In an audacious move, the Marotta group has appealed to outside tribunals on both the heritage designation of the Rand Estate and the planning approvals for its ill-conceived hotel/conference/wedding factory proposal.
As reported on this website, after enormous public pressure and at the request of the Town’s Municipal Heritage Committee (MHC), Council voted a couple of months ago to designate all four Randwood properties under the Ontario Heritage Act. The Marotta group has now appealed that decision to the Conservation Review Board (CRB)! This in spite of the written opinion of their own heritage consultant that Randwood is a significant cultural heritage asset and Marotta group representative Maurizio Rogato’s repeated assurances to Council that Marotta supported such designation. The Marotta group’s appeal of Council’s heritage designation confirms SORE’s worst fears. This important local and national heritage asset, the recommendations of the MHC and the decisions of our elected Council mean nothing to this developer.
In a similar vein, the Marotta group has also now appealed their application for planning approvals to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal(LPAT). Without even giving staff or Council the opportunity to pass judgement on their proposal! We can only infer that Benny Marotta is concerned about the possible outcome of Monday’s election, as most of the candidates have expressed either serious concern about or outright opposition to his Randwood proposal (see candidate responses on the SORE website).
NOTL is just the latest municipality to be bullied by the Marotta group. See the Benny Marotta media archive on the SORE website. Caledon fought back and so will we. If the Marotta group wants to bypass our elected Council and our MHC so be it. We will take the fight to LPAT and the CRB. We anticipate and expect our new Council will be right there with us.
On Monday, if you want to send a message to the Marotta group that NOTL will not be bullied, please consider your vote carefully and VOTE for those candidates who support heritage protection, sensitive and respectful development and your vision of our Town and what it should be. It’s time to take a stand!