On January 21, Ritchot’s council voted unanimously to amend a zoning bylaw pertaining to secondary suites in some residential zones. For residents, this means that a public hearing can be avoided if the proposed secondary suite meets standard dimensions and distances from surrounding properties. In these cases, a permit is all that is required.
“This change shortens approval timelines, removes unnecessary steps, and gives homeowners more certainty,” says CAO Shane Ray. “It also supports more housing options by making it easier for families to live together longer and accommodate aging parents or adult children within existing neighbourhoods.”
Ray says this move is a direct response to the changing needs of families. It also provides an effective way to increase housing supply without affecting a neighbourhood’s character.
At the same meeting, council gave the green light to a development agreement with Joseph Sharobeem, completing the process by which a new 23-unit multifamily development can begin at 137 Ste. Agathe Street in Ste. Agathe.
Original approval for the development took place at council’s May 21, 2025 meeting. Three letters of objection had been received by council at that time. While the letters weren’t read for the public to hear, councillor Joel Lemoine addressed some of them anyway.
According to Lemoine, concerns had been raised regarding garbage and snow storage, fencing, lighting, and parking spillover onto the street.
Many of these were the same concerns shared at another council meeting in 2017, the first time this developer came to council for a conditional use permit on the property.
Still unhappy with the 2025 proposal, though, were the neighbours living immediately to the north of the proposed development. There was a discrepancy, they said, with the boundary lines and they asked council to verify them through a survey before providing approval to the developer.
They also asked for assurances that adequate drainage would be sought by the RM to rectify the issues they’ve had with backyard flooding over the years.
Council suggested that both concerns would be discussed at future planning sessions.
After a review of the development agreement put before them in 2026, councillor Lemoine feels content that concerns have been adequately addressed.
“Thumbs up to the developer,” Lemoine told council. “Seems they’ve been in discussions with the neighbours to the north and south.”
Finally, council heard from St. Adolphe resident Garth McDonald, who was seeking a front yard variation to allow an addition to his home at 699 Proteau Drive. He proposed to decrease the existing 30-foot front yard requirement to 14.6 feet for the purpose of adding onto the home’s primary bedroom.
“I feel the addition will bring a new look to the community and give others the option of future projects,” McDonald told council. “We love the neighbourhood and would rather make changes to our home than move to a new location.”
Neighbours, he said, were consulted and unopposed to the project, especially when considering that his only other alternative was to add height to the house.
Councillor Pelletier and Bodnarchuk raised concerns that the degree of the home extension could alter the surrounding neighbourhood and change the general aesthetic. Mayor Ewen agreed.
In the end, council voted in favour of reducing the front yard buffer from 30 feet to 20 feet.