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By
Keith Rushing
North
County Times
December 31, 2006
OCEANSIDE
---- A developer with plans to build an 82-room hotel near the
west end of the Buena Vista Lagoon will seek approval from the
Oceanside City Council in February, with the understanding
that the project would be built with a different design.
The city Planning Commission rejected developer Oceanside
Three's plans for the 3.8-acre site in October in a 6-1 vote.
The project's opponents complained that the project, which
includes a three-story hotel with a 4,000-square-foot
restaurant and four condominiums, was poorly designed, would
dominate the nearby residential neighborhood and would block
views of the lagoon.
The
commission rejected the developer's plans but the developer
has decided to appeal to City Council.
Jim Bartell, a consultant to the developer, said the developer
will seek approval directly from the City Council on Feb. 14
without returning to the commission. He said the commission's
approval isn't necessary for plans to proceed.
"We went to the Planning Commission already," said
Bartell. "We've responded to most of the concerns they've
raised. Going back there would just be more time. Right now,
we're just planning to go to the council."
The architect for the project, Ken Chriss, said the developer
would seek council approval for the same hotel plan that the
commission reviewed in October, with the condition that the
project would incorporate Chriss' new design.
Chriss said the project has undergone numerous changes in
response to the concerns of residents and various groups.
Initially, the hotel was designed in the post-modern style of
architect Irving Gill, who designed Oceanside City Hall.
Chriss said the idea was to design a hotel in a style that was
common to Oceanside. But, he said, "We couldn't get
strong support for the Irving Gill, post-modern
approach."
Chriss said the City Council wanted more of a French
Normandy-style hotel, featuring cross gables and steep roofs,
which was the second design he planned. But at commission
meetings, Chriss said there were complaints that the hotel
would look too much like buildings in Carlsbad if it were
built in a French Normandy-style.
Chriss said that design has been scrapped in favor of a
craftsman design with "heavier, solid materials" and
"a lot more glass," and that "it carries a
strong upscale feel."
The project will also be renamed the Coastal Lagoon Hotel
instead of Boardwalk. Chriss said the new name is more
suitable because the California Department of Fish and Game
decided the project shouldn't have a boardwalk.
The idea of a name change and a redesign were no consolation
to Karen Dugan, a neighborhood resident who circulated
petitions opposing the project before the commission met in
October. Dugan said she's concerned about the loss of open
space, the environmental effects of construction near the
lagoon and the increased traffic and noise.
"For me and for everybody else in our neighborhood, it
wipes out the lagoon view entirely," Dugan said. "I
think it's beautiful like it is."
Dugan also said the proposal is "ill-conceived" and
speculative and, if it fails, the neighborhood would be stuck
with a building that has damaged the lagoon.
"If they can't find buyers, then they've wrecked the
whole place, and you can't get it back," she said.
Plans call for opening the hotel in 2010. It's expected to
generate about $520,000 for Oceanside in hotel, sales and
property taxes. Seventy of the 82 rooms would be sold to
investors, who would have fractional ownership and could
occupy the rooms for 90 days each year but only 29 days at any
one time. Hotel rooms would always be available to the public.
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