La Bahia Hotel Project, Two Decades in the Making, Voted Down by the Coastal Commission Thursday

Saying they didn't think a hotel project needed an 18-foot exception to height restrictions along the cost, a majority of six Coastal Commissioners voted against Santa Cruz's grand plan for a new hotel and meeting center across from the Beach Boardwalk.

The vote put to rest a long struggle to build what supporters said was a jewel in the redevelopment of the Beach area, and a building that would have brought conventions and meetings to Santa Cruz, instead of to Monterey.

The no vote was spearheaded by Santa Cruz County Commissioner Mark Stone, of Scotts Valley, who said he feared that making an exception for this project would set a bad precedent for future growth.

"I'm gratified," said Don Webber who lobbied hard against what he said was an unsightly behemoth of a building that would destroy the neighborhood's character.

Santa Cruz Mayor Ryan Coonerty said he was "seriously disappointed."

"This was a very good project that would have created a lot of jobs and was consistent with the values of the community."

He said he was also disappointed with Mark Stone, who "had a chance to lead and be the voice of this community but he chose not to, which is especially disappointing."

Jesse Nickell, the project's supervisor, said the company had no plan to come up with a hotel there that would fit the height ordinance.

"There is no plan B," he said. "That was it. It's over."

Nickell, speaking for developer Barry Swenson Builder, told the commission Thursday that it can't build the 125-room hotel profitably and with significant architectural homages to the past, such as luxurious courtyards and a swimming pool without five-stories of hotel rooms. That means the commission must approve a 61-foot-high building while its restrictions are now held to 43 feet. With architectural enhancements on top, such as the tower now on the hotel, it would be 71 feet high.

Opponents, including a group called Build A Better La Bahia, had asked that the commission force the developer to remodel the Spanish-style stucco building created in 1926, rather than tear it down and rebuild.

About 100 people turned out to Watsonville City Hall to address the commission charged with monitoring the coast and keeping it accessible to everyone. The commission has been instrumental in keeping places like Santa Cruz from looking like Miami Beach.

Most of those who turned out favored the new plan, saying that the city has a great need for more quality hotel rooms. Even a competitor, the manager of the Dream Inn down the street, said her hotel was often booked up and there was no place to send people who wanted nice hotel rooms.

Resident Don Webber has become the leader of the opposition. He told the commission that the added height would block out some of the views that make the beach area so beautiful. He claimed that the La Bahia's owners – Barry Swenson and the Seaside Company, which also owns the Beach Boardwalk – have purposely let the La Bahia rot in order to build a more profitable building.

The Casablanca hotel and restaurant next door was built in 1916, 10 years before the La Bahia, and it's in great shape, he said. Had the companies put the same effort into the La Bahia, which is now being used to house overseas workers in its 42 rooms at the Boardwalk, it wouldn't have had to be demolished.

With him was the Sierra Club, which called for redevelopment, not demolition of the existing building and several people who feared that breaking the height restriction in what they called 'spot zoning" will set a precedent all over the coast.

Among the proponents, City Councilwoman Hilary Bryant, said the new hotel would provide needed jobs for people in the neighborhood, who could walk to work. 

The opponents website is here

Supporters are here.