To the great dismay of some neighbors, the oil company Shell is building a new gas station on land in Laval that until recently was partly cultivated by a farmer.
Published at 1:44 am. Updated at 5:00 am.
The company is located in front of another gas station on the border between an agricultural area and a residential area in the Saint-François district.
“We have been fighting to stop this project for four years,” said Stéphane Beaulac, who has lived in the area for 47 years. “In 2023 it makes no sense, we are moving towards electricity. »
Shell did not call La Presse back.
The location of the future rest area – the centerpiece of a rest area project that will also include restaurants – is on Boulevard Marcel-Villeneuve, at the intersection of Rue de l’Harmonie.
The property itself is not designated as a “green zone”, but is surrounded by agricultural land on three sides – the fourth side borders Boulevard Marcel-Villeneuve. Until last summer, the farmer who grew them also sowed and harvested on part of the land, following an agreement with a previous owner. “Corn, soybeans, hay,” explains Mathieu Forget from Ferme Forget.
“It’s always been that way,” continued the farmer, who “doesn’t want to comment too much on the merits of the project.” “At least this way he didn’t have to wait. We cultivated, it was beautiful, it was clean. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
The site of the future gas station is not itself a “green zone”.
“It has always been cultivated”
But these corn plants could never be harvested this year: they were cut down to make way for the gas station construction site.
“Of course we are close to agricultural land, but it has always been commercial land,” emphasized Vicky Gélinas of GD Leadimmobilienr, the company that owns the land.
Since it was not used, the farmer encroached on our land, but it was never agricultural land.
Vicky Gélinas, from DG Lead Immobilienr
In fact, the land was not “always” zoned for commercial use. Until 2019, it could accommodate industrial users, but the developer sought and received a zoning change to commercial uses. On June 20 of that year, 278 citizens would have had to sign a register to force a referendum on the zoning change. There were 208 of them, including Stéphane Beaulac.
“I’ve been here for 47 years and it’s always been cultivated, it’s always been agricultural. When we heard that this project was planned, we did not understand why,” he said, adding that commercial space was still available south of Boulevard Marcel-Villeneuve in areas that had already been developed. There is also a Couche-Tard station directly opposite, on the south side of the arterial road.
Impossible today
Claude Larochelle, leader of the opposition in the Laval municipal council, believes that the fate of the country was sealed on June 20, 2019.
From the beginning there was opposition to this project among the citizens of Saint-François, especially because this gas station was located in the agricultural network of Laval.
Claude Larochelle, leader of the opposition in the Laval municipal council
The Laval administration of then-mayor Marc Demers “refused” to install the signature register near the affected district and instead placed it in Laval City Hall, 21 kilometers away, lamented Mr. Larochelle. “If the register had been accessible to citizens, there would certainly be no gas station construction today,” he said. I am convinced. »
The office of Laval mayor Stéphane Boyer assures that such a project would be impossible today.
“The commercial project on Avenue Marcel-Villeneuve was approved under the old building regulations,” his office said in a written statement. “Our administration has since passed a more restrictive urban planning law in November 2022 to ensure that new projects are more coherent and sustainable. Laval now has one of the most innovative regulations in Quebec. »
This regulation significantly limits the locations made available to oil companies. “New gas stations are limited to highway on-ramps to protect the aesthetics of our neighborhoods and adapt to evolving urban mobility,” Mayor Boyer’s office said.