After many months of testimony and revised plans, the Town Council approved a proposal by Lark Hotels that would allow for accessory hotel rooms under a special use permit in the Old Harbor Commercial District.
The amendment was approved by 3-2 vote at the Town Council’s meeting on Monday, July 6. Councilors Chris Willi and Sven Risom voted against the application. Councilor Martha Ball, Second Warden André Boudreau, and First Warden Ken Lacoste voted in favor of the application.
Attorney Joe Priestley, representing Lark Hotels, started off the meeting with a synopsis and history of the application.
“The [New Shoreham] Comprehensive Plan encouraged hotels in the O.H.C.D., and that it was one of the principal uses in the existing O.H.C.D. We put together a proposal… that would have allowed hotels to be built with a special use permit in the O.H.C.D. We started out with a proposal of 20,000 square feet of land, went to 30,000 square feet, and finally ended up on 40,000 square feet of land in the O.H.C.D. By raising the size of the lot, we limited the possibility of further hotel development in the O.H.C.D.” said Priestley.
Lark Hotels owner Robert Blood also spoke
