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More time given to develop former Sylvan Lake Hotel site

Jun 14, 2017 | 5:01 PM

The company that owns the land where the Sylvan Lake Hotel once sat is being given more time to do something with it.

Efforts to develop the parcel at Lakeshore Drive and Centennial (50th) Street have stalled since the hotel, which had stood since the 1920s, was torn down in 2002.

A development application was received in March 2005 to build a hotel/conference centre on the existing foundation and parking lot left.

More than three years later, in September 2008, inactivity at the site combined with concerns from the public prompted the Town to issue an order directing the property owner to clean up the site by removing the concrete and foundation, excavating the site and planting grass.

The developer appealed the order before a lease agreement was reached in 2009 allowing the Town to use the site for passive recreation uses (mini-park).

The legal agreement between the two sides has been renewed on an annual basis. The existing agreement required the developer to have construction on the site completed by November 2017.

The site remains untouched.

Sylvan Lake town council has now directed staff to extend the Settlement Agreement with the owners of the property for a further two years. Development will now be required to commence on or before November 15, 2018 and be completed within a year.