HOLLISTER
The proposal to build a 44-unit hotel in Tres Pinos found new life Tuesday, when the San Benito County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to allow the Spur Hotel to move forward without an environmental impact report.
The hotel proposal appeared to be in trouble after a majority of supervisors previously said they would require an EIR. Hotel developer John Eade has told the Free Lance that he isn’t willing to prepare the full environmental impact report, a position reiterated by his attorney Paul Rovella at Tuesday’s meeting.
“An EIR requirement is not a middle ground,” Rovella said. “An EIR requirement effectively kills this project.”
As proposed, the Spur Hotel would be at the intersection of Southside Road and Highway 25. It would include a banquet room, a meeting room and a swimming pool.
At the Sept. 25 meeting and in an interview with the Free Lance two days later, Board Chairman Don Marcus said he supports the preparation of an EIR, but on Tuesday he voted to approve the project without an EIR.
Marcus said he changed his position after the Eades offered to cover any of the county’s costs arising from legal challenges to the board’s decision.
“The developer has come forward and offered to indemnify this county well above and beyond what would be a standard process,” Marcus said.
After the meeting, hotel opponent Ed Schmidt, whose house is located next to the proposed site, complained about the Eades’ commitment to cover the county’s legal costs.
“That’s essentially a free pass for the county supervisors to approve something,” Schmidt said.
Such guarantees may not be particularly unusual. County Administrative Officer Susan Thompson and Deputy County Counsel Shirley Murphy said the developers will probably sign an agreement that’s normal for such projects.
“They haven’t signed anything yet, but it’s a standard agreement as far as we’re concerned,” Thompson said.
Supervisor Reb Monaco noted that although the board has approved a change from residential to commercial zoning, the Planning Commission still has to perform a commercial district review. The zone change won’t take effect unless the district review receives final approval, Murphy said.
Tuesday’s meeting wasn’t the first time a county official appeared to change a position on the hotel proposal. The Planning Commission initially voted 3-2 against the zone change, but Commissioner Dan DeVries eventually voted for the change and asked that the commercial district review be delayed.
At the time, DeVries said the district review would allow the developer and planning commissioners to take a close look at project plans and determine how they could be modified to meet residents’ concerns.
Supervisors Marcus, Monaco and Jaime De La Cruz voted in favor of the zone change. Supervisors Anthony Botelho and Pat Loe said that although the hotel is a good project, they need to see a full environmental report.
“I agree, it is a huge benefit,” Loe said. “But we can’t make those findings without doing a full EIR.”
Rovella argued that under California law, an EIR is not necessary. If the supervisors determine that a project could have a significant environmental impact – the threshold for an EIR – they need to base that decision on facts and evidence, not “unsubstantiated arguments,” he said.
Schmidt, on the other hand, said there are plenty of facts calling for an EIR, including the number of “unanswered questions” and “potential problems” involving traffic, water, parking and more.
“Would you like to live next to a business that’s open for every beat of your heart for the rest of your life?” Schmidt asked. “Would you like to do that without the protection of an EIR?”
Before the vote, County Planning Director Art Henriques said an EIR could take between two and six months to prepare, followed by another 28 weeks of review and revision.
“In some cases when you have a very big project, such as Coyote Valley … it could take years,” Henriques said.
He also said the county Planning Department recently learned that the Tres Pinos Water District’s sewer moratorium, which has been used as evidence against the hotel proposal, was not approved by the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.
During the public hearing, Hollister resident Marty Richman offered a different take. Whatever the supervisors decided, someone would lose, Richman said, so hotel supporters and opponents need to compromise.
“Lock ’em all in a room and don’t let them out until they reach an agreement,” he said.
