet the land use conditional criterion and that this implementation could therefore affect the quality of the environment or general well-being”.
– In collaboration with Francis Halin, Mathieu Boulay and Philippe Langlois, Bureau of Investigation
A few hectares of land
Paul Desmarais Junior owns a number of properties in the region, particularly in Magog, around the Memphrémagog Golf Club, and in the Canton de Stanstead area, particularly near the village of Georgeville.
The land on which Mr. Desmarais wanted to build this new residence with an indoor tennis court includes a huge wooded property located between Georgeville Road and the shores of Lake Memphremagog.
It alone occupies an area of 50,532 m2, of which 80% (39,756 m2) is registered as forestry. According to the most recent three-year assessment list, this property, which does not yet have any buildings on it, was assigned a value of $5,262,200.
Almost 1 km long
This property is adjacent to three other properties that Mr. Desmarais has acquired over the years on the shores of Lake Memphremagog. The three neighboring properties together cover an area almost five times larger, i.e. 235,207 m2, or 23.5 hectares (58 acres). This property, the size of which is the total area of 33 football fields, includes a number of buildings, including a swimming pool and an outdoor tennis court.
Paul Desmarais Jr.'s private estate in this sector covers a total area of 28.5 hectares on the shores of Lake Memphremagog. Google Earth
When placed side by side (see above), the four properties, ultimately forming a single large parcel of land measuring 285,739 m2 (28.5 hectares or 70 acres), extend for almost 1 kilometer (868.88 meters) along Georgeville Road (Route 247). . At the most recent three-year valuation list, they reached a combined value of $28.22 million.
– Martin Jolicour
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