| | Even though Kore is getting ready to knock down unwanted buildings in Colchester, surprised town officials say they've yet to be officially informed of any of the plans for the village or nearby areas.
Proposed Colchester development expanding rapidly
Gary Rennie, Windsor Star
Published: Wednesday, November 08, 2006
ESSEX - A proposed $20-million commercial development for Colchester Village is getting bigger all the time, with talk now of a European partner building a cheese factory and another factory to make wooden spindles, The Star was told Tuesday.
Petar Vucicevich, director of Kore International, described both factories as "done deals." Earlier, the company had announced plans for a $1-million Kronk boxing gym, stores, shops, and bed-and-breakfast style accommodation -- all to be done in an architectural theme based on Vienna's city centre, according to Vucicevich.
Even though Kore is getting ready to knock down unwanted buildings in Colchester, surprised town officials say they've yet to be officially informed of any of the plans for the village or nearby areas.
Worrying about a development surge without an overall plan, council this week approved the drafting of an interim land use control bylaw for a large section of former Colchester South, from Colchester Village, south of County Road 50, to the town's western boundary with Amherstburg.
But Vucicevich said he doesn't have to approach the town until he's ready to ask for building permits. As far as he's aware, he said the properties acquired by Kore don't require rezoning for the uses he has in mind.
Coun. Bill Caixeiro said the town doesn't want to discourage development, especially factories that could generate needed jobs. But the town also has to make sure the kinds of planning mistakes made in the past aren't repeated, he said.
A prime example, Caixeiro said, are the many residential beach subdivisions served by private roads that aren't connected in any orderly way. The patchwork of private roads makes it difficult to provide timely police, fire and ambulance services along the Lake Erie shoreline, he said.
And while industrial growth is wanted, it shouldn't be scattered throughout the town, Caixeiro said.
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IN THE DARK
"We don't know anything official about it," Mayor Ron McDermott said of the Kore development. Town planner Chad Jeffery said he's had no contact with the developer and knows little more than what he's read about in The Star.
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