Essex council has sided with its residents when it comes to the sale of the Colchester School House property.
On Monday night, council heard from a developer interested in transforming the site into a 14-unit boutique hotel while preserving the school house, but a community group has stepped forward with a pledge to raise the funds needed to restore the property.
While it's not clear yet what the Friends of the Colchester School House have planned, council opted to give the group a chance to formulate a plan for the site.
Councillor Steve Bjorkman voted in favour of putting off the sale of the property and says the proposal to develop the property was a good one, but not what the community wants.
"The community in Colchester is not in favour of this development. These are the people that are going to have this development in their backyard," he says. "If you're going to turn this school house around and safe it, you're going to have to do it. These people have stood up and said, "We'll do that. We want to do that because it means that much to us."
Councillor Kim Verbeek also voted in favour of putting off the sale of the property and says Colchester residents have been loud in their opposition.
"Residents have been resoundingly loud on this issue," she says. "Since I've been on this council, this is the most residents that have ever reached out to me on any issue. So, maybe during this pause, let the community be heard and feel heard."
Saying "The community has spoken," Deputy mayor Richard Meloche voted in favour of putting off the sale of the property.
"I can understand why the community is upset with this. I'd probably be upset if I lived there," he says. " Now we have people stepping forward that are saying give us the opportunity. I, for one, although I believe that this is an incredible opportunity of an investment in the community, have to side with the residents on this one."
The sale of the property was set to close January 31, but council made a motion to extend the agreement with the potential developer to March 31 in the event the restoration effort falls through.
The developers, James Flynn and Kim Lewis, expressed disappointment and didn't give an answer if they would agree to the extension — meaning the deal could be dead at the end of January.
Flynn and Lewis are the same pair behind the transformation of The Grove Hotel in Kingsville.