January 11, 2024, The most recent update from the Town's Planning Department:
The Town’s Urban Design Committee reviewed the proposal during its June 28, 2023 Meeting. The Staff Report can be found as Item 8.1 in the following link:
Urban Design Committee - June 28, 2023 (escribemeetings.com)
The minutes from that meeting can be found here: Urban Design Committee - June 28, 2023 (escribemeetings.com)
The Town’s Municipal Heritage Committee reviewed the proposal during its September 6, 2023 Meeting. The Staff Reports related to the site can be found as Items 8.1 and 8.2 in the following link:
Municipal Heritage Committee - September 06, 2023 (escribemeetings.com)
The minutes from that meeting can be found here: Municipal Heritage Committee - September 06, 2023 (escribemeetings.com)
There is currently no timeline to bring a recommendation report on this proposal to Council.
A Plan for the Parliament Oak Site By POST That Complies With The Towns Official Plan
Part of POST's letter to council, shown below, January 24, 2022
The Plan below was developed to illustrate a residential development that complies with the Towns Official Plan and addresses the concerns of both the Municipal Heritage Committee & Urban Design Committee.
The Developer's Vision for the Old Town
Update February 9, 2023
On February 6, 2023 some local residents received a letter from LURA representing the developer for the Parliament Park site whose intention is to communicate with local residents regarding Mr Marotta's hotel plans for the site.
We requested more information and On February 8, 2023 Mr Di Giovanni of LURA informed us that Mr Marotta is planning a development of a four story, 129 suite luxury hotel with a restaurant, bar and event spaces. The site will also include onsite greenspace and underground parking as well as eight surface parking spaces.
Update January 24, 2023
As of January 24, 2023 the Town of NOTL has communicated that the planning application for 325 King Street (Parliament Oak) that is before the Ontario Land Tribunal is still deferred by the applicant and no new applications are pending.
A new development application has been submitted to the town for 223-227 Mary Street. It is a 4 storey condominium building containing 41 apartments, 50 parking spaces, 18m (59’) high, 19.9m (65') to the very top of the building and over 40 units per acre (100 per hectare). This application contravenes many sections of the Towns Official Plan in terms of Intensification, Height, Massing and Scale. Please see our page Objections To the Plan as the Official Plan references are the same.
POST'S letter to Council and Update, December 12, 2022
The property has recently been sold to Benny Marotta of Two Sisters Resorts. He has inherited the existing planning application filed with the Town and an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). This appeal is a result of the Town failing to make a decision on the planning application within the time limit of 120 days.
The process going forward is for the Planning Department to prepare a staff report for Town Council. This will be considered at a council meeting, hopefully with substantial opposition from the public. Subsequently they will decide a course of action and direct the Town as to whether or not to oppose the appeal.
Currently the owner has requested a deferral in scheduling the OLT hearing so as to review the applications and determine if they wish to proceed.
As a result Mark Iamarino, the Town’s Planner, does not have a time line for the report to council.
Below is a copy of our letter to the Mayor and Councillors.
We strongly urge all residents to contact all Councillors and voice strong opposition to this proposal.
Letter to Lord Mayor Zalepa and Councillors December 12, 2022
The undersigned represent POST, Preserve our Special Town, a group of Niagara on the Lake residents and neighbours, who are very concerned about the future of the Parliament Oak site at 325 King Street in the Old Town. In particular, we believe Council must oppose the application for a hotel. An intensive commercial use as outlined in the application should not be approved for this location.
When Mr. Marotta purchased the property, he knew that the provisions of the Official Plan allowed only for a rezoning application to low density residential zoning, if an institutional use ended:
OP 6A.15.3.1 (2) – Open Space And Community Facilities – All lands designated open space and community facilities……… may be redeveloped for Low Density Residential Use.
It is extremely important that this section of the Official Plan be enforced.
The Official Plan and Official Plan Review clearly state that intensification should not occur in this part of Town. To the extent that any infilling might be allowed, the OP 6A.4.6 and OPR 4.5.3.10 state that it should be consistent, in density, height, massing and scale, with the surrounding neighbourhood.
The proposed development is completely inappropriate for the historic Parliament Oak school site. The surrounding Established Residential neighbourhood is comprised of one, one and one half and two storey homes of varying architectural styles on tree-lined streets and has an average density of 3.5 units per acre.
During the application process, two Public Meetings were held, at which strong and widespread public outrage and opposition to the intensive commercial use, height, density, design and other aspects of the proposal were heard.
The current proposal for the site is an affront to our values and all the qualities that make our Town so appealing. It flies in the face of Niagara on the Lake’s OP and OPR and would have a negative impact on tourism. It is inconsistent with the urban fabric, shape and form of not only the immediate streetscapes, but that of the entire Old Town.
Growth is inevitable and desirable, but destruction of our community is not. We have been motivated to action by our belief that this proposal, if allowed, would sound a death knell for not only our neighbourhood, but for many other vulnerable sites and neighbourhoods in one of the few truly historic towns in Canada, attracting visitors from all over the world.
Based on the widespread opposition to this proposal and its inconsistency with the Official Plan and Official Plan Review, its negative impact on the heritage district, surrounding neighbourhoods and tourism, we respectfully submit that the Town has a responsibility to oppose this development.
Sincerely,
The Team at POST
Marilyn Bartlett, Alan Gordon, Connie Tintinalli
19M / 60 FT. proposed
building height
Proposed Parliament Oak Hotel height comparison to the surrounding area Zoning By-Law, ER zone.
10M maximum height
for the surrounding
ER zone