Quebec village snubs plan to build 54-storey tower in nearby forest
Pekuliari Tower would be out of scale with area, says mayor of Namur, Que.
A small western Quebec municipality has rejected a proposal to build a 54-storey luxury condo tower in the middle of a dense, remote forest.
Town council in Namur, Que., recently turned down the plan by Montreal-based developer Yul Créations Inc. to erect a totem pole-styled tower called "Pekuliari" after deciding it was out of scale with the surrounding area.
"There was a petition with about 125 names, people from Namur who pay taxes, residents and non-residents," said Mayor Gilbert Dardel in a French-language interview with Radio-Canada.
"They [told us] they did not want to have the tower. That was taken into consideration, too."
The town of roughly 600 people is located 110 kilometres northeast of downtown Ottawa, roughly halfway between the nation's capital and Montreal, and not far from the ski resort town of Mont-Tremblant, Que.
Late last year, Dardel told CBC Radio's As It Happens the tower would contain about 40 condo units, each of which would sell for between $8 million and 12 million, as well as a hotel and a restaurant.
Zoning request denied
The municipality did not have the capacity to provide Pekuliari's residents with water and sewer infrastructure, Dardel said, although the developer had promised it would be "self-sufficient."
Namur also only has one school, Dardel noted, and the nearest hospital was more than 50 kilometres away.
In late September, municipal council turned down the developer's request to alter the zoning so construction could begin on the tower.
Yul Créations president Karim Zaghbani Cloutier told Radio-Canada in a French-language statement he accepted the municipality's decision with "great humility and wisdom."
Zaghbani Cloutier said they were analyzing the decision and still hope to build the tower, either in Namur or elsewhere.
With files from Radio-Canada's Frédéric Pepin