Pacific Grove considers Hotel Durell development project

UPDATE 7/11/2018 11:00 P.M.

The Pacific Grove City Council did not take any action at Wednesday’s meeting.

They asked the developer to come back with a revised plan addressing concerns council members brought up.

The public hearing will be continued at the council’s August 15th meeting.

PREVIOUS STORY: A planned new hotel development is causing quite a stir in Pacific Grove.

Developers want to demolish the old Grand Central Station building on the intersection of Grand and Central Avenues and replace it with a 120-room commercial hotel.

“It’s the only site in downtown that will allow a hotel and it’s only one of two sites in the entire city that will allow a hotel,” said Mark J. Brodeur, the director of the Pacific Grove Community and Economic Development Department.

The project includes a landscaped courtyard area, a restaurant and a soaking spa. It is also planning to have underground and off-site parking.

The city’s planning commission already approved the hotel in a four to one vote. But the City Council is taking the unusual step of calling up the project for a vote themselves, partly because it has been so controversial.

“The City Council most likely received a significant number of emails and phone calls from constituents in the community who did not agree with the planning commission’s decision,” said Brodeur.

“My wife is against it. There’s a restaurant there called Mando’s that we really like a lot and she doesn’t like a lot of building,” said Charles Schwartz, a Pacific Grove resident who lives just across the proposed hotel site.

Many residents are concerned with the size of the at least two-story hotel. They are worried about traffic congestion and heavy foot traffic. There are also concerns about the hotel’s architecture.

“The opposition feels that the architecture needs to be more respectful of the architecture of the library across the street and of the Natural History Museum which is on the side of it,” said Brodeur.

The pros of having a hotel are mainly economic. The city is projecting to get an additional $500,000 a year from the Transient Occupancy Tax. They also see the potential benefit of tourists on local shops and restaurants.
“I’m all in favor of this project, I think it needs to be built,” said Ray Byrne, a Pacific Grove resident. “We need to have vibrant businesses in this community to keep it from dying on the vine.”

If the hotel gets approved, Brodeur says nothing will probably happen for two years at least. Developers still have to wait for water privileges.

Many residents voiced their concerns at the City Council meeting at Pacific Grove City Hall Wednesday evening. The council chambers were packed all the way to the door with people standing out in the hallway.

One resident spoke about the small, hometown feel of Pacific Grove and his desire to keep it that way.

KION will bring you the result of the City Council vote when it becomes available.