This article written in french by Stéphane St-Amour was automatically translated using AI
Aldo Coviello Jr., who filed a $66 million lawsuit against the City of Laval in 2014, is once again entangled with the municipal administration.
President of Aldo Construction and Construction Lafleur, Mr. Coviello has received no fewer than five fines totaling $15,000 over the past four weeks for work carried out without a permit, with the most recent fine dated April 8.
Le Chomedey Project
The construction site in question is tied to the Le Chomedey housing project, located at the corner of Chomedey Boulevard and des Châteaux Street, which was estimated to be worth $300 million in 2021.
“The City of Laval has been involved in this matter since last November and is actively monitoring the construction site,” explained Philippe Déry, Head of Public Affairs, in an email exchange. He stated that “the City’s measures will escalate as long as violations of municipal regulations continue to be observed.”
Despite the developer’s persistence in continuing the work, no request for a provisional interlocutory injunction had been filed as of April 11. The City noted that “this option may be reconsidered depending on the developer’s conduct and the criteria applicable to such a legal measure.”
Two Formal Notices
The developer, Construction Lafleur, was first served a formal notice on November 7, 2024, to cease piling work, which had led to an initial fine of $2,500 issued 48 hours earlier.
The worksite was then shut down on November 8 and resumed legally on December 4 following the issuance of a certificate by the Urban Planning Department, authorizing site preparation and piling work for the installation of Berlin walls.
A second formal notice was served to the developer on March 13, along with a second fine—this time for commencing construction work without any permit.
In response to the developer’s refusal to comply, the City followed up with a series of four additional fines issued consecutively on March 18 and 25, and April 1 and 8.
Mr. Coviello did not respond to our request for an interview.
Twenty Years Ago…
This story is reminiscent of a 12-building condominium project constructed between 2004 and 2007 in the Auteuil neighborhood, for which building permits had still not been issued as of 2015.
This was revealed at the time by an investigation conducted by the Laval Ombudsman, who recommended that the newly elected Demers administration promptly regularize the situation, which was causing legal trouble for co-owners and scaring off potential buyers.
Aldo Construction was the developer behind this controversial housing project.
At the time this case of extreme laxity—stemming from former mayor Gilles Vaillancourt’s administration—came to light, Construction Lafleur and Aldo Construction were suing the City of Laval for disguised expropriation following a zoning change that effectively shut down their condo tower project on the site of the Commodore marina in the Pont-Viau district.
It was as part of an out-of-court settlement reached in 2020 that the City transferred ownership of the properties located at 1555 and 1535 Chomedey Boulevard to Construction Lafleur and Aldo Construction. These buildings were home to the Maison du commerce—demolished on September 5, 2024—and the Multicultural Library, which closed its doors on March 9 of this year.
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