Community Update No. 1
Dear Perkins-sur-le-Lac neighbours,
This message is to follow up on the series of emails that circulated over the holiday season with regards to land owned by Lauzon in the area around the lakes of Perkins-sur-le-Lac.
There were three major issues raised through those emails: 1) safety concerns related to Lauzon land leased to hunters; 2) worry about land development around our lakes , and 3) a desire to see more passive recreational trails and land conservation.
Since late December, a seven-person volunteer working group has been meeting in order to clarify issues and research possible approaches and options to address these issues. Below are some of the results of this work.
Lauzon Land around Perkins-sur-le-Lac
Lauzon has at least nine significantly sized properties totalling over 2800 acres. All of these properties are listed for sale on Lalièvre Développement Immobilier as seven development properties. None of these proposals have been approved by the municipality as of yet, but we understand that some lots which are on municipal roads are likely to be approved. See map and links, Annex A. We would like to thank our Municipal Councillor, Claude Bergeron, for being very helpful in updating our group on the status of the land proposals.
Municipality of Val-des-Monts regulations and goals with regards to recreation and conservation
While further discussions are required with the Municipality of Val-des-Monts, it is our understanding that municipal regulations stipulate that 10% of land (or the equivalent compensation) must be donated to the municipality for recreational use for the approval of any land development. Additionally, although it is not currently reflected in regulation, the municipality has a vision for the protection of natural environments in the area. Below are some key links.
Meeting with Association PSLL
Our working group had a very productive and informative meeting with the Executive of Association PSLL in early February in which we shared concerns raised in previous emails. The Association has agreed to facilitate communication with member property owners on our initiative as appropriate. The Association also wishes to be kept abreast of development plans and will continue to communicate with the municipality and our Councillor on approvals and associated regulations. The Association has agreed that additional work and research is required on our part, and would like to be updated on our progress.
Conservation options
There are several approaches to conservation which the committee is still exploring, keeping in mind available resources, the nature of the region (i.e., low-density population; largely 2nd homes), and the sustainability of any approach taken. Ideally, a structure would be established that could be built upon by any group wishing to secure land in the PSLL region for conservation purposes.
One excellent nearby example is Action Chelsea for Respect of the Environment (ACRE). In support of its ecological mission, ACRE works with community members and governments of all levels. ACRE is a registered non-profit in Quebec and is also a charity and a land trust. Additionally, it is registered to work with the Environmental Gift Program.
Each of these elements enables ACRE to meet similar goals to those which have been discussed for the Perkins-sur-le-lac region, for eg:
Advocacy and ability to represent the community could help plan for appropriate recreational use of the 10% of land donated by developers in our area;
Charitable status could enable people to receive tax receipts for funds donated for the purchase of specific tracts of land;
Land Trusts are an appropriate legal construct to manage land which is collectively owned (either through donation or purchase), helping to establish land use agreements and manage tax and liability; and
Participation in the Environmental Gift Program provides a framework for managing the land as a conservation area, in perpetuity, and enables companies like Lauzon to donate land without paying capital gains and makes them eligible to receive a tax receipt for the value of the land.
Hunting
While we do not have the terms of the specific leases between hunters and Lauzon, the basic terms for leasing Lauzon land are listed here. Our group plans to:
Explore ways that residents in the area can be more consistently informed of the rights of hunters, seasons, etc. in order to enhance community safety;
Explore ways of creating a more cooperative model with hunters going forward;
Establish whether residents may be given the opportunity again to lease Lauzon land in the area for their own use;
Encourage smart development of lands in order to create a larger buffer zone between homeowners and hunters.
Next Steps
We will continue to share information with our Municipal Councillor, Claude Bergeron (cc'd here) in order to solicit his views on the best approaches to take vis-a-vis our interactions with the municipality and we will continue to communicate with Association PSLL as we research and gain new information.
We will be meeting with ACRE to learn more about land trusts and explore whether there may be an opportunity to work together.
We would like to invite anyone on this list to join our working group. We would, in particular, like to increase representation from as many lakes as possible in the Perkins-sur-le-lac area. We could also use expertise in legal issues, accounting, ecological issues, and trail maintenance in our group.
On a final note, it is our intention to work as collaboratively as possible with all parties involved – Association PSLL, Municipality of Val-des-Monts, Lauzon and hunters. We believe that by working together everyone can benefit from our community vision, and that working in this manner will create as strong a foundation as possible for our conservation efforts long into the future.
Thank you again for your interest and please feel free to reach out to us at conservation.perkins.sur.le.lac@gmail.com should you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Conservation Perkins-sur-le-Lac
Annex A
