An extraordinary Hudson town council meeting will be held Monday to discuss opportunities to save Sandy Beach from development.
It’s been a glum summer for many residents of Hudson and neighbouring communities.
Sandy Beach, a beloved oasis on the banks of the Ottawa River, has been off limits since May. So locals and visitors from Montreal alike have been forbidden from picnicking on the sand strip or bathing in Lake of Two Mountains amid the recent heat wave. Even arriving by kayak or paddle board is not permitted, punishable by steep fines.
The town has a legal right of way along the shoreline of Sandy Beach. However, the rest of the lush, surrounding woodlands is held in private hands. And after a long-running debate over whether parts of the environmentally sensitive site should be developed intensified over the past year, tolerance for public access to the full area ran out.
One day last spring, concrete barriers suddenly appeared to block the entrance to popular walking trails that meander through the woods from adjacent Jack Layton Park. Soon, the Town of Hudson itself put up signs warning residents to keep out.
But this sacrifice may not be in vain.
Although details remain scarce, it appears to be a major breakthrough in the bid to secure the future of a precious natural and community resource that has for too long been in limbo.
Adrian Burke has been following developments closely as part of the Save Sandy Beach Wetlands Protection Group and a board member at Nature Hudson. A cone of silence has surrounded the file since the barricades were put up in the spring.
“When we have been at council and asked questions, the answers have been quite vague,” he said. “Understandably that’s because the town feels like they need to negotiate in private, one on one with the owner and the developers and not involve other stakeholders like the public.”
So Burke said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that things are moving in the right direction.
“I’m not getting my hopes up too high,” he said, “but I am obviously happy that the town has had meetings with the owner/developer and I am obviously encouraged that there seems to be some interest on the part of the owner/developer to sell.”
Still, the devil is in the details. It’s unclear if there is a proposal to acquire all of the ecosystem, or whether a compromise has been reached to allow construction on some portion of the land.
The agenda includes motions ordering both a study on the land’s market value as well as a cost-benefit analysis of what additional tax revenue would be gained from the new households versus the price of extending municipal services, like sewer and water, to the zone.
Besides those matters, the potential cost of flooding should be factored in as climate change brings more extreme weather. So, too, should the priceless ecological services provided by the wetlands themselves. The natural buffer zone along the shoreline plays an increasingly important role in protecting Hudson.
“Our group, Nature Hudson and the Save Sandy Beach citizens’ group, have really only ever wanted one thing: and that’s to preserve the entirety of the wetland,” Burke said. “To build on wetlands is outrageous; to build on wetlands that have been flooded is ridiculous.”
But the million-dollar question is: How much could it cost for a small town of about 5,000 souls and limited financial means to buy the whole property? The price could be a sticking point for some Hudsonites, who fear a hike in their tax bill.
This is where those who have been pressing for the preservation of Sandy Beach hope to be of help, Burke said.
The grassroots group is exploring where funding is available from different levels of government, be it the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, the province or the feds. Many commitments were made to protect biodiversity at a major United Nations conference held in Montreal in 2023 and some money has been set aside for this purpose.
Other options could include turning to groups like the Nature Conservancy of Canada, creating a land trust, establishing a foundation or offering tax breaks in exchange for a land donation.
But Burke said citizens can only do so much on their own; the town must lead the way.
“We think we can come up with a lot of money through different sources. But again we can only do part of it because our understanding has been repeatedly that the town must be in charge, the town must be the leader, because it’s the town that has the legal mandate,” Burke said. “We realize that we can’t necessarily wait for the town, but we also have to be ready to act very quickly. ”
Sandy Beach has been the subject of a tug of war between developers and conservationists for decades.
Hudson was offered the chance to purchase the property for just under $250,000 decades ago. But after the council at the time declined, it was snapped up by private interests. Various proposals for housing projects have been put forward and approved over the years.
The most recent iteration involved a condo development with more than 200 units in exchange for public access to the beach and preservation of 70 per cent of the site.
But citizens rallied, arguing the delicate ecosystem should be preserved as a whole since it is part of the Vivery watershed and fragmentation could have trickle-down effects. The Save Sandy Beach group commissioned its own environmental assessment of the area, with a biologist finding 354 plant, animal and insect species — 29 of them threatened and at least one of which was believed to have gone extinct in Quebec.
A reprieve for Sandy Beach actually came when the Quebec environment ministry revoked a permit issued in 2014 allowing the backfill of wetlands. Under pressure from the public, the ministry decided the laws have evolved since the authorization was first given. The developer — joined by two others from elsewhere in greater Montreal who saw their permits similarly rescinded — sued. They won in first instance on the grounds the new regulations weren’t retroactive. But on appeal, a judge suggested new legal avenues to quash the permits. The case is still being appealed before the courts — an added wrinkle in a delicate situation.
In the meantime, new flood plain maps are also being drafted by the province that could make developing the site even more complex and controversial. These may be fresh motivations to consider selling the property.
The owners certainly deserve fair compensation. And acquiring it will no doubt cost significant money.
“We believe that it would be worth it. We believe that a few million dollars is worth it,” Burke said. “We think that it should be protected for everybody — everybody within the CMM. We don’t just think it’s for us, we think that is it something that’s used by people, especially in St-Lazare, Rigaud and Vaudreuil, but beyond that as well. We see people coming all the time, you see Communautos from Montreal.
“People love this place. It’s a gem,” he added. “We can’t believe that we can’t go there now.”
A summer of being deprived of Sandy Beach should help convince residents and councillors alike that Hudson can’t afford not to seize a golden opportunity.