Summerside council approves zoning for long-delayed resort, to let construction resume
Ocean View Resort project could be completed in 2027, developer's rep has said
Summerside residents who have been hearing for decades that a resort is coming to the city will have to wait a few more years, but a council decision is letting the project go ahead.
At a special meeting of council on Tuesday night, councillors approved two rezoning applications to allow work to continue on Ocean View Resort.
Council passed both resolutions by a vote of 6-1, with oun. Norma McColeman the lone dissenter. Coun. Rick Morrison wasn't part of the vote because his spouse, Nicolle Morrison, is the real estate agent representing the property owner.
"It's really exciting to get this going for tourism and economic development for Summerside," Nicolle Morrison told CBC News. "It's just a fantastic project. When it opens, everybody will be very, very excited."
The project includes what Morrison calls a "world championship" 27-hole golf course, a 96-room resort and a 53-unit condo building.
During the meeting, members of council cited concerns they've heard from Summerside residents worrying the project will never become a reality.
The initial building constructed in the Ocean View Resort development has sat unopened on around 50 acres of land off MacKenzie Drive since Sean Liu bought the property in 2005.
Work had begun back in 1991 on what was then known as the Dynasty Spa project, but construction stopped only a year later.
In 1994, the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island ordered the property to be auctioned off to pay creditors. A group of investors bought the property, but then defaulted on the mortgage, and it was auctioned off again. In 1996, a developer from New York took over the project, before Liu bought the property 20 years ago with plans to open a hotel.
'I think we're all skeptical'
Coun. Justin Doiron is the chair of the planning committee for the city. Although he supports the project, he doesn't blame Summerside residents for speculating it might not ever open.
"I think they have a right to be skeptical. I think we're all skeptical, with the history and the number of times people thought things were moving along," Doiron said.
"I think just based on the presentation and just on the work that is ongoing now, it is evident it is moving ahead this time."
Coun. Norma McColeman pushed back against the project during the council meeting.
"We've waited for 20 years to see some of that increase to our economic development, and we've waited and we've watched and we've gone to planned meetings for tours, but we haven't seen anything change," she said, adding that she's heard from many city residents who are concerned about the project.
"We don't have anything in writing to say this is going to be met by a certain period of time."
There have been many things promised about the property throughout the years, McColeman pointed out.
"We haven't seen anything arrive that we've been told, such as a golf course. A resort that was supposed to open. We've heard of a daycare. We've heard of a number of different things, but they have not happened."
However, Morrison said she is confident the project will be complete by the spring of 2027.
"We are on a reset and we will be opening for sure. There is no stopping now. As long as we have our approvals, we have our labour force there, and equipment, you know, the tools to get everything to be done. We'll be done in 2027," Morrison said.
"I was talking to them today on site and they're hiring 10 more people on Monday to get things ramped up for the summer."
On another note, the P.E.I. Watershed Alliance had raised concerns because portions of the golf course project will be on wetlands.
"We went through that for two years with the province, and we worked out a deal, and we are enhancing the wetlands that are there, " Morrison said.
The provincial Environment, Energy and Climate Action Department did receive a complaint regarding environmental concerns surrounding the construction of the golf course and resort. However, officials said just last month that the site had been inspected and no issues were found.
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