Town council wants to see a commemoration plan for the old Parliament Oak school before it considers granting a demolition permit to the developer.

Council decided Tuesday night to request a plan from developer Two Sisters Resorts Corp. that ensures “preservation of the 1948 structure in whole or part at its original location.”

The motion, by Coun. Sandra O’Connor, passed unanimously.

It is unusual to see demolition permits at this stage of the development process without specific commemorative plans attached.

This was pointed out by former councillor Clare Cameron, who spoke to council on behalf of the Niagara Foundation.

“We believe that the current request to demolish Parliament Oak school is premature,” she said.

Cameron argued the property is an important part of the town’s heritage.

Developer Benny Marotta bought the school last October and wants to build a boutique hotel in its place.

Cameron noted there had been no public meeting to discuss the proposed hotel, the rezoning request had not been approved yet and the developer had not provided a commemoration plan.

“The current list of materials proposed for salvage today includes nothing to represent the 67 years and generations of students who were educated in this building.”

Cameron worried the developer’s applications were part of a larger trend in Niagara-on-the-Lake where demolition was a “foregone conclusion.”

Going into the meeting, staff recommended the town ask the developer for more information, including a detailed commemoration plan, before moving forward with the demolition application, said chief planner Kirsten McCauley.

In addition to the requests from staff Cameron asked council to “issue a notice of intention to designate” the site under the Ontario Heritage Act.

“Under the new rules of the Ontario Heritage Act, council would have 90 days from the date of the application being deemed complete to serve notice of intent to designate,” said Denise Horne, the town’s heritage planner.

She pointed out that the developer had completed its hotel proposal on March 3.

That gave the town until June 3 to decide whether to designate the property.

Horne said any plan to designate the site is separate from the demolition request.

While there was some discussion about designating, council didn’t do anything about it.

Council’s request for more information follows rapidly on the heels of a public meeting held April 18 where residents got to weigh in on the hotel proposal.

At a virtual open house last week on the hotel proposal, resident Gracia Janes questioned whether tourists need another place to stay in town.

“What proof is there that we’re overloaded with people staying in our hotels, that they’re at capacity and therefore we need another hotel?” Janes said.

Janes also argued there is fierce competition among businesses to accommodate the town’s tourists.

A team representing Two Sisters presented its site plans to almost 30 people who attended the online meeting.

Planner David Riley, with SGL Planning and Design, said the developer is “confident there is demand for a hotel here.”

While he referenced research the developer conducted, he provided no hard data.

The hotel would benefit the town’s tourism sector, he argued, by bringing in additional jobs. 

One resident was excited about the proposal.

“My wife and I personally believe the proposed landscaping of the building is spectacular,” Fred Luk said.

He agreed with Riley that there is a need for an additional hotel and said he thought it could provide “a large commercial tax base for the town.”

Other residents criticized the proposed building’s height, parking capacity and compatibility with surrounding homes.

Paul Shepherd raised concerns about whether the structure fits in with the neighbourhood.

“I’m not getting a sense of warm and compatible feeling from the renderings and drawings I see,” Shepherd said.

Architect Peter Lesdow, who was hired to design the Parliament Oak Hotel, said the team is trying to achieve an “old world character” with their design, thinking it would “fit in with the nature of what Niagara-on-the-Lake is.”

Residents Marilyn Bartlett and Connie Tintinalli questioned if there would be enough parking spots to accommodate hotel guests, restaurant guests and service workers.

Tintinalli argued the hotel staff would likely be paid minimum wage and would probably not live within walking distance, because there are no affordable housing options for low-income workers in the area.

“They’re going to need parking,” she said. 

The hotel would have 129 rooms for guests, but, according to the floor plans, will also have seating for up to 700 people in the restaurant, patio and banquet halls. 

Bartlett pointed out that diners and banquet-goers would need parking, too.

“I’m just wondering where all those people are going to park,” she said.

According to a parking review of the site plan, “a significant portion of the amenity capacity will be occupied by hotel guests, who will already be accommodated by the 129 general hotel parking spaces.”

Altaf Hussain, a transportation planner working with Two Sisters, said the team considered additional needs and concluded 197 parking spaces would suffice.

Hussain compared the parking needs of the proposed hotel to those in similar tourist towns.

Residents Hirem Baran, Shepherd and Tintinalli were all wondering about the height of the building. 

Lesdow said lowering the proposed building might mean it would take up more area on the property.

“A lot of times you’re better to raise a building by 10 feet than you are taking the same amount of units and spreading them over a larger area,” he said.

The landscape features, Lesdow said, would be adversely affected if they tried to spread the same number of rooms across a lower building.

Riley argued four storeys is “not very tall” and the developer is placing it farther back from the roads to minimize the impact of the height on neighbouring properties.

“We have a unique opportunity to accommodate a building – we think – in a very compatible manner,” he said. 

Shepherd argued there are few buildings as tall as the proposed hotel in the surrounding area and heritage district.

From the perspective of its neighbours, he said, “It is a big building.”

“I challenge you that the portrayal of the building in its elevations and its massing doesn’t reflect anything I know of Niagara-on-the-Lake,” Shepherd said.

Residents will get a chance to share their concerns about the proposal at a public meeting with town council on May 9.