CORRECTION: An update to this article identifies Aimee Alderman as a town planner. She is not with Solmar.
Tensions flared at a Niagara-on-the-Lake council planning committee meeting Tuesday, as residents expressed frustration over a proposed private road through the Rand Estate.
Council chambers were packed, reflecting high public interest in the controversial development. Fifty-seven people also attended an open house on the same issue last week. At both meetings, nearly all attendees opposed the proposal.
The rezoning application, submitted by Solmar Development Corp., would change the land use at 200 John St. from agricultural to low-density residential to allow construction of a private road, with an emergency access point at 588 Charlotte St.
Council did not make any decisions at Tuesday’s meeting but instead heard input from town staff and residents. A date for a vote on the re-zoning has not yet been set.
Many residents criticized the application, questioning why it was back before council after being rejected multiple times.
“The application is an abuse of process,” said lawyer Kathryn Podrebarac.
Solmar’s latest application marks its third attempt in three years to build a private road through the Rand Estate.
In 2023, the town’s former heritage planner, Denise Horne, wrote a report rejecting much of what Solmar proposed in a similar project.
A 2024 appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal also failed. The tribunal rejected the proposal on five grounds: damage to mature trees, road safety concerns, harm to cultural heritage, harm to wildlife and negative impacts on an endangered bat habitat.
In April 2025, the tribunal dismissed another version of the proposal.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Solmar’s planner, Paul Lowes of SGL Planning, said the tribunal’s decision “creates some concern and some ambiguity,” and part of the process was ensuring everyone understands what the ruling means.
But some residents saw the new application as an attempt to bypass previous rulings.
“So why are we here tonight?” asked local resident Judy McLeod. “So that you can agree with Mr. Marotta (Solmar CEO) that no doesn’t really mean no?”
So far, revisions to the proposal have mainly focused on road safety. Solmar has also suggested changes to the emergency access point on Charlotte Street, which critics say is too narrow for emergency vehicles.
Lyle Hall, speaking as a private citizen and not in his role as chair of the Niagara Foundation, said the proposal addresses road safety while ignoring other significant concerns, including future development on the new road.
“Solmar didn’t include a heritage impact assessment in their application,” said Hall. “The application says nothing at all about heritage … they want you to bite on just the street without telling you what the street is for.”
The Rand Estate, located in Old Town, is a designated heritage area dating back to 1910. Opponents fear the development could damage historic structures on the site.
While Solmar has stated it intends to develop the area following a successful rezoning, no detailed plans have been submitted to the town.
“We don’t have any plans about future developments on the property at this point,” said town senior planner Aimee Alderman.
Residents also criticized the absence of Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa, Deputy Lord Mayor Erwin Wiens, and Coun. Maria Mavridis during all or part of the Rand Estate discussion.
Mavridis told The Lake Report that Wiens was feeling unwell, prompting Zalepa to leave the chamber to assist him. Mavridis said she also stepped out to check on Wiens.
Zalepa later told The Lake Report he had declared a conflict of interest based on advice from the town’s integrity commissioner regarding the Rand Estate file. He said he did so based on the proximity of his address to the Rand Estate area.
Zalepa said he is awaiting further guidance on whether he should continue to participate in the process.
“Once I review the input from the integrity commissioner, I will decide upon whether I participate in the decision process going forward or declare any conflicts,” he said.
daniel@niagaranow.com
