Neat B and I were on the Bench this past long weekend. Hidden Bench Estate Winery was doing "Raclette on the Bench" and so, naturally, we went to check that out. We're suckers for Savoie-like mountain food. Anthony Bourdain was also right when he said, "you can never have too much cheese, bacon, or starch."

All of the above ingredients were local and we ended up sitting beside a nice lady from Upper Canada Cheese (the source of the raclette). She told us all about the benefits of A2 milk and explained that it's why people often feel better consuming copious amounts of cheese in Europe compared to in North America, even if they're lactose intolerant.

After Hidden Bench, we decided to go down the street to Domaine Le Clos Jordanne. We had never been before but we actually served one of their wines at our wedding last summer. They specialize in chardonnay and pinot noir. As soon as we walked in the door, we were super impressed by the space, and our host Tamara.

The interiors are by Solid Design Creative and they collaborated with Pamela Nelson on a really great 16-foot high art installation. It is meant to represent the "terroir" of the winery -- namely its strata of limestone, clay, sand, and silt -- and that is, of course, what their winemaker is all about. Turning the Bench region into liquid form.

If you haven't been, I would highly recommend a visit to both of these wineries, followed by a stopover at UCC for some A2-milk cheese. Or so I've been told.

Today I have two things to share.

One, I'm not very good at following proper protocols during council meetings. You know, where you're supposed to direct communication via the chair person and say things like, "Through you, Mr./Madam Chair." I will work on improving this.

Two, I'm thrilled to report that, last evening, the proposed zoning and Official Plan amendments for Project Bench were approved by the Town of Lincoln Councillors in an 8-1 vote. This is following the positive planning staff report that I wrote about last month. Once again, this is an important milestone for the project and we're excited for the next steps.

At the same time, we recognize that change can be difficult. And this development represents change for the community. Three people from the community spoke last night in opposition of the project.

I spoke to one of them after the meeting and he was very respectful and said, "congratulations." But he also went on to say, "I hope that you and the team will continue to work with the community as you have been doing." My response was, "absolutely we will."

Onward.

Update: Just to be clearer on the planning process details, last night was the Town of Lincoln's Committee of the Whole meeting. The Committee of the Whole has three areas of focus: community services & infrastructure, general business & finance, and planning & economic development. All Town of Lincoln Councillors, including the mayor, voted on the project at this meeting. The next step is for the Committee's recommendation to go to Council for final approval, and this meeting is scheduled for December 16, 2024. Following this, a formal Notice of Decision will be issued.

If you go to the Town of Lincoln, Ontario's website, scroll down to the meeting calendar, lookup the December 2nd Committee of the Whole, and click on the meeting agenda, you will end up right here. And then, if you click on 7.2.1. under reports, you will get to this planning staff report recommending approval of the Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications for 4933 Victoria Avenue North -- also known as Project Bench.

Here's some of what the report says:

This report provides a recommendation to Committee, Council and the general public regarding the Official Plan Amendment and Zoning By-law Amendment applications to permit the development of a mixed-use residential building with 346 dwelling units, 100 hotel suites, banquet space, and commercial uses including restaurant, café and spa on the subject lands.

[The] Committee recommend to Council to approve the Official Plan Amendment application (PLOPA20240045) and Zoning By-law Amendment application (PLZBA20240046) by Landwise on behalf of 4933 Vic Court Globizen GP Inc.

It has been a real pleasure working with the local community and the Town of Lincoln on these development applications. From the start, our goal has been to create something remarkable for the town and the broader Niagara Benchlands, and so this approval recommendation is an important milestone for the team. We're excited for the next steps! For more on Project Bench, make sure you check out onthebench.ca.

On a separate note, since switching blogging platforms earlier this week, I have heard from a lot of you that my newsletter is now going to your spam folder. I was expecting this. Spam filters don't like familiar names with a different email address. So to continue hearing from me, you may need to whitelist the following address: brandondonnelly@newsletter.paragraph.xyz.

Sadly, I also don't have a solution for those of you who were subscribed to my weekly digest on Sunday mornings. This was about a quarter of you. Sorry. Paragraph doesn't seem to have this functionality. But I'm in touch with the company directly and so maybe it's a feature they can add. Thanks for continuing to read. I'll keep you posted as I try and figure something out.