Coastal Commission should pause Trinidad hotel plans
I am a resident of Trinidad, and I am writing to express my opposition to a Hyatt hotel project proposed for the Trinidad Rancheria in Trinidad, CA, an ill-conceived, 5.5-story, 100-guestroom Hyatt hotel the Trinidad Rancheria wants to build above Trinidad Bay.
I concur with HARP’s objections to the project. There is no apparent independent analysis of the wells’ capacity during drought season, water quality, or the wells’ potential impact on nearby wells and aquifers. These are shallow wells. Would they provide a reliably uncontaminated source of water? Independent tests and evaluation on the two wells are essential to protect public health and to confirm the wells’ capacity, water quality, and to confirm that they will not hurt neighbors’ wells and aquifers. One of the two wells is downslope from the leachfields, and taps shallow (groundwater) sources. There is no detailed plan for treating the well water, and questions remain about treating so much wastewater on that fragile, sandy bluff (directly upslope from one of the two wells!). What about water treatment? Has the Rancheria established that it has the expertise to treat water from these wells to meet water quality standards? What about wastewater treatment and leachfields?
When the Rancheria’s wells do not produce enough water to supply the needs of the hotel, where would the additional water needs come from? BIA talks vaguely about drilling a third well somewhere, and trucking in additional water along Scenic Drive. Impacts of trucking were not considered in the final Finding of No SIgnificant Impact (FONSI)/Environmental Assessment (EA,). Surely, impacts on Trinidad traffic and Scenic Drive would be negative. Trucked water is usually provided to customers with failing wells; new homes cannot be constructed in Humboldt County unless wells can be shown to have adequate production. How can a new hotel be constructed that will likely need to have trucked-in water? Where would the trucked water come from? Is it legal for a services district to provide water to a commercial enterprise when that enterprise has designed a facility with an inadequate water supply? Has anyone considered the effects of draining an additional 9,500 gallons per day or more into the sandy bluff? And there are other components of this piecemeal development yet to come: a 50unit RV park, minimart/gas station; full highway interchange on 101; other Rancheria buildout, etc.
Additionally, this project will be a very adverse visual impact on the coast; It is inconsistent with every other structure in the area, and it will impact the rural village character of the Trinidad area.
I have many other objections to the project, and urge the Coastal Commission to withhold its approval altogether. I question the legitimacy of the Coastal Commission’s August 2019 decision. How is this proposed 5.5-story hotel consistent with the CA Coastal Act? On these points, at the very least, I ask that the Coastal Commission require a much more complete independent analysis of the project in the interests of public health and safety.