DEMOLITION APPLICATIONS COMMITTEE – MINUTES – 213th meeting held on March 26, 2024 at 4:36 p.m.

Demolition of a commercial building – 350, boulevard Saint-Joseph – Parc-de-la-Montagne-Saint-Raymond electoral district – Marc Bureau

Questions, answers, and comments were formulated, concerning among other things:

• An opposition letter to the demolition was received;
• It is not desirable to demolish a building that is in good condition and usable;
• There is a desire to add a condition to the demolition approval, namely that the demolition be carried out according to the principles of sustainable deconstruction and that reusable materials be recovered as much as possible. It was answered that any condition must be linked to the evaluation criteria for the request set out in Article 22 of the Règlement visant à régir la démolition d’immeubles sur le territoire de la Ville de Gatineau;
• The efforts deployed to revitalize boulevard Saint-Joseph are recognized;
• The building has no recognized heritage value;
• The restoration costs for the building were not presented, since it is still viable;
• The reuse program for the cleared land proposes, eventually, the construction of 2,500 housing units. Phase 1 proposes the construction of a 10-storey building comprising 345 housing units;
• Housing needs are significant;
• The owner has committed to assisting in the relocation of the tenant.

R-CDD-2024-02-27/17

CONSIDERING THAT a request to demolish an occupied, one-storey commercial building has been made for the property located at 350, boulevard Saint-Joseph; CONSIDERING THAT the building to be demolished is an integral part of the property located at 320-350, boulevard Saint-Joseph, which also consists of the Galeries de Hull shopping centre; CONSIDERING THAT demolition work is also planned for the northern part of the Galeries de Hull shopping centre; however, this work, involving less than 50% of the building's volume, does not require authorization from the Demolition Committee; CONSIDERING THAT the existing main building, constructed in 2008, has no recognized heritage value and is not identified in the document "Ville de Gatineau – Inventaire du patrimoine bâti – 2008"; CONSIDERING THAT no complaint file regarding the deterioration of the neighborhood's quality of life concerning the building to be demolished is active; CONSIDERING THAT the preliminary reuse program for the cleared land provides for the subdivision of the 320-350, boulevard Saint-Joseph site into two lots, the first of which will receive a new 10-storey building, featuring a commercial ground floor and upper floors housing approximately 345 units, and that this same program provides for the reconstruction of the northern facade of the Galeries de Hull shopping centre bearing the address 320, boulevard Saint-Joseph; CONSIDERING THAT the construction project constituting the proposed reuse program must be approved by the council under the Règlement relatif aux plans d’implantation et d’intégration architecturale numéro 505-2005 and will require the granting by the council of minor variances to the Règlement de zonage numéro 532-2020; CONSIDERING THAT the Demolition Committee may set the conditions necessary for the issuance of a demolition certificate; CONSIDERING THAT before rendering its decision, the Committee took into account all evaluation criteria listed in Article 22 of Règlement numéro 900-2021; CONSIDERING THAT before rendering its decision, the Committee took into account the oppositions received following the publication of the public notice of demolition on March 13, 2024; CONSIDERING THAT one member registers their dissent to the project; CONSIDERING THAT this Committee is convinced of the appropriateness of the complete demolition of the building given the public interest and the interest of the parties;

AND RESOLVED THAT this Committee approves, under the Règlement visant à régir la démolition d'immeubles sur le territoire de la Ville de Gatineau numéro 900-2021, the demolition of an isolated one-storey commercial building located at 350, boulevard Saint-Joseph, conditionally upon:

• The authorization of the preliminary reuse program for the cleared land by the council under the Règlement relatif aux plans d’implantation et d’intégration architecturale numéro 505-2005 and the granting by the council of the minor variances to Règlement de zonage 532-2020 required for the project;
• The simultaneous issuance of the building permit for the replacement project approved by the municipal council and the certificate of authorization for the demolition work.

ADOPTED BY MAJORITY