The City of Mont-Tremblant would like to provide an update on the Lago Project to clarify some information on this matter. Lago is a tourist accommodation project located on Lac Tremblant and work on the project began in 2020 with the demolition of the Cuttle Hotel (Hôtel du lac).
Subdivision and construction permits were issued in accordance with by-laws in effect at the time. A private lawsuit was filed between the developer and certain neighbours demanding that they be granted easement on the site of the future tourist accommodations. The scope of the easement was confirmed by court ruling, halting the construction of a driveway into the project’s underground parking lot.
The developer then submitted a request to amend the construction permit to add a vehicle elevator to provide access to the underground garage.
Interim Control By-law
Following consultations on development issues held by the City in the summer of 2021, the Laurentians RCM passed an interim control resolution (ICR) at the City’s request on September 21, 2021, which applies to the region of Mont-Tremblant. The ICR delayed issuing of the elevator permit until December 20, 2021, to coincide with the ICR expiry date.
At the municipal board meeting on December 20, three omnibus regulations on town planning were passed in order to launch the by-law revision process, which impacts several priority action items raised during the consultations. The new provisions include one where the City now enforces more stringent noise-pollution standards for vehicle elevators. This was the City's response to concerns raised by local residents regarding the potential noise from these types of elevators.
Since the ICR had expired and the construction permit had been completed and complied with the existing by-law, the Town Planning Department had to issue the permit, and did so on December 21, 2021. The lack of an applicable Site Planning and Architectural Integration Program (SPAIP) or request for a minor exemption for this project, the Municipal Council was unable to exercise any discretionary power.
When a request complies with town planning by-laws, like in this case, the Town Planning Department must enforce the by-law and issue the permit requested. Municipal councils may not and must not intervene in this administrative process - this is the exclusive jurisdiction of civil servants. As such, the permit issuing process is not subject to any public consultation. If the City had implemented such a process, this approach would have been useless and ineffective since the permit had to be issued if it was compliant.
SPAIP
Consultations were held from December 20, 2021 to January 19, 2022 regarding the omnibus by-law revision in connection with these development issues. At the same time, the City began amending its by-law on SPAIPs on January 17, 2022 and passed a new draft by-law. In light of the consultations and position papers received regarding the omnibus bill, the City opted to govern certain aspects using the SPAIP by-law instead of the omnibus bill. Consequently, provisions should have been included in the SPAIP by-law, forcing the suspension of the consultation process until the new draft by-law was passed today, which will be subject to consultation.
The City would like to clarify that there is no connection between the hiatus in the consultation process on the SPAIP by-law and the Lago Project. Let’s not forget that the vehicle elevator permit was issued on December 21, 2021, whereas the draft by-law was passed 27 days later on January 17, 2022. Regardless of the content of the final by-law, it could not have impacted the issuing of the permit for the Lago vehicle elevator.
Summary
- The lawsuit on access to Lago is a private matter that does not involve the City.
- The Town Planning Department was obliged to issue a permit for a vehicle elevator, in keeping with the by-law in effect.
- The Municipal Council had no discretionary power to intervene in the administrative process.
- There is no case in which a public consultation can be held in connection with the issuing of a permit.
- There is no connection between the issuing of the Lago permit and the process surrounding the new SPAIP by-law, since the latter began 27 days after the permit was issued.
The City of Mont-Tremblant invites all parties involved in this private lawsuit to discuss the matter in an attempt to find a middle ground that can satisfy all parties and Lago Project neighbours.
The Town Planning Department and Municipal Council will continue their work revising the town planning by-laws, including the SPAIP by-law, in order to better manage development projects in the region. This process will lay the foundation to begin the 2022-2023 revised town planning, while the Laurentians RCM development plan is also being revised.