A large area of agricultural land in Ville Laval is endangered by the Projet Trudel Studios project, which aims to build a movie studio on it. Despite little consultation with the population, most of whom were opposed to the project, and a recommendation from Laval’s urban planning department, the project went ahead anyway. With the support of the Legacy Fund, the Coalition Mobilisations Citoyennes Environnementales de Laval (CMCEL) is seeking to protect this agricultural land.
On January 7, 2025 the City of Laval announced that the contract of sale of a large plot of land slated for development as a cinematography studio in Laval has been annulled due to the failure of the buyer to purchase the land within the time period established by the contract of sale. The City of Laval confirmed that the studio project would not go forward.
The citizens’ group opposing the project noted that in 2022, the city of Laval breached its legal obligation to hold a referendum with their citizens before changing the zoning to mixed industrial/residential.
This change in zoning allowed the City to approve the Trudel studio.The Special urban planning programs (PPU) was changed in 2023 and no longer require a referendum in such circumstances. The City indicated that it hoped that some other development would occur on the land.
Jonathan Tremblay, the spokesperson for CMCEL noted that its challenge to the legality of the zoning change is still ongoing. While the land in question had been used for agriculture from 2002 to 2022, it was never zoned as agricultural.
The fight is not over – It seems that the City wants to persist in preserving the new industrial zoning and continue the litigation according to the Courrier Laval.
Read the media coverage:
Trudel Studios: le projet est mort et enterré, confirme le promoteur Courrier Laval
C’est la fin pour le projet de «Cité du cinéma» à Laval – Le Devoir
Projet Trudel Studios à Laval: la vente du terrain annulée, annonce la Ville – Journal de Montréal
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