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. 

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

He said the idea for a 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."

Officials with the provincial Department of Housing, Lands and Communities held a public meeting Thursday in 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. 

"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 with seasonal cottage residents. 

"A project of this magnitude does stand out in small, rural P.E.I.," MacFarlane said. "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 that it'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. 

Rodney Savidant lives in Chelton and is concerned the spa will bring too much traffic and noise to his 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 it to 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.