By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
A special meeting was held Aug. 29, at 4:30 p.m., preceding the usual Lennoxville borough council gathering, explaining drafts of new Sherbrooke-wide bylaws that would allow for the building of extra dwellings on properties that qualify. The Record attended both and recorded the proceedings, which included question periods allowing citizens to voice their concerns. Councillor Claude Charron was contacted Aug. 31 to give a synopsis of the salient features of the new bylaws.
The new bylaws
The bylaws essentially allow for the building of a second familial dwelling, on properties that qualify, which are still all subject to the existing bylaws, none of which have been amended. All the big cities do this eventually, Charron explained. He emphasized that many restrictions are attached to the new bylaws, including rules about distances between lots, the height of neighbouring lots, the kind of “vegetation” that is involved, and more. Each new dwelling proposal will be assessed on its own merits according to a wide variety of criteria.
“The citizens will have a chance to influence us,” he continued, but it must be remembered that our local government represents the citizens in general, so the decisions will be balanced by every interested party’s wants and needs.
Questions on the new bylaws
One citizen asked, as the owner of a plot of land with two familial residences, if the new proposed bylaws would affect him. It would not affect him, he was told, since the drafted bylaws pertain only to those with unifamilial, isolated homes. The bylaws apply to those who wish to build a complementary household.
