A lawyer representing residents opposed to a condominium project proposed for their lakeside neighbourhood was astonished to learn the developer is forecasting a win at the Ontario Municipal Board.

“Frankly, it is quite premature to say that anyone can predict what the outcome of this process is going to be,” Eric Gillespie said this week.

Gillespie contacted Orillia Today after reading an article in which developer Ron Sattler said he was confident the OMB would grant the approvals necessary to forge ahead with a triple-tower condominium project on Orchard Point.

Coun. Ralph Cipolla echoed Sattler’s comments, noting that city staff had recommended council approve the project.

Gillespie said he found the recent remarks troubling given the complexity of the case.

“I do think that the comments raise some concerns about basic respect for the board process,“ he said. “Many people recognize that the outcome of the process in this case doesn’t appear to be a foregone conclusion.”

More than a dozen witnesses are scheduled to appear at the hearing, which is slated to begin Sept. 15 and last about two weeks.

The size and density of the project and the impact on traffic are among more than a dozen issues to be explored at the hearing.

Gillespie described Orchard Point as an “archeological gem,” rich with evidence of the Aboriginal people who occupied the lands near the Narrows thousands of years ago.

“Even by OMB standards, this is not a simple hearing that people are preparing for,” he added.

Sattler told Orillia Today that a marketing campaign was well under way and that a number of units had already been sold.

Buyers were made aware of the pending OMB hearing, he stressed.

“From our experience, it is not unheard of, but certainly unusual for a project that has been voted down by a municipal council to still be publicly marketed,” said Gillespie. “Right now, there is no planning approval for the scale of development that is being apparently advertised.”

Council last year rejected the proposal for a triple-tower condominium at Orchard Point amid concerns over the size and scope of the project.

That decision has since been appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board.

Gillespie, of Cunningham & Gillespie LLP, is representing members of the Orchard Point Community Association, who oppose the project in its current form.

“In the minds of a number of residents, you are talking about irrevocably altering the character of that part of Orillia,” he said. “There is nothing similar to the proposed development on Orchard Point, and that brings with it a number of implications.”

An approval could pave the way for similar projects on the point, he added.

“There are other parcels of land that could be developed in the future, so in some respects the hearing won’t just be deciding what will occur at the tip of the point, it will be deciding whether that whole neighbourhood is going to potentially become a site for a number of large-scale developments,” he added

The outcome of the hearing will either ensure “the preservation of a way of life on the point,” or mark “the beginning of the end of that way of life,” Gillespie said.