Flooding and development

I want to make clear that I don’t share the Mayor and Administration's official position stated at the July 7th Pointe-Claire Council meeting and posted today as a "misconception to be debunked" on a City storm water information page, that there is no relationship between Pointe-Claire's condo development and increased flooding.

Greenspaces and wetlands absorb rainwater, buildings and concrete do not. The main condo project in my district, Greenwich, was built on a wetland and involved cutting down some 150 trees. The condo projects immediately to the northwest of my district on Hymus West, were built over a low-lying open field. Since these natural absorption sites were built over, the residents of Greenwich and neighbouring Alston have experienced several floods (9 since 2022 in the case of one townhouse block), not just during the major storms in 2024, 2025 and 2026. The failure of the stormwater systems approved by the City for new condo projects, such as the drainage ditch between Alston and the Greenwich townhouses, to adequately prevent flooding (even before June 20^th, the ditch was half full of water and not properly draining into city storm sewers), also leads me to question the effectiveness of the City’s stormwater management regulations and requirements for new construction.

The relationship between flooding in my district and new condo developments is not a "myth." I cannot adhere to the City's official position on this issue, since it is at odds with the reality experienced by my constituents. Acknowledging that reality is the first step towards resolving it, and structuring future development more appropriately.