From March 17 to 31 of this year, the Sud-Ouest borough held a public written consultation on a specific project to build a residential tower at 1712–1810 Des Bassins St., on the site of the former Lucky Luc horse stables along the Lachine Canal in Griffintown. In its comments, Les Amis highlighted the concerted efforts made by the Sud-Ouest borough and the proponent to propose a residential project that would protect the last unobstructed views of Mount Royal from the Lachine Canal. We also shared our concerns about how the planned project would be incorporated into the existing urban fabric while preserving the district’s character and heritage value.

The project called for a number of regulatory exemptions, one of which involved increasing the permissible height of the building from 25 metres to 60. Les Amis de la montagne warned that building more and more towers in this heritage district would create an irreversible precedent. We therefore recommended reducing the allowable height of new buildings while taking care to preserve the views in question. An ever-increasing number of high-rises will help create a visual barrier that will jeopardize Mount Royal’s role as one of the most iconic features of the Montreal landscape.

After receiving a large number of comments that put many of the project’s aspects into question, the Sud-Ouest borough elicited opinions from the community. On April 12, 2022, the borough announced that it was abandoning the project as presented. We will remain vigilant to ensure that the new proposal honours the borough’s commitment to protect the iconic views of Mount Royal from the Lachine Canal.

This exercise highlighted the fact that the Sud-Ouest borough must immediately tighten its regulations to protect the views towards and from Mount Royal throughout its territory.

View the comments filed by Les Amis de la montagne to find out more about our recommendations.