The Municipality will proceed with a land exchange under an amicable settlement

Chelsea Municipal Council recently approved an out-of-court settlement to end litigation between 6622691 Canada Inc. and Chelsea residents. The agreement includes an exchange of land at the southeast end of the municipality.

The Municipality will receive land on which it can build a park, which is something the area needs. The land is located along the Voie Verte, which will encourage active transportation and promote regional connectivity. In return, the Municipality will cede a sloping plot of land that borders the City of Gatineau and is deemed unstable.

There will be numerous benefits of this settlement for taxpayers in addition to the future construction of the park:

• The settlement saves tens of thousands of dollars in legal costs that would have been incurred during proceedings.
• An adverse judgment could have cost the Municipality several million dollars, in addition to the internal team’s time.
• As part of the settlement, the developer commits to stabilizing land affected by erosion at its own expense.
• In the long term, stabilization of the land also ensures the safety of neighbouring homes since potential erosion is possible due to the area of mass movement at that location.

This sensible settlement takes a comprehensive approach to sustainable development that includes social, economic and environmental aspects. The developer, who plans to build about 40 homes, has committed to comply with the very strict regulations of the various levels of government in order to complete this project:

An environmental characterization study should be conducted to identify/delineate natural constraints, such as wetlands and bodies of water, the presence or absence of threatened or vulnerable species and their protection strips, where applicable;

• Certificates of approval must be obtained from the Municipality of Chelsea and the Ministry of the Environment, depending on the work proposed;
• Wetlands and bodies of water (streams) must be conserved;
• Additional regulatory provisions for the Chelsea Creek habitat connectivity corridor will need to be met (as per Zoning By-law No. 1215-22);
• A plan that identifies trees to be cut for the work, while also maintaining protection strips and minimum vegetation cover based on the area of the property, must be pre-approved (as per Zoning By-law No. 1215-22).

The Municipality will, of course, ensure that all the above conditions are met. The Municipality will also reach out to residents along the waterfront to provide more details about the work and mitigation measures that will be implemented.