NOLT receives revised Randwood plan
A revised plan for the historic Randwood Estate has been formally submitted to the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, and the developer is hoping it will receive a warmer welcome from the community.
Two Sisters Resorts submitted the revised application, under review by town officials, on July 10. Developer Benny Marotta saidit is hoped that the proposal will be more appealing to people who have criticized the proposal for the hotel and conference centre since it was submitted last December.
“The changes were made in response to agency comments and, yes, public input received,” said Marotta. “The changes include reductions in height for portions of the proposed hotel building, relocation of the maintenance building and additional landscape design.”
The original proposal for the 145-room hotel drew sharp criticism for its height, density and design. While the revised proposal increases open space, tree canopy and tree preservation and reduces and changes step heights for portions of the proposed hotel and convention centre, it may not be enough to allay concerns from the opposition, including the citizens group SORE (Save Our Randwood Estate).
“It is still too high,” said Judy McLeod, a spokeswoman with SORE. “It doesn’t look much different to us. It steps down at the sides, but the centre will still be towering over.”
The revised proposal said the floor plate of the sixth storey has been reduced in addition to stepping back from the edge of the fifth storey around all sides except for the centre of the front facade. Two Sisters Resorts said the massing of the hotel building has also been “significantly revised to soften the presence of the hotel building.”
Some of the amenity space adjacent to properties to the west and south, McLeod said, remains a concern, in addition to potential traffic and noise issues.
“It presents a real risk to peace and privacy (for adjacent property owners),” said McLeod, noting a complete response from the group will be posted this week on its website, sorenotl.ca. “The level of commercial activity is far
too high for a residential area.”
Marotta, however, said the property has been deemed appropriate through planning policies as a hotel/resort site as part of the previous Romance proposal. He says it will bring added value to the community and ensure the Randwood property “becomes sustainable and accessible.”
“The proposed hotel represents the utmost in quality design and materials with incredible attention to detail, making it a luxury destination, with the highest standards in the hospitality industry,” Marotta said of the proposed development.
“Our proposal will preserve Randwood while creating jobs, providing needed services and benefits to the town, which has long been overdue, for this remarkable site.”
McLeod said SORE remains concerned, adding while Marotta said the changes were made through public input, the group has not had the opportunity to discuss its concerns directly with Two Sisters Resorts Corp. since March. It would love an opportu- nity to have more dialogue.
“We remain concerned. We haven’t seen a lot of changes and there are a lot of unknowns still,” said McLeod.
“This is not a group that is against development. If it was something similar to the Romance proposal we wouldn’t have an issue.”
Marotta said Two Sisters Resorts has done everything it is required to as part of the planning process.
He said feedback during the statutory public meetings has been a source of information used in redesigning the project.
He fears the proposal is a victim of “political spin” and said he remains committed to moving forward.
A special municipal heritage committee meeting was to be held Wednesday with Amy Barnes of Letourneau Heritage Consulting.
The firm was hired by the town to assist with the heritage designation process for the 5.6-hectare property.
A special council meeting is scheduled to deal with the application immediately following the committee-of-the-whole meeting scheduled for Aug. 13.