The site plan for a 92-room hotel located at 404 Centre Street North has been given the thumbs up by the Town’s Planning Committee.
A zoning amendment approved in April will allow a minimum of 85 parking spaces and one loading space to be created in order to service the hotel. The amendment also allows the hotel to be constructed up to 15.65 metres high. The building would be accessed through Centre Street North and serviced by municipal water and sewer infrastructure.
The hotel property is roughly 1.064 hectares in area with 160 metres of frontage on Highway 60, and 40 metres of frontage on Centre Street North. The lot is currently vacant and mostly cleared with the exception of the southern side of the lot where vegetation has been retained, Town planner Curtis Syvret told committee at its October 11 meeting.
“The lands sit at a considerably lower elevation than the lands to the south (Tim Hortons/Capstone Market) and to the east (Highway 60), being located at the base of a hill. Further, due to the existing lot configuration, development would be located behind the Wendy’s restaurant. The surrounding uses are commercial and light industrial,” added Syvret.
Technical background reports submitted in favour of the application include a storm water management plan, an illumination plan as well as a traffic impact review and Huntsville’s Accessibility Advisory Committee also provided suggestions regarding the placement of curb cuts, according to Syvret.
Councillor Jonathan Wiebe asked about pedestrian traffic. “I notice that that intersection is signalized at present. Is there also a cross walk there and if so where would it be and how would the 92 guests that are staying there safely reach the rest of that development?” he asked. Syvret noted that there is a pedestrian cross walk on Centre Street North, which provides access to a sidewalk on Howland Drive.
Committee chair, Councillor Nancy Alcock, questioned the industrial zoning of the lands and how commercial development would be addressed. Syvret said the hotel, as a commercial use, would be a permitted use in the area’s Muskoka Commerce Park Industrial designation.
Vegetation was also discussed. Wiebe asked about the type of vegetation that would be used, especially along Highway 60. Syvret said landscaping is proposed around the perimeter of the lot as well as adjacent to the building and along the pedestrian pathways.
“Through this plan they’re proposing to plant 42 deciduous and coniferous trees or 400 ornamental shrubs and 150 perennial grasses. So it’s quite a substantial vegetation plan and additionally the lands around this development are actually Town-owned, so there will still be a vegetated area around the lot as well as the edge of the MTO (Ontario Ministry of Transportation) corridor.”
Councillor Bob Stone questioned whether committee should ask that the revegetation along Highway 60 be bumped up. Staff said committee could, although Manager of Planning Services Kirstin Maxwell pointed out that there is a significant difference in elevation between the highway and the finished grade of the property, “so that additional plantings would be below the level of the highway anyway, however there is no issue with us requesting additional planting as Curtis (Syvret) stated.”
Committee also heard that the applicant is exploring seeking further planning approvals for commercial or industrial development in the southern portion of the lot through a Vacant Land Condominium Plan. Such plans are approved by the District of Muskoka with input from the local municipality and would permit the applicant to sever part of the property to create a new independent lot with common elements such as a road.
“From the Centre Street intersection, even though it’s an extension labelled Howland Drive, it’s private property and it’s all part of this lot where the hotel is proposed, so the applicant would be proposing to do a vacant land condominium to subdivide that parcel into two lots with the common element being the road,” explained Maxwell, adding that part of the agreement would also include an easement for parking along the southern property boundary.
The site plan was approved in principle provided it is to the satisfaction of all commenting agencies and it receives final ratification by Huntsville Council.
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Rob Millman says
Where is the snow storage area for both the Howland Dr. extension and the parking lot? And should there not be a cul-de-sac to enable the plow to turn around?
Brian Tapley says
As a tourist I wonder about this site.
It is right beside one of the steepest and heaviest traveled hills on the entire length of highway 60, where trucks will be either braking and using engine brakes on the way down or working hard on the way up. Planning has placed a stop light right at the base of this hill and this just makes the situation worse in all regards.
The highway 60 is raised well up from the proposed hotel grounds at this location so that no matter what is done for vegetation there will be precious little sound attenuation from it, but at least the customers on the 4th floor will be able to see directly into the truck windows as they pass by without having to bend their necks significantly.
On the other side there is a wonderful view of the Wendy’s and to the South a scrub forest hill leads up to an as yet undeveloped turn around behind the Capstone Market near Home Depot. One can only assume something will be built here someday and if so it will, by virtue of the elevation difference, tower over this new hotel, although probably at a great enough distance not to matter.
To the North a bit more scrubby land, that serves as a water retention (probably successfully) and then one can (at least from the higher rooms) get a nice view of the intersection and the back of the Independent grocer if you are long sighted.
Muskoka is supposed to be a beautiful area. At one time the Chamber of Commerce used to use the slogan “land of blue skies and sunny waters” I think. Well this site has nothing much to recommend it as a local beauty spot.
This is really not my place to complain and most roadside hotel customers don’t look out the window much, being more interested in sleep, eat and TV. I merely point out that there must be better places to put a hotel in the Huntsville area, places that actually take some advantage of our natural beauty.
Heck the poor future customers at this place will not even be able to see the Pipe Man from their hotel!