Redtail Hotel and Spa

New plans will see 148-room hotel, winery and spa

At a virtual information meeting last week, an update and outline of the new development plans for the 57- hectare parcel of land that sits near Partridge Hollow Road along Loyalist Parkway in Hillier was presented. In the fall of 2019, around 40 residents gathered at Hillier Hall to learn details of a then-proposed 50- room hotel, Nordic spa and winery. The new project plan features 148 rooms contained within 38 clusters of smaller onestorey buildings, an estate winery with restaurant, and a Nordic spa with café. The mixed-use resort will also include an event facility with meeting rooms and various recreational areas, including a tennis court and swimming pool.

Adam Layton of Evans Planning provided a presentation and noted a lot of work had been done since the meeting in 2019. “One of the major re-thinkings of the proposal since 2019 to now is the hotel itself. The evolution of the design has led to a new concept of a villa-style development where each building is one or one-and-a-half storeys and not tall in height in order to ensure they are not protruding into view or the scenic views of the rural area,” said Layton.

It was noted that under the current zoning, a farm winery would be permitted, indicating the owners of the property are seeking to establish an estate winery, which requires a zoning amendment. “The main difference between a farm winery and an estate winery is the size of retail allowed and whether or not a restaurant or banquet facilities would be allowed,” added Layton.

There will be different operators for the winery, the hotel and the spa, and a third of the site will be planted for agricultural use with vineyards. “The majority of the southern portion of the site is already occupied by existing or future vineyards. Around 30,000 vines have been planted over the last several years,” said Layton. “About 58 per cent of the property will be kept in a natural state or made into agricultural use.”

was still on the mind of many of the attendees. Water is a fragile resource in Hillier. The issue of water goes beyond whether there is enough for this business, but include the effects the development could have on neighbouring properties. Councillor Janice Maynard had concerns about the water testing and when it was carried out.

“The soil in the area is shallow. In the first round of comments in 2019, there were quite a few comments from farmers on water and the amount—44,000 litres of water usage per day proposed.” said Maynard.

Tony Guerrera from Greer Galloway, noted that 13 test wells had been drilled on the property and the water supply seems sufficient. “We did demonstrate that there was certainly plenty of water available at three of the production wells that we did drill,” said Guerrera. “There is also quite a large area of land that is untapped so we didn’t drill it.” Guerrera also explained that the grape vines won’t require a lot of water, and any water used for the pools will be trucked in.

Layton added that investigations had been undertaken since 2019 to ensure there is sufficient water supply and capacity, with no impacts to off-site wells.

The proposed development is expected to be constructed in two phases, with phase one including about half the hotel units plus the winery and spa. Phase two will include the remaining half of hotel rooms as capacity in terms of servicing allows, as well as market demand. A statutory public planning meeting is expected this summer.