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After angering neighbours and municipal officials with his attempts to build a house on the Gatineau River near Wakefield, Senator Raymond Lavigne has paid for an engineering report that could force municipalities along the river to allow more waterfront development.
The report, which Quebec government officials said would have cost the province $100,000 to conduct, says construction should be allowed on Mr. Lavigne’s lot and other properties on the river because they are not in the 25-year floodplain where development is banned.
According to the Quebec land registry, Mr. Lavigne paid $19,000 for the one-acre lot on June 2, 2004—a good price for Gatineau River waterfront. Real estate agents in 2005 estimated the value of riverfront property that can be developed at $95,000 to $100,000 an acre.
Critics of the study say there will be more housing development and possible water pollution along the river if regional council approves the changes the study suggests. They say average La Peche residents wouldn’t have the money to pay for such a study, or know where to hire an engineering consultant.
The Quebec ministry of environment has told the MRC des Collines regional government and La Peche, which includes Wakefield, that the Montreal senator’s report is better than its own floodplain studies completed during the 1970s.
Michel Belanger, planning director for the MRC des Collines, said the municipality will check the calculations and could change the floodplain boundaries by January 2007 to allow more development on both sides of the river between Low and Chelsea.
La Peche Councillor Yves Doyon said he and his colleagues were surprised by Mr. Lavigne’s study because people in La Peche don’t usually hire private consultants to argue for changes in provincial floodplain regulations. Mr. Doyon added it might be time to change the floodplain boundaries, because there has been no flooding in Wakefield since 1974.
La Peche Mayor Robert Bussiere said yesterday he had never heard of a private citizen hiring an engineering consultant to justify a change in regulations for one house. Mr. Bussiere said the provincial government must approve the study—which he said probably cost about $50,000—before regional officials can change the floodplain.
Mr. Lavigne did not respond to repeated requests to explain how a private study could influence changes in development controls along the river.
La Peche planner Marcel Marchildon said Mr. Lavigne’s study proves that there are probably some errors in current floodplain regulations. On Nov. 6, La Peche council accepted an agreement with Mr. Lavigne that requires him to restore a 10- by 15-metre section of the riverbank he excavated for a boat ramp near Wakefield Heights Road.
Neighbours and members of the conservation group, Friends of the Gatineau River, were concerned by a possible deal that could allow Mr. Lavigne to obtain a building permit.
Alain Piche, president of the Friends of the Gatineau River, said he has never heard of a private citizen paying for an engineering study that could convince a municipality to change its regulations.
However, the practice isn’t all that rare in some jurisdictions. In 2005, Ottawa Councillor Diane Deans said many of the studies that come through City Hall are paid for by people with an interest in the issue.
She cited developers who come to planning committee with traffic or noise studies showing their proposals won’t cause problems. She said as long as those conducting the studies are professionals, the results aren’t questioned.
Councillor Clive Doucet objected, however. “It’s like putting the fox in charge of the chickens,” he said at the time. “Consultants have to live, and they have to live by basically delivering, in some nuanced way, what their clients want.”
Wakefield Heights resident Margaret Odell said the attempt to change floodplain regulations is infuriating, because it could lead to development that would affect the river’s health.
Ms. Odell’s husband, Bruce Taylor, said it is a mystery how a private citizen and an engineering consultant can convince the province and the municipality to redraw the Gatineau River floodplain.
The controversy about Mr. Lavigne’s property began in 2004 when, contrary to environmental regulations, the senator cut into the riverbank and drilled a well, even though such construction is not allowed because the land is designated as part of the floodplain.
The municipality of La Peche wanted Mr. Lavigne to restore the riverbank to its original condition, while the senator launched legal action against the municipality to force it to give him a building permit.
The senator’s neighbour, Neil Faulkner, accused him of cutting trees on his property without permission during the summer of 2004.
“Wakefield flooded in 1974,” Mr. Faulkner said. “If the municipality changes the floodplain regulations in Wakefield, is that going to keep the flood waters back?”
La Peche served the senator with three stop-work orders for work done on the property, including cutting into the riverbank to make a boat ramp, dumping fill and drilling a well in a floodplain.
Daniel Cote, one of Mr. Lavigne’s employees, said he had Hydro-Quebec’s permission to clear the trees on Mr. Faulkner’s land to make way for powerlines.
The senator was removed from the Liberal party caucus in June after allegations surfaced that he had been using office staff to do personal work for him and using his office budget to pay for his personal travel expenses.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2006