Hampstead and Mont Royal residents vote for change – Montreal | The Canadian News

Development issues have been a central theme in several neighborhoods in the Montreal area.

That debate may have been the deciding factor in two municipal elections on the island, where new mayors were elected for the city of Mont Royal (TMR) and Hampstead.

Businessman Peter Malouf was elected mayor of TMR, defeating his rival Michelle Setlakwe.

Malouf participated in a campaign to drive change. Mayoral candidate Philippe Roy had been in office since 2010.

“I’ve heard from so many different residents with different needs and different concerns that haven’t really been heard for the last 12 years,” he told Global News.

Two themes dominated TRM’s street conversations during the campaign.

One plan calls for further densification around the Rockland Mall with more apartment and condo buildings. There is also the Royalmount commercial project which calls for the addition of a residential component in an area zoned for commercial and industrial use.

Malouf argues that both projects would cause nightmares of traffic and congestion in the garden city.

“The beauty of our city is an oasis surrounded by a concrete jungle in Montreal,” he said.

It’s something residents like Jean Moutran say they value.

“When you live in TMR you want to live in a quiet and peaceful place,” he emphasized.

In Hampstead, another garden city, issues of development and densification also took center stage.

Newcomer to politics Jeremy Levi defeated four-term mayor William Steingberg, garnering 55 percent of the vote. Levi believes he won because the incumbent was pushing for 10-story apartment buildings on Côte-Saint-Luc Road.

“I’m pretty sure that’s what basically decided the election,” he said.

Levi has scrapped any plans for 10-story apartments on the street. Steninberg’s plan would have meant demolishing existing apartments for moderate-income people.

With Levi’s victory, some tenants say they feel their voices will now be heard.

“It is a moral duty for a city to have some affordable housing,” said Patrick Demers, tenant of Côte-Saint-Luc Road.

Voters in both towns are now waiting to see how these new administrations decide to go ahead with the urban projects in question.