TECHNICAL SNAFU TONIGHT POSTPONES MUSKOKA CENTRE ZOOM UPDATE BY UP TO A MONTH
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
GRAVENHURST — Technical problems tonight have delayed — possibly by a month — a Zoom call to shed more light on a “positive” proposal for the former Muskoka Centre.
Which, judging by the tenor of a few comments by the 100 participants able to log in, may have been a blessing for the developer and his planning team.
It was “apologies” all around by principal proponent Kirill Soloviev and his local planner Bob List who were to make a big reveal they hoped would be “positive.”
Soloviev admitted later to me “it was a shit show.”
This after “shameful” and “you’re lying” comments were levelled at them and a couple of lawyers logged on with one falsely using the word “lawsuit” if the meeting proceeded without allowing more people to join.
The meeting facilitator was even shut out after logging in too late.
It could fairly be called a SNAFU. And not the positive start the proponents envisaged or wanted.
Still it made for a more entertaining 30 or more minutes of conversation about proceeding or rescheduling and having to re-post a new meeting Zoom date.
And the meeting hadn’t even started.
Or did it?
The reason was the Zeidler, the lead planning company hadn’t made provision for so many participants wanting to engage and learn more about the private multi-million dollar plan for two hotels, hundreds of condos and dozens of docks and more boat slips at the former mental health facility the province closed in the mid-1990s.
They hadn’t gotten Zoom licensing to allow for enough interested parties and were thus over-capacitated.
As it was the more than 100 who got in the before 7 p.m. “start” were left watching a public fiasco unfold on the sidelines .
And that wasn’t good enough even for those inside who debated about moving forward and then later also holding a second meeting when more could get in.
Soloviev, though clearly frustrated, remained calm while assuring that Zeidler wouldn’t be running the next meeting.
He was tonight’s face behind the Cliff Bay Muskoka Corp. development. And is the “visionary chief executive offficer of KS Group and Cliff Bay Developments,” according to its website.
He should have known planning proposals move slowly in Muskoka — and especially on its crown jewel Lake Muskoka.
But enough equally frustrated and demanding participants who wanted a full stop said it wasn’t fair to anyone not inside to proceed.
By 7:10 p.m. someone was heard mumbling “Oh for f— sake.”
And shouts of “disgrace” and “you should be ashamed” were bandied about in the internet “meeting” — along with the inevitable one about “How can you build if you can’t run a meeting?”
Or was it technically a meeting?
List thought it a “good idea” to restart another time as discussions continued with An Richardson saying a proceeding would have prevented those not already in to hear the all important Q&A session after the presentation.
However, according to List there really is no requirement by the Ministerial Zoning Order, which they are acting under, to provide a public forum like tonight in offering more information.
Much of the basic information is already public.
See link with those details at this MuskokaTODAY.com story below.
MASSIVE CONDO PROPOSAL TONIGHT FOR FORMER MUSKOKA CENTRE HAS HOTELS, BUT NO PUBLIC HOUSING OR LAKE ACCESS FOR RESIDENTS ON LAKE MUSKOKA https://muskokatoday.com/2025/05/massive-condo-proposal-tonight-for-former-muskoka-centre-has-hotels-but-no-public-housing-or-lake-access-for-residents-on-lake-muskoka/
Meanwhile List and companies will start over and plan to hold another meeting possibly in late June or early July as it will require 20 days to three weeks to send out new notices of a meeting to 184 who have requested notice. And get a larger Zoom link that can accommodate more than the 100 who tuned in Tuesday. Someone suggested room for 1,000.
Soloviev, who calmly took it all in and was seen on his phone a couple time while also slipping out of the meeting for short periods, was eventually last seen offline just after 7:30 p.m. when this reporter, too, had to bail
But not before he first replied politely when one person accused him of “lying” about the scope of the project.
Caught up with Soloviev later tonight
We caught up with him later tonight when he admitted it was a “shit show.”
He expects this week or next to set up a new date.
“We’re developers, not technical people,” he told me.
While the basics are out there, he said tonight’s meeting was to expand significantly on them and to show a slick video presentation outlining details.
It will include, he said, that news that while it may have a Scandanavian spa, it won’t just be a “gated community.”
He said the public will have access to the water.
The Russian-born developer, who says he’s lived in Canada for 24 years, says it’s a “Canadian development.”
But he said this is “resort country,” which means it won’t involve mixed or affordable housing.
While Soloviev and a former partner had a similar concept in 2020, this is more extensive.
He wouldn’t reveal the cost of the land sale he’s made with Infrastructure Ontario, which is still subject to Ontario cabinet approval.
Only that to tear down the existing multi-storey original building he said it will cost him “about $8- to $9 million.”
It will be a “year-round destination.”
He said once tonight’s and future comments are received they will be considered.
“We’re not unreasonable,” he said.
Soloviev said back before COVID he was looking at the property.
And that his group was among more than 30 companies who responded to RFPs (requests for proposals). And that when the province changed its land management operations they re-engaged four years ago and went through multiple rounds of discussions with IO.
So he said KS Developments has already been vetted by IO and been allowed to proceed to the initial development stage.
On his website tonight — Cliff-Bay.ca — he said “most of the comments” about the Zoom error were “positive” and “understanding” of the technical glitches.
Just not all.
See apologies and exchange of viewpoints on how to proceed.
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