A developer wants to replace Pointe-Claire forest with massive mixed-use complex. Not everyone is on board

While a deep-pocketed, Toronto-based company is touting its plan to construct a "vibrant mixed-use city centre" that will attractthousands of new residents toPointe-Claire, plans still have to pass through city council.

And so far, the red carpet has yet to be rolled out,as the massive complex will require clearcutting roughly 16 hectaresjust west of Fairview Mall.

"The scope of it is too big," said Pointe-Claire resident Genevive Lussier.

She's not against condo developments, she said, but the forest is important to her and to the community.

She isalready planning to fight the project, alongside a group of residentswho want to preserve the forest.

"It's a wind barrier. It's a sound barrier. It's mitigating a heat-island effect in an amazing way. There is only concrete, there is only asphalt all around it. There is no other forest in the area," Lussier said.

Urban densification is important for the environment, she said, but that doesn't mean forests are unimportant.

"And I think that the value of the forest totally outweighs the value of asphalt and concrete," she said.

Mayor John Belvederesays he knows only what has been published in the media, as the company has yet to present any detailed plans to the city.

While hesaid the project looks promising,it would have to be done properly to gain approval.

The council would have to first "make sure that the green spaces are protected that the quality of life for the people would be good," he said.

Company promises sustainable development

If all falls within the city's urban planning vision, the developmentcould eventually be approved, but the mayor wouldn't commit to giving the project the green light by next year.

That's when Cadillac Fairview plans to put shovels in the ground and begin building adowntown-like project that would includea seniors' residence and retail spacesmixed withoffice and residential towers.

There will be a boutique hotel and parks, all centred around the incoming light-rail train station and bus terminus. The project would considerably increase the city's current population of about 31,000 residents.

Jeroen Henrich,vice-president of development for Cadillac Fairview's eastern portfolio, says sustainable development is at the core of aproject he described asan extension of the Fairview Mall a shopping centre that hiscompany built in 1965.

"And the approach we're talking about is really an extension of a vision that we've been developing for some time, which includes densifying and adding new uses to the existing centre," he told CBC."We'll start on the existing shopping centre line and we'll continue onto the vacant land next door."

The project would begin with a few hundred units and eventually 4,000 or 5,000 in total,he said, with the REM station playing a key role in attracting new residents of all ages.

The company, which says it has been working with the city since 2013, plans to preserve some three hectaresof marshlandand forestto create park spaces with trails and "pedestrian friendly streetscapes."

Henrichsaid those pedestrian areas will"really accentuate a beautiful part of the West Island."

Protected wetlands in the way

Yet the project will have more than justresidents to convince of the plan's viability.

There are protected wetlands in the areaand the developer will need permission from the province to build, the mayor said.

Belvedere said the project could be "very advantageous for the city" and, while it could draw thousands of new residents, it's not going to happen overnight.

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In the coming decade, the needs of the community will develop with the two new REM stations.

The mayorsaid, given the fact that project is next to a transportation hub, people won't have to rely on their cars to get around and it may not have a substantial impact on roads.

"What it will meanis it will be a living environment, a working environment and somewhere to play, around public transit," Belvedere said.

"So it would be a lifestyle that would be very interesting to people who want to come to Pointe-Claire and stay in Pointe-Claire."