Hotel Development Change Approved
By 250 News
Monday, July 19, 2010 08:27 PM
Prince George, B.C.- The way has been cleared for a proposed hotel at Marleau Road and Highway 16 west to increase its height and the size of its restaurant.
Originally the plan called for a hotel that would have been 2 and ½ storeys high, have up to 200 rooms and a restaurant that could seat 100 patrons.
The applicant filed for a change that would allow the hotel to be three storeys high, a reduction in the rooms to 145 and an increase in the size of the restaurant to seat up to 150 patrons.
The initial rezoning on this property had taken place in 2001, and the final approval given in 2009. The delay the result of the applicant’s work on the project and nothing to do with delays at City Hall. The engineers now working on the design say there is now a developer interested in going ahead with the hotel but a business analysis indicates the 2 ½ storey configuration would not be economically viable. Instead, the developer would like to be able to build a hotel that is three storeys high with 145 rooms and a larger restaurant.
Because of the topography of the property, the engineers say the development would be barely visible from the nearby neighbours partly because the property is lower than the residential development nearby and partly because of a greenbelt between the hotel and the residential neighbourhood.
One area resident, George Daneluk says the applicant has some credibility issues as he was initially advised the plan was for a 4 storey hotel, "It was 20 meters high, and in a matter of minutes it was changed to 15.2 so there is a credibiity problem here." He says he also has concerns about the topography saying it is very steep and questions the stability of the slope. "In my mind, they are making a smaller footprint to save costs, but eventually this (the full site) is going to get developed." Daneluk presented a petition with 106 signatures of neighbours who oppose the changes.
Councillor Deborah Munoz noted there were " a significant number of signatures on the petition frompeopoe who do not live in the area." She stood alone in opposing the approval of the changes.
The approval carries a minor change, and that is that the maxikum height of the building be no more than 15.5 meters. That shouldn't be a problem as the builder has indicated the building would be no higher than 15.5 meters.
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Posted by: gus on July 19 2010 9:47 PM
Want a variance, come with a plan to show why you need a variance. The City does not even have a Board of Variance. Even that function is left to Council.
We have a proposal to extend Council terms to 4 years, which I understand is basically a done deal. The reason given is that Council cannot do the work they need to do within the 3 year term. Get rid of these petty things that are operational issues for staff, and deal with the long term directions.
Council does not stop after 2 years or three years or four or even 7 years. It goes on. People in the seats eventually change. When new people come on it is not the start of a new game. The game of running a city goes on. There is no time to start the game from scratch.