In 2003, a citizen bought a land which the City was selling for unpaid taxes. He later realized that this land had numerous zoning restrictions as well as public utility easements on it. For more than ten years, he tried to find ways which would allow him to develop this land, but to no avail. He finally asked for our intervention.
From the start, we informed the citizen that we would not question the sale of this land, ten+ years before: our Bylaw provides that we cannot investigate situations that have been known to plaintiffs, for more than one year. We focused, therefore, on the search of solutions and on obtaining clear answers to the plaintiff’s questions.
Our investigation confirmed the facts reported by the plaintiff. The many regulatory restrictions and constraints linked to easements encumbering this lot do prevent any development project.
Following our discussions, the City accepted to buy back the land for the 2003 price of purchase, plus interests and certain fees. We found this to be a reasonable approach.
The citizen, however, is not satisfied with this offer. He responded with counter-offers which we find unreasonable. In light of this situation, we put an end to our intervention. Discussions would still be under way between the citizen and Ville de Montréal.
