Dear editor:

There are two development proposals for major hotels in Niagara-on-the-Lake that have council approvals. Both require amendments to the town’s official plan and zoning bylaw and are located in predominantly residential areas.

Rainer Hummel’s property at 228 Queen St. has potential issues with plans for a three-storey underground parking garage on a high water table and the 81-room, four-storey hotel is close to adjacent residences. 

Benny Marotta’s land at 325 King St. (Parliament Oak school) requires a zoning bylaw change from institutional to commercial to permit development of a 129-room hotel.

Coun. Wendy Cheropita stated, “When we did the tourism strategy, it was uncovered that one of the gaps we had in NOTL is that we did not have five-star accommodations.”

In the June 13 issue of The Lake Report, a headline notes “Four upscale NOTL hotels on Tripadvisor’s Top 25 list” — White Oaks Resort, the Harbour House, Queen’s Landing and the Pillar and Post.

This is quite an accomplishment for NOTL with a population under 20,000. Only three Toronto hotels made that list.      

Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa said, “I know that it’s a balancing act of hearing from some people in the community, but there’s 19,000 other people who live here too — and speaking with many of them I feel that this is a project that the community is ready to accept, if it is done right.”

This may be an important opportunity for The Lake Report to conduct a survey about this perceived level of acceptance by the community.  

Robert Buchkowsky
NOTL