A slice of Sidney waterfront is being reimagined, with a development proposal for 49 apartment and 48 townhouse units on the site of what’s currently the Cedarwood Inn and Suites.
GMC Projects is proposing a three-storey building with 49 apartment units and a ground-floor commercial space as well as eight buildings containing a total of 48 2.5-storey townhouses at 9522 Lochside Dr., near Tulista Park.
The apartment would have 18 one-bedroom units, 17 two-bedroom units and 14 three-bedroom units. Forty of the townhouses would have three bedrooms and eight would have two.
The project’s zoning and development permit application went before Sidney councillors late last year and moved forward to be reviewed by the town’s advisory planning committee.
GMC Projects has been working on the design concept since 2019.
An initial design that proposed five storeys and 140 homes has been downsized to 97 homes and three storeys in response to community feedback, said Jordan Milne, president and CEO of GMC Projects.
Residents were concerned about the proposed height and the potential for increased traffic on the intersection of Weiler Avenue and Lochside Drive after the initial design was revealed in the fall of 2021, Milne said.
GMC Projects conducted a traffic study as part of its application and the consultant noted there is a bus stop and telecommunications box that obstruct the view on Fifth Street, which is the continuation of Lochside Drive after it intersects Weiler Avenue, Milne said.
“That’s been the biggest concern that everybody’s had,” he said.
About 60 residents attended an open house last May, which had a “far better response,” he said. Residents were glad to see the project had been scaled back in response to concerns, Milne said.
Mayor Cliff McNeil-Smith said councils and the community have been aware for many years that the family operating the inn was looking to sell it, and there was a general understanding that it would not be sold to a new motel operator.
Recommendations from the town’s advisory planning committee are expected in late January, he said.
If the redevelopment is approved, it would represent a loss of about 45 motel rooms that have been in the community for decades, said McNeil-Smith, noting a new hotel with about 130 rooms is coming to the southwest corner of Beacon Avenue West and the Pat Bay Highway on airport land.
Cedarwood Inn and Suites says on its website that it’s accepting reservations until March 2025. The motel owner, who has owned Cedarwood for more than 45 years, was not available for an interview Tuesday.
