Checking in on hotel project

The Sonoma Planning Commission was not impressed by the first presentation of an Environmental Impact Report prepared for Kenwood Investment’s West Napa Street Hotel Project. Commission Chairman Robert Felder went so far as to call the report “insufficient and inadequate” and “seriously flawed.” Not a great reception for a document theorizing how the hotel would add minimal traffic to the downtown mix (while preserving existing parking space and pedestrian safety) and use a “less than significant” amount of water — 5.7 million gallons a year, give or take a few spa days. Doing the math will keep you busy while your lawn goes brown under mandatory water reductions… The EIR was not up for a vote, just review and comments. Now, the project consultant must take that input and revise the EIR for a formal presentation in a few months… Wouldn’t it be easier just to rent out the existing offices as Airnbnb vacation rooms?

The discussion about water introduced one unexplored tangent: the sewage pipes under Broadway are old and leaky. It’s unlikely that the discharged sewage from any new development will get permission from the local Bay Area water quality regulators to add to the volume already causing sewage overflow and unsanitary conditions… There may be room at the Inn, but you have to bring your own water.

Neighbors have long complained about crazy drivers using Agua Caliente Road as a speedway between Highway 12 and Arnold. The County is now onboard with “traffic calming measurers” to improve traffic safety conditions for motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists. Among them: speed-reduction signs; reflective markers along the road centerline, which discourage higher speeds; and red curbs near driveways for better visibility. Speed display signs for both westbound and eastbound traffic will be installed, and expect more coverage by CHP, which is Latin for ‘slow down and enjoy the view.’

–Val Robichaud

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