Comox Town Council has given the green light to the controversial New Lorne Hotel Project, set to be built on the site of the old Lorne Hotel building in downtown Comox that several years back, burned to the ground.
Two councilors, Barbara Price, and Hugh Mackinnon, voted against third reading at council, urging council to delay final approval and consider concerns from town hall meetings on the project.
Mckinnon’s motion tonight to reduce the project from five, to a four story building, failed to garner council support.
Meanwhile Goat News spoke with developer Sean Vincent who says obviously he is happy with the outcome of that crucial council vote, and says at at the end of the day he has compromised, and hopes people of differing views can now come together.
Vincent says the hard work now begins on the project, to feature condos and a bistro…
Vincent says ideally they could break ground on the project later in the fall but admits that timeline may not be realistic.
Council members in support of the project, including Ken Grant, says it wouldn’t be fair to essentially send the project back to square one, adding a four story project would not be economically viable for the developer, ultimately resulting in the project being abandoned, with an empty lot in the downtown area for a long time to come. Councilor Russ Arnott says it is simply impossible to please everybody when it comes to the project.
