Arrondissement de Rosemont−La Petite-Patrie
Five condominium associations dispute the refusal by the Borough to provide municipal waste collection service in their newly developed area.
The Borough draws on an Agreement reached with the project developer stipulating that the latter would set up reserved and accessible indoor storage areas in order to facilitate the mechanized collection of waste and recyclable material. The Borough alleges that by virtue of this Agreement, the developer was to install compactors: this would necessarily imply relying on private waste collection firms, since the City is not equipped to collect waste from compactors.
However, the plans submitted to and approved by the Borough did not mention waste compactors. The Borough adds that, as part of the conditions to approve these plans, it had required a Letter of engagement from the developer confirming that he would arrange for private waste collection service for each building included in the project.
Following the analysis of relevant documents and applicable regulation, the OdM provides the Borough with various reasons explaining why its refusal to offer this service is unjustified in this case. Among others:
The agreement with the developer addressed the issue of setting up garbage storage areas, and not the collection service.
The plans that were approved by the Borough did not include waste compactors: in fact, such compactors have not been installed.
There is no concluding evidence in the Règlement sur les services de collecte that these condominiums are not entitled to this municipal service: rather, the regulation suggests otherwise.
The Letter of engagement is not enforceable against third parties or legal entities that did not exist at the time (such as the Syndicate of co-owners). If the developer did not respect his undertaking, the Borough could potentially file a claim against him, but the letter cannot justify denying a service that is usually provided to all citizens.
The Borough ends up reviewing its position and agrees to introduce waste collection service in the targeted area, to the condo owners’ delight.
