Municipal easement in bloom: Châteauguay couple loses in municipal court

Judge Beauchamp rendered a verdict in favor of the City of Châteauguay, which challenged the municipal easement that a couple living on Prince Street had flowered. Although Kevin McElreavy is bitter, and has paid the fine, he hasn't changed his mind.

Translation Amanda Bennett

He and his partner, Kathryn Doré, had been ticketed in 2023 for contravening a municipal by-law. The couple decided to contest the fine.

Hearings were held in April, and Judge Véronique Beauchamp handed down her verdict on June 19. According to the judge, a flower is by definition a subset of grass," said the Châteauguay resident. So any non-wooded vegetation exceeding 30 cm is in breach of the by-law."

At the time of publication, Le Soleil had not been able to consult the judgment.

Before the judge, the citizen presented a case that had arisen in Chelsea in 2001. The situation had then bounced back to the Superior Court, where the judge indicated that the municipality's by-law was imprecise. The citizen won her case. The Châteauguay couple did not.

Pilot project

McElreavy also identified several municipal examples, such as Pointe-Claire, which modified its bylaw. "It's all about differentiated management of mowing areas," he noted. My strip of vegetation easily retains five times more water than grass. A zero-cost solution to flooding."

The citizen also mentioned the pilot project, adopted by Châteauguay, concerning the differentiated management of municipal green spaces. This consists of ecological landscaping that doesn't require watering, fertilization, pesticides or weeding. It's a bit of light at the end of the tunnel," the citizen admitted. A pilot project for doing exactly what we do."

More flowers

Despite the decision, the couple will continue its ecological endeavour. The easement is even better flowered," said McElreavy. Every year, the plants are more stabilized. So there's a lot of biodiversity. We're staying the course because we're convinced we're doing the right thing."

Superior Court?

On July 17, the Châteauguay couple announced that they had paid the fine. With court costs, the bill comes to around $430. The deadline for taking the case to Superior Court is in two days' time. We haven't made our final decision yet, but I don't think we'll go there," said the father of six. There are other cards to change the bylaw."

The Prince Street resident intends to continue making representations in order, he hopes, to gradually change mentalities and encourage environmentally-friendly practices.

Some progress

Despite this lost confrontation with his municipality over the flowered easement, Mr. McElreavy acknowledges that Châteauguay is taking an environmental turn.

"There's been the hiring of an environmental consultant, the establishment of a micro-forest in which schoolchildren have been involved, and the park where pollinators have been installed," he remarked. These are great things, great initiatives."