200 Bouchard

This is the longest underground segment of the Bouchard Creek with potential for daylighting. The main watercourse of Bouchard Creek flows for 500m across this property entirely through underground conduits, underneath grassy landscaping and paved parking. This single municipal lot is owned by H&R REIT, with an office building currently rented by Bell Canada.

Daylighting this segment of the Bouchard Creek is a high priority for the FRB in its roadmap to protect, restore and preserve the Bouchard Creek ecosystem. “Daylighting” is the inspirational term for restoration of an originally open-air watercourse which was diverted below ground, and can then be turned back into an above-ground watercourse. The rationale behind returning a now hidden urban creek to a more natural state is to manage runoff and flooding, create habitat for native plants and animals and improve water quality through natural filtration.

For 200 Bouchard in particular:

  • Improve water quality with exposure to sunlight, natural aeration and rainwater
  • Bring back native species of plants, frogs, turtles, birds, butterflies, insects and fish along the entire length of the creek
  • Increase accessible recreation for the citizens and visitors of Dorval
  • Support research and education by students at the College Ste-Anne schools and Montreal’s four universities
  • Build and promote proven solutions and templates for the restoration of urbanized bodies of water across Canada

To protect the Bouchard Creek on this property requires a dedicated conservation land (riparian zone) 60m wide over the length of the creek (approx. 3 ha). This width is required to:

  • Allow natural flow with flood resistant variability and aeration features
  • Green spaces and embankments to provide stability, resilience, natural filtering and habitats
  • Multi use path to provide public access

To ensure protection of the creek in perpetuity, this 3 ha of land should be surveyed and created as a separate lot # in the cadastre de Quebec, and placed under a land conservation trust. This can provide significant tax advantages for the current owner and the subsequent conservation trust. Alternatively, if the current owner insists on retaining ownership in entirety, this portion could be placed under a conservation servitude to provide some protection and reduced tax savings.

Quebec cadastral number 01 524 200

532.32
78414 m**2 = <8h or <20 acres

Contract reference date: 2018-07-01
Land value: $ 15,682,800
Building value: $61,357,200
Building value: INR $ 77,040,000

Commercial 3.1118 /100 More than $2,000,000 = $2.4M
INR Industrial 3.3812/100 More than $3,000,000 = $2.6M

Category and class of building for purposes of applying tax rates: Non-residential class 10
Year of construction: 1966
Frontal measurement: 219.84 m
Lot number: 1524200
Matricule number: 8733-07-8992-3-000-0000
Predominant use: Office building
Neighborhood unit number: 61
File number: 6 – F00430000

McGill University Recommendations on Daylighting 200 Bouchard

Bouchard Creek is bordered by urban areas, airport operations, and numerous buildings and parking lots. One method for restoring Bouchard Creek to a state more similar to its historical appearance is a process known as daylighting. This entails uncovering and re-routing sections of the creek that have been diverted into drains and straightened so that it becomes more open and meandering. When this process is well designed and executed, it is possible to increase the stormwater absorption capacity of the creek, thereby reducing peak flows during storms and bolstering the flood resiliency of the surrounding areas. Slowing the flow of stormwater also helps remove pollutants by allowing them to settle or by filtering them through plants and sediments (http://nrcsolutions.org/). Daylighting is beneficial to both human and aquatic life. The process is economically and ecologically efficient: ecologically, it allows the stream to return to a less disturbed state. From an economic perspective, daylighting can also improve property values and businesses around the creek by turning into a more aesthetically pleasing space.