HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-17-2015 PH1 Griffin 2Subject: FW: Monterey St. Hotel Proposal
FEB 11 2015
COUNCIL MEETING: Z-1-1-i15
ITEM NO.: 5
From: Cindy Griffin [ma i Ito: cindyslo0)mac.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 4:16 PM
To: Ashbaugh, John; Mejia, Anthony; Carpenter, Dan; Christianson, Carlyn; Marx, Jan; Rivoire, Dan
Subject: Monterey St. Hotel Proposal
Dear Mayor, Council Members, and City Clerk,
I have a great desire to express my concerns surrounding the Monterey Street Hotel
proposal with some degree of clarity and brevity, so I will attempt to do so via the use of bullet
points: please forgive the lack of prosaic elegance.
*I am deeply appreciative to the developers for the modifications they have already
made. Enclosure of the parking structure and elimination of balconies will go a long way toward
preservation of serenity in the San Luis Drive neighborhood.
*I remain concerned, however, about noise - levels associated with the remaining outdoor parking
areas. It would be far better to avoid a problem in the first place than to later attempt to mitigate
it. Will the remaining parking be problematic for local residents, and is it truly necessary?
*The mass and scale of the structure continues to be a huge issue. I will be bringing a large
photograph to the City Council meeting to illustrate my concern. It shows the (2 story, plus
parking level) Super 8 motel towering above the homes on San Luis Drive. If this is what 2
stories look like, it is incomprehensible for me to envision the visual impact of 4 stories and a
parking level.
*I have no doubt that the Peach Tree Inn and Daylight Gardens will be bulldozed at some future
point, to make way for further hotel development. If the 4 -story Monterey Street Hotel proposal
is approved at this time, it sets the stage for San Luis Drive to eventually be engulfed by massive
structures. I once lived in downtown Manhattan, and I like the ambiance of my current
neighborhood far better.
*I have concerns not only about the possible approval of this hotel project but also about the
political process through which it is being reviewed. I had not previously been aware that
"Staff' (and who, exactly, is "Staff' ?) enjoyed the liberty of asking both ARC and the Planning
Commission to follow their (pre- determined) recommendations, to approve the original 4 -story
hotel proposal. Why even have a Planning Commission if it is being asked to follow the
recommendation of "Staff'? And why have a planning committee if the members are being told
that "size and mass" decisions are outside their domain of review, and that the Architectural
Review Committee had already found these elements to be acceptable and so the Planning
Commission should do the same?
*I am well aware that I started out with 1 concern (size and mass of the proposed hotel) and
ended up with 3 (size and mass, "Staff' authority, and ARC authority). But to bring my views
full - circle, I truly hope that you will not approve a hotel structure that so conspicuously violates
the spirit of Ordinance 1130.
Regards,
Cynthia Griffin and J. Ben Griffin