The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake has issued a stop-work order and begun fining developer Benny Marotta’s company $500 a day for illegally doing excavation work and removing soil from the Parliament Oak hotel site because no permit has been issued.

The developer began removing soil from the property and doing some construction-related work earlier this week, the town said.

Residents circulated emails Tuesday expressing concern about dirt being removed, saying a steady flow of trucks had been hauling soil from the site.

“I recently walked by the site twice in the last few days, but today clearly indicated that the building is underway,” resident Richard Connelly said in an email.

The Town of NOTL confirmed Tuesday that no permit for the work has been issued and that the developer had yet to comply with the stop-work order.

“Staff can confirm that the fill is being removed from the site and excavation activity is occurring without a permit,” chief administrator Nick Ruller said in an emailed response to questions from The Lake Report.

“There is no approved site plan for this property. Staff performed a site visit this morning and will be proceeding with enforcement, as applicable.”

Ruller said the town became aware of the illegal activity Monday and has since issued a stop-work order, which the developer, Two Sisters Resorts, ignored.

“The findings of staff were that the work continued today at this point, although we had issued a stop-work order. And consequently, staff are proceeding with enforcement through the administrative monetary penalty system,” he said.

The town will continue to fine Two Sisters daily and in the meantime will determine what further enforcement steps it will take, Ruller said.

“With any kind of enforcement, we’d monitor the activity and then make a decision, whether we had evidence that we wanted to bring forward to pursue as far as a prosecution goes.”

The company is owned by Marotta, a developer with a history of controversy.

In 2018, he clearcut the Rand Estate, where he plans to build a hotel and subdivision. In 2022, he handed an envelope containing $10,000 cash to a town councillor, who reported it to the town and police.

In both cases, no wrongdoing was found.

In this case, the town says it’s clear: the developer is operating without a permit and contrary to a stop-work order.

Next steps were unclear for the town as of Wednesday, but Ruller said it will keep fining the builder $500 per day through Canada’s Administrative Monetary Penalty System.

It is not yet known if the town will seek an injunction or court order to halt the work if the developer continues to ignore the stop-work order.

Ruller said staff do not have the ability to force the construction to stop, but will continue to monitor the situation.

Retired lawyer and NOTL Residents Association president Stuart McCormack noted in an email the town’s bylaw states “no person” shall remove topsoil without a permit.

That could mean the drivers of each individual truck may be fined, since the prohibition is not restricted to the landowner.

Other residents included The Lake Report on emails debating whether to bring the story to national media outlets or form a line of vehicles to prevent trucks from entering or leaving the site.

Keith Connelly, who said he’s watched an estimated 200 trucks daily filled with dirt go by his home since Monday, called the whole situation “disappointing.”

“We we don’t expect in a 21st century setting in a town like Niagara-on-the-Lake that our bylaws are being ignored and a stop order is being ignored by one of the region’s best-known and wealthiest developers,” he said.

“In other words, (the developer) is just telling the town, ‘Too bad, I’m going to do what I want, and even though you haven’t given me permission to do this, I’m going to do it anyway.’ So if that’s how the developer Mr. Marotta is looking forward to doing things, then there’s a lot of resentment that’s going to build up in the town.”

Ruller said there were concerns about the site earlier in September, but at the time no violations were found.

“We did have some initial reports back on Sept. 10 that there was activity on the site and staff did go out to investigate them,” he said.

“They did not find any activity that would have warranted the need for a approved site plan or site alteration permit,” he said.

“Our initial findings essentially were that they brought some aggregate in and we’re preparing for work and that they were moving some soil on the property.”

Some asphalt, likely from the old parking area, was removed, he added, but since then the town has continued to monitor the site.

“And then we just became aware on Monday afternoon that activity on the site had started.”