Randwood developer, citizens’ group to meet
Much opposition to 6-storey NOTL hotel
Some councillors hope a meeting this week will quell concerns a citizens group has regarding a proposal for a six-storey hotel at the historic Randwood Estate on John Street in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Representatives from the developer, Two Sisters Corp., will sit down with members of the group, Save Our Randwood Estate, or SORE, to address issues it has about the project.
SORE member David Bell says residents opposed to the project aren’t pleased with council’s decision during the March 19 meeting to defer a decision on recommendations from the municipal heritage committee regarding the property for a month, so town staff could try to facilitate meetings between Two Sisters and the SORE group.
Delaying the approval of the recommendations from the municipal heritage committee is a “very disappointing” decision made by council that hinders the application process for a new development, he says. That process requires municipalities to review an application for zoning changes within 150 days.
SORE asked to meet with the developer and have that meeting livestreamed in the town’s council chambers to ensure “transparency” and public access.
He says the “clock is ticking” on the application, and if council doesn’t approve it, the developer could appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board.
According to Bell, it’s “going to take a lot of time and several meetings between both parties” before a resolution is reached, and council should have approved those meeting minutes to ensure those recommendations move forward.
The application is for a highquality boutique hotel that will include a hotel, spa, landscaped gardens, meeting centre, restaurant and an outdoor patio. The recommendations from the municipal heritage committee call for a heritage designation for the property and a peer review of the heritage impact assessment of all the affected properties at the applicant’s expense prior to site plan approval.
“By deferring this motion, nothing is achieved,” Bell says.
SORE member Duff Roman says these recommendations are important because they ensure the plans are unique and of a scale more befitting the historical nature of NOTL, as opposed
to a cookie-cutter plan.
The way council handled the meeting minutes “was a fiasco,” Roman says.
Lord Mayor Pat Darte is “more concerned about getting the project right,” and addressing residents’ concerns. He says a meeting between SORE members and the developer will be held at town hall on April 5 or April 6.
“By deferring these recommendations, we didn’t say no.
The week prior we voted unanimously to approve these meeting minutes at our committee meeting. We haven’t changed anything. We’re just giving more time for both parties to sit down and make compromises so there isn’t a problem in the future,” he says.
“We’re going to make this right. We haven’t changed the process. We’ve just given more time for both parties to talk.”
Maurizio Rogato, a representative of the developer, says the recommendations by the municipal heritage committee “are completely acceptable to the applicant,” and the process for a heritage designation for the property and an interior analysis for all structures has already begun.