Randwood development debate draws a crowd
Six-storey hotel proposal in Niagara-on-the-Lake leads to SORE group
A citizens group called SORE — Save Our Randwood Estate — packed Niagara-on-the-Lake council chambers and spilled into the lobby Monday night to hear discussion on the proposed development of the historic property on John Street.
The size of the crowd prompted councillors to move a report from the municipal heritage committee dealing with a proposal for a six-storey hotel on the 5.6-hectare property to the top of the agenda due to safety concerns regarding capacity.
In January, an estimated 600 people attended a municipal heritage committee meeting at the community centre on the issue. Several of them expressed opposition to the development application from Two Sisters Resorts.
At committee-of-the-whole Monday, SORE representative David Bell urged councillors to ensure that the property is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act before site plan approval of the application is granted.
“From SORE’s view, the Marotta/Solmar group has been playing fast and loose with this language,” said Bell. “They have clearly been playing the town and the MHC (municipal heritage committee) and are trying to avoid having the estate designated before they get the town to approve their proposal.”
He said the group wants the heritage designation to include not only the residences, outbuildings and structures dating back to 1825, but also the landscape throughout the properties at 144, 176 and 200 John St. and
588 Charlotte St.
“Surely council and staff need
to know what is designated and how it’s protected before entertaining a proposal to diminish or simply bulldoze what might otherwise be protected,” Bell said.
Bell said more far more people attended the last municipal heritage meeting than any time in its history and several committee members spoke about the many problems with the development proposal and “the devastating impact it would have upon the cultural heritage resources of not only the (Randwood) Estate, but of Old Town Niagara-on-theLake.”
The town’s community and development committee approved several recommendations from the heritage committee and added a few more put forward by Coun. Betty Disero at Monday’s meeting.
They included a peer-review of the heritage impact assessment of all of the affected properties at the applicant’s expense prior to site plan approval and a detailed inventory and analysis of interior heritage features of the buildings and all exterior elements of the landscape.
The committee also requested the developer provide building elevations for the proposed new structures showing how they will appear from surrounding streetscapes of John St., the Niagara River Parkway and the Commons area.
Another recommendation approved by the committee was that council adopt the properties at 588 Charlotte St. and 200 John St. to the town’s municipal register of properties of cultural heritage value.
“I think that it’s important that from now on, we become a little more aggressive,” said Coun. Disero, regarding the protection of heritage resources.
She said the town has gotten “into a lot of trouble” in the past when it has waited for property owners to apply for historical designations.
A previous plan for the Randwood Estate property was approved by the town in 2011, but it was never built. It included a complex of four smaller threestorey buildings with 106 hotel rooms. The current application calls for one larger building in the centre of the property. Several residents who spoke at the January meeting said the height and design of the proposed hotel would be appropriate for cities like Niagara Falls or Toronto, but not for Niagara-on-the-Lake.
The community and development committee’s recommendations regarding the property go to council next week for approval. Prior to a final decision by the town on the application, there will be a public meeting and a staff report provided to council.