Zone change clears way for The Spur
Plans to build a 44-unit hotel in tiny Tres Pinos took a
surprising large step forward this week.
Zone change clears way for The Spur
Plans to build a 44-unit hotel in tiny Tres Pinos took a surprising large step forward this week.
John and Jae Eade’s proposal to build The Spur hotel near the intersection of Airline Hwy. and Southside Road received the change of zoning it needed in a 3-2 vote before the county Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
The hotel proposal has drawn outspoken opposition from neighboring residents, who say they fear that its impacts will hopelessly compromise their small-town way of life. A day after the supervisors’ meeting, the project’s leading opponent promised to continue attempts to block the hotel project.
“The people of Tres Pinos will fight for their rights,” said Robert Frusetta, who stopped short of promising a legal challenge to the zone change.
It was the prospect of a legal challenge, and the Eades’ offer to indemnify the county against any legal costs stemming from such a challenge, that became the crux of the issue.
Less than a week before Tuesday’s meeting, a majority of supervisors stated opposition to the project. When the zone change request first came before the board on Sept. 25, the board voted 3-2 to deny it, insisting an environmental impact report needed to be prepared before the matter could be considered further.
The Eades’ attorney, Paul Rovella of Hollister, said Tuesday that the time and expense an EIR would require would effectively doom the project.
Supervisors were clearly divided over the issue. Reb Monaco, whose district encompasses the site of the proposed hotel, and Jaime De La Cruz have consistently advocated expediting the application.
But they were in the minority prior to Tuesday’s vote, when Supervisor Don Marcus changed his position – and his pivotal vote.
“I feel like I was elected to protect the county and to enhance the county,” Marcus said. “Since Sept. 25 the developer has come forward and expressed a willingness to indemnify the county well beyond the standard business practice. In light of what I know today … I support moving forward with a zone change.”
Marcus’ vote produced a few gasps. No one was more surprised than the applicant, John Eade, he said Wednesday.
“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” he said.
The conceptual drawings for The Spur show a Mediterranean-style building surrounded by lush landscaping.
The board vote for a zoning change came after nearly two hours of sometimes-impassioned discussion by the board and members of the public.
The neighbors nearest the project, Ed and Jane Schmidt, were some of the most passionate speakers.
Ed Schmidt emphasized the unanswered questions he said are connected to the project.
“There’re just too many questions,” Schmidt said. “The mitigated negative declaration – in my opinion it’s been subverted. It’s been tweaked.”
The county Planning Department’s initial study found no basis to require an environmental impact report. Such a report could take a year to complete, at significant cost to the applicant.
A mitigated negative declaration, on the other hand, is an administrative document that avers that there are no significant environmental impacts associated with a project that cannot be remediated.
While the zoning change represents clearing an important hurdle, it does not constitute project approval.
“The zone change [approved by the board] only applies if the project that’s assessed in the environmental work is approved,” said planner Byron Turner. “Essentially, it’s for the hotel only.”
Now the project has to go back before the planning commission for “commercial district review,” essentially a use permit, Turner said. That’s likely to happen early next year, Turner said.
The board minority sided with Schmidt in advocating a thorough environmental study.
“[The California Environmental Quality Act] is very direct,” Supervisor Pat Loe said. “CEQA doesn’t have wiggle room in it. The EIR has to be on the whole of the project, and the whole of the project includes the zone change. I feel strongly that we cannot go forward with the project until … we do an EIR.”
Supervisor Anthony Botelho agreed.
“I don’t think it [an EIR] is too much to ask before moving on with a zone change,” he said.
For Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz, the issue is clear. De La Cruz ran for office on a campaign built around economic development.
“There’s been a discussion of not in my backyard,” De La Cruz said. “It’s time to move on. It’s time to progress. We’ve got to work on a new San Benito County. I’m going to support this hotel because it’s in the right direction. It’s a small step but we’ve got to do it.”
