Coastal Commission will hear project appeal
Group to hear issues at its Long Beach meeting on April 11
An appeal against the hotel project slated to be built on the site of the American Tin Cannery in Pacific Grove is being brought to the California Coastal Commission following the project's months-long standstill.
The item is on the Coastal Commission's agenda for April 11 during its meeting in Long Beach. The Commission will discuss concerns brought up by the Pacific Grove Planning Commission and the Pacific Grove Coastal Watch.
The project proposes to create a 225-room hotel resort totaling about 350,000 square feet. The hotel would include two pools, a spa and fitness center, restaurants, banquet/meeting rooms and underground parking area.
In January 2022, the Pacific Grove City Council overturned the planning commission's denial and approved the hotel project. Since then, planning commissioners and other city officials have raised questions about the project's consistency with the city's Local Coastal Program and whether or not there is enough water available for the project. The Coastal
Commission agenda reads that staff also found that low-cost options, public views and access had not been addressed.
Pacific Grove's Local Coastal Program would only allow a development of the size and scope of the hotel if “it is clearly demonstrated that the development will be served by an adequate and sustainable long-term water supply.” This is due to the moratorium placed on illegal over pumping of the Carmel River. The hotel would only be able to pump the equivalent
amount of water currently being used by the retail shops in the American Tin Cannery. That would not be enough for a 225room hotel.
In the agenda, the developers have submitted a revised plan, still to create a hotel resort, but with 206 rooms, reduced retail space and public access elements such as a public park and a plaza at the corner of Ocean View Boulevard. The plan also would ensure that no more water would be used than what the original American Tin Cannery did.
The project developers also proposed a lowercost overnight package that would include providing 18 low-cost standard hotel rooms where the price would be no more than $184 per night. The package also includes a 16-unit, 64-bed group wing for shared accommodations, with four beds per room that would share a bathroom between every two rooms. These rates would be set at $85 per bed and could serve as a lower-cost option for single travelers and couples.