City overhauls Aylmer’s planning department

The biggest municipal reform since the city mergers of 2002 is just about over. According to Mayor Pedneaud-Jobin, the sector that will benefit most from the overhaul of the city’s planning department is Aylmer.

“In about 100 posts, 80 are changing tasks, offices, and bosses. Once done, the planning department will not be the same. This change is to answer things that took place in Aylmer in the past,” said Pedneaud-Jobin. “There’s been unrelenting growth in Aylmer, many historic properties, and important commercial needs. Our reform is partly an answer to all this.”

 

Many residents have been critical of Aylmer’s planning department, following several controversial projects. Besides the infamous 79 Fraser Road mansion, there’s the “tower” at 42 Cochrane Street, the saga at 99 Symmes Street, and now buzz about a proposal for 22 rue Principale.

 

“In the past, large real-estate developers and a simple resident, who wanted merely to change a shed, dealt with the same person. Now the resident will have his own counter; the merchant will have his own counter, and the large developer will have his own counter, too,” the mayor detailed. The city will train their inspectors to handle different scenarios at once.

Additionally, once staff settle into their new offices, the city will begin modernizing and digitizing the planning system.