ALEXANDRIA — Developer Jake Johnson has notified the town’s planning board that he’s pulling his plans to operate a summer resort on three islands on the St. Lawrence River.
Alexandria zoning officer Norris Handschuh said that Mr. Johnson decided to pull the project last week after the planning board tabled the proposal during a July 18 meeting about the summer resort on Sport Island and two adjoining islands.
Mr. Johnson, who acquired Sport Island in 2019 for $1.25 million, said he withdrew the application.
“We’ll reach out to neighboring property owners to address any concerns that they have,” Mr. Johnson said Tuesday.
The resort was proposed to consist of a 10-bed mansion and 14 other beds in five single-family houses on the three islands, a few hundred feet from the Canadian border. The proposal also called for creating a pair of 110-foot docks with 30 slips.
The resort was proposed to include a tiki bar and an event venue for weddings, family reunions and corporate meetings.
But the project was met by opposition from neighbors, who contended that the resort would change the character of the islands, expressing concerns that it would be a commercial venture in a serene area of the Thousand Islands.
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