New hotel plan will be discussed with public.

Sporting red handkerchiefs, dozens of Santa Clarita residents spoke out against a proposed Sheraton Hotel development at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The project is proposed for the 3.7 acre piece of land currently home to The Greens Restaurant and putting green facility. It calls for a new 200-room hotel, restaurant and banquet facilities. At a max of 88 feet high, the proposed building is close to the height of other nearby buildings including the Hyatt (85 ft), Princess Cruises building (99 ft), Facey/Providence Holy Cross building (50 ft) and Valencia Town Center (69 ft).

The City’s Planning Commission approved the project on July 7th, however a new resident group called “Positive Solutions” appealed the decision.

The appeal centers on several points. They believe the plan is in violation of the Unified Development Code as it relates to variance and adjustment, and that it is not consistent with the City’s general plan. Also, Positive Solutions believes that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is required of a project which could have a significant impact on the environment. City staff had concluded that the impacts of the projects could be reduced to “less than significant,” although opponents of the project believe there are enough questions to warrant an EIR, which would study the project in greater detail.

The public comment provided enough questions for the City Council to unanimously vote to postpone a decision on this project until the applicant can meet with the appellant group and the City can provide more information.

After announcing the postponement, some residents who had planned to speak out against the project waived their time.

The project will be put on hold for indefinitely, to resume when the City determines that progress has been made and answers to the proposed questions have been generated. This dialogue between all three parties, (project applicant, City, and Positive Solutions), could help stem the tide of potential law suits.

“There is a strong possibility that litigation can be avoided,” said Alan Cameron, who represented Positive Solutions.

Another reason Positive Solutions members requested the additional time was that they felt they were not properly noticed. Even though the developer visited several homeowners’ association meetings in the Woodlands neighborhood, the HOA was legally prohibited from taking a position, and therefore did not notify all residents of the project. The project sits about 1,000 feet east of the Woodlands, and is in the line of sight of several residences.

Other opponents of the plan expressed disdain at the overall size of the project and questioned whether or not the area needed another hotel, much less one of this size. The head of the Hyatt Regency hotel in Santa Clarita backed up this claim, saying that there is an overstock of hotel rooms in the Valley. However, City Attorney Carl Newton told the Council that it was not proper for them to weigh the potential economic success of a given project, but rather to stick to land use issues.