From duplexes to density, residents say enough is enough

Tashi Farmilo

Residents in the Fraser, Cochrane and Foley sector of Aylmer are pushing back against a new multi-unit housing development that they say threatens the livability and character of their neighbourhood. A petition, spearheaded by Louis Lapalice and supported by more than 140 residents, is calling on the City of Gatineau to reverse recent zoning changes and pause further development approvals.

The initiative began after Lapalice, a resident of Aylmer for over 40 years, noticed construction underway for a new 12-unit housing project on Cochrane Road, near a large medical clinic just off Aylmer Road. He quickly realized that neither he nor his neighbours had been informed of any zoning changes that would allow such a dense development on what had long been a street of modest, low-density homes.

“This is a quiet family neighbourhood. What’s happening here is not just a few new houses. It’s a complete transformation,” Lapalice said in an interview. “And nobody was told. It was hidden in technical zoning grids online. You’d have to be a specialist or spend hours digging to understand what was happening.”

In an email exchange with Lapalice, Deschênes district councillor Caroline Murray acknowledged that the zoning changes stemmed from a 2021 “concordance” process, during which several zones were merged and the most permissive rules applied. She explained that the changes were posted on the city’s website but that elected officials had not been involved in approving the 12-unit project since it technically complied with the new regulations.

For Lapalice and other residents, that’s exactly the problem. “If nobody knows the rules are being changed, how can the public be expected to engage?” he asked. “Democracy doesn’t work if people are left out of the process.”

Bulletin Publisher Lily Ryan echoed these concerns, pointing to a broader breakdown in communication between Gatineau’s administration and its residents. “Gatineau City officials are dreaming by thinking that folks will spend time on websites looking up bylaw changes,” Ryan said. “Action Gatineau founder Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin understood the role of newspapers in democracy. He made sure residents had printed access to Public Notices, knowing how important the printed information is. But at the end of 2024, Gatineau reversed course and pulled all the public notices from newspapers.”

“I calculated this should save each household about six cents a year on their tax bill,” Ryan said. “This means the decision to bury this key information isn’t a financial one, but I am scratching my head as to why.” She described the Cochrane Road case as “a perfect example of a lack of transparency by Gatineau, which has been honoured for just the opposite.” She added, “Uploading bylaw changes to a website isn’t publishing a Public Notice. That’s filing it away.”

Ryan noted that while her newspaper now donates space and time to share these zoning changes, doing so cuts into the resources needed for deeper reporting. “That leaves no time or space for real journalism, which is researching the background of these bylaw changes, as well as their potential impacts on the community.”

In addition to transparency concerns, residents cite serious infrastructure limitations. The streets in question — Cochrane, Fraser, and Foley — are narrow and not equipped for high-density development. Only one side of Fraser Road has a sidewalk, and neither Cochrane nor Foley does. Parking is restricted to one side of Cochrane, and the area already struggles with spillover from the adjacent clinic.

“During the winter, it’s chaos,” Lapalice said. “Snow removal is hard enough. Add in more cars, more bins, more people, it’s too much for these streets.”

Murray said she had met with residents in person and raised some of their concerns with the city’s planning department, including the possibility of banning street parking on one side of Cochrane to prevent blocked waste bins and improve safety. She said she is waiting for further responses.

For Lapalice and his supporters, however, incremental mitigation isn’t enough. They are calling for the city to restore the previous zoning limit of two dwellings per lot, stop approving multi-unit buildings above that threshold, notify residents in writing about all future zoning proposals, upgrade infrastructure before authorizing further development, and conduct transparent, accessible consultations in local media.

“I’m doing this because I care about this place,” Lapalice said. “Aylmer has always been a place where families can settle, where neighbours know each other. We’re not against change; we’re against change that’s done in silence.”

Lapalice has since uploaded his petition online and hopes that it will reach more people in the community who agree with his position on zoning regulations in Aylmer. The petition is available online at: Change.org/8686868686