MacKay-Wright House

Zoning change on Aylmer Road?

Zoning changes are foreseen at 1210 Aylmer Road for the very luxurious MacKay-Wright House, built in 1857. Referred to as an historical monument, the stone house has been on the market for a few years with no buyer in sight, which worries the Ward Councillor Richard Bégin.

“We know that an unoccupied or unused heritage building may deteriorate or even ‘disappear’ as time goes by,” said Mr Bégin, who is also President of the Fédération Histoire Québec, since 2005.

This property has a direct link to Philemon Wright’s second son, Ruggles Wright and his own son William MacKay Wright. Ruggles, a West Quebec lumber baron, built this huge house on Aylmer Road in the mid-19th century. William, who became federal Pontiac MP, inherited the house.

Today, the property is owned by Frank Bentivoglio, a businessman well-known on both sides of the river. According to Mr Bégin, the zoning changes would increase the chances of preserving the heritage home, which is located along the Heritage Corridor.

“We had to find a solution, and this is what this proposition offers since it brings back, in the new zone, certain commercial uses that existed before 2011. In 2011, the City eliminated various commercial zones on its territory according to a new commercial hierarchy that, as we can observe more and more, poses problems in many areas.”

As specified in a document presented by the Comité consultative d’urbanisme (CCU), “the request does not create a residential increase. It rather favours the present residential allocation, and aims to diversify the commercial options to recreational activities in that sector.”

Mr Bégin explains that in order not to spread the commercial uses requested (restaurant, personal and professional services, etc.) to a larger zone, it was “appropriate to create a zone that included the 1210 Aylmer Road lot and the adjacent (west side) vacant lot to limit the commercial allocation to a short segment along Aylmer Road and to respect the nature of the single use residential buildings east of the lot referred to.” That portion of the Aylmer Road has residential zoning.

Future projects on that lot will nonetheless need to respect the standards that are now in effect for 1210 Aylmer Road. For example, any construction must be at least 30 metres from Aylmer Road; because of the Heritage Corridor, a building cannot have more than four storeys and the maximum built environment ratio is set at 0.2.
(Transl: CB)