Sinkhole opens up in Chinatown
A sinkhole opened up in Chinatown at Viger and St-Laurent, blamed on an adjoining condo development. St-Laurent was closed between Viger and La Gauchetière and power was cut to several major buildings, including the Palais de justice and city hall. Not clear whether this has resolved as of Monday morning.
Meezly 10:17 on 2019-04-08 Permalink
I think that massive blight on the landscape is Serenity Condos, a luxury condo project that got approved by the city suspiciously quickly without any consultation with the Chinatown community.
According to the Chinatown Working Group: Serenity Condos (www.serenitycondo.com) was given its permit 4 days before Christmas 2018, with no consultations for the Chinatown community. By January, there were cranes in the sky, and there are plans for subsequent phases of the project. When completed, the very entrance to Chinatown will be flanked by these condos and accompanying Hilton hotel, dwarfing the Chinatown gates.
Montreal’s Chinatown is undergoing some intense developmental pressures that could fundamentally alter its character. Currently, there are little to no heritage protections for Chinatown, and no cohesive municipal strategy for how development should proceed. This is after decades of decimation and expropriation which have drastically reduced the size of Chinatown, from the construction of the Complexe Guy-Favreau and the Palais des congrès, to the expansion of René-Lévesque and the creation of the Ville-Marie.
The CWG recently had a meeting with city councillor Robert Beaudry to voice their concerns, but I think this petition will still help in adding support to their cause: http://tiny.cc/savechinatownmtl
fliflipoune 15:42 on 2019-04-08 Permalink
On vit dans un état de droit. Il n’y a rien de suspicieux derrière la construction de cet édifice. Il est passé au CCU et dans le conseil d’arrondissement, comme le dit la loi. Le CCU a influencé le projet dans la mesure du possible, en donnant un avis défavorable à une version devant être franchement laide, et a donné un avis favorable à une révision. C’est un cheminement normal. Il y a de grosses limites à ce que la ville peut faire pour refuser un projet quand il répond aux exigences du règlement d’urbanisme.
D’ailleurs, ce projet est connu et public plusieurs mois avant la délivrance du permis.
Ce qu’il faudrait, c’est un PPU contemporain pour le Quartier Chinois, si on veut vraiment orienter son développement. Mais dans les règles actuelles, on ne peut pas bloquer un projet de manière arbitraire.
Martin 19:37 on 2019-04-08 Permalink
Also, heritage preservation is stretching it when the project is actually build on a vacant lot or a surface parking lot. It’s a plus, not a problem.
Kate 21:13 on 2019-04-08 Permalink
I still think it’s a question of scale. Those new buildings will loom – and will they have commercial space on the ground floor? Nothing’s more deadly to a commercial district than filling it up with purely residential buildings.