A Zoning Amendment For Environmental Protection May Result In Disguised Expropriation

The adoption of a municipal zoning by-law that changes a property's zoning to "conservation" may result in disguised expropriation and force the municipality to compensate the landowner, according to a Quebec Court of Appeal ruling recently upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada's dismissal of the application for leave to appeal.

The case pitted the City of Mascouche, on the North Shore of Montreal, against the owner of a wooded lot estimated at more than $4 million in value. The owner had acquired it in 1976 for the sum of one dollar ($1), as an investment. In 2006, the City adopted a zoning by-law which zoned the land "conservation", prohibiting all construction and limiting the permitted uses to silviculture, maple syrup production and certain recreational uses.