New spa, hotel planned for P.E.I.'s South Shore but some residents don't want it - Action News
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PEI

New spa, hotel planned for P.E.I.'s South Shore but some residents don't want it

An Ontario-based developer has submitted an application to build a new hotel, spa and cottages in Chelton, Prince Edward Island, just west of Borden-Carleton.

Development application includes cottages and restaurant near Borden-Carleton

Five two-storey cottages with front decks, with a green lawn in front of them.
Cottage Dream Vacations bought this property in Chelton, P.E.I., in 2023 and fixed up the five cottages on it this past winter. (Nicola MacLeod/CBC)

An Ontario-based developer has submitted an application to build a new hotel, spa and cottages in Chelton, Prince Edward Island, just west of Borden-Carleton.

Cottage Dream Vacations bought the land in 2023 and has since fixed up the five cottages on the property at 90 McCardleRd., said the company's CEO and founder Ken Dunn.

He said the idea fora spa grew out of a desire to create a business that could operate year-round.

"I'm incredibly committed to doing a spa on that property," Dunn said.

"How that's going to look, I think it's really too soon to tell."

A man with a t-shirt stands on a lawn.
Ken Dunn, founder and CEO of Cottage Dream Vacations, hopes to incorporate the public's feedback into the development. (Nicola MacLeod/CBC)

Officials with the provincial Department of Housing, Lands and Communities held a public meeting Thursdayin Summerside to get feedback on the proposed development, which includes a Nordic spa, eight more cottages, a 14-room hotel and a restaurant.

About 80 people attended the meeting, both in-person and virtually, the province said in a statement.

Some of them had concerns.

A man stands with his hands in his pocket on a sunny day outside the PEI legislature.
Matt MacFarlane, MLA for Borden-Kinkora, says this type of project can have an impact on rural P.E.I. communities. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)

"It was a good opportunity to try and get some clarification on what the developer has in mind," said Matt MacFarlane, the MLA for Borden-Kinkora, who was at the meeting.

MacFarlane wants to ensure the project follows all the appropriate development processes, since the Chelton area has no land-use plan and therefore falls under provincial regulations.

About 40 people live in the area year-round, along withseasonal cottage residents.

"A project of this magnitude does stand out in small, rural P.E.I.," MacFarlanesaid. "It affects a lot of people in the community."

Traffic, water worries

Some of the concerns people raised at the meeting were about increased traffic, noise, and the development's water use, said Dunn.

But he cautioned thatit's still early days.

"I don't know if the right expectation was set for the meeting. They might have thought we were further down the track than we actually are," Dunn said. "[People] wanted more information, more documentation that just isn't done yet."

He said his company is still at least a year away from beginning construction on the project. Before that happens, they are required to complete studies into traffic, remediation and septic systems for the development.

A man with a plaid shirt and sunglasses stands in front of summer cottages.
Rodney Savidant lives in the Chelton area and thinks the proposed development will be too noisy. (Nicola MacLeod/CBC)

Rodney Savidant lives in Chelton and is concerned the spa will bringtoo much traffic and noise tohis road and about where the development's water will come from.

He said the area doesn't need or want a spa and hotel.

"It's peaceful and it's quiet. And that's the way we want itto stay," Savidant said.

He said he would not object to more cottages on the property, but doesn't think a spa makes sense. He's written two letters of opposition to the province already.

In a statement, a provincial spokesperson said the province will consider all of the feedback received at Thursday's meeting, as well as written submissions, and summarize it in a report that will be shared publicly.

The province will also meet with the developer to talk about people's concerns, the spokesperson said.

"We're not naive," Dunn said. "We know that we're wanting to do this in a cottage-based community.

"And so we hope that we can come to some type of resolution and plan that brings in all of that feedback from the community."

The province is accepting written submissions on the development application until July 31.

With files from Nicola MacLeod