With a site plan approved, the Grove Motor Inn in Colchester is one step closer to becoming a reality.
On Monday night, Essex council lent its support to the project on County Rd. 50 near Colchester Beach.
The plan calls for a two storey, 28 room motel to be built by the owners of the Grove Hotel in Kingsville.
Councillor Chris Vander Doelen says town staff did a great job on the proposal.
"This is a hugely important project," says Vander Doelen. "The public needs to be reminded that the Town of Essex has spent a quarter of a century trying to replot its economic future and some of the key aspects of our economic future involve agri-tourism and the wineries and one of the things that we've always wanted was a hotel or a motel."
He believes a motel in that area is well overdue.
"There is no hotel/motel south of Highway 3," he says. "It's like a crazy situation where you've got 200,000 people and there's no accommodations. So we've been desperate for this. I suspect it's going to be hugely successful, I certainly hope so."
Vander Doelen is hoping the motel sparks more development.
"I love the way it looks," says Vander Doelen. "I think it's going to be a tremendous addition, not just to Colchester, but for all of Essex and I hope that this is the first of several such things to come to Colchester and Essex."
There's no word yet when construction on the new motel will begin.