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MyspaceOver the objections of some of the city’s other hoteliers, the Goleta City Council gave the go-ahead to the Camino Real Hotel project, to be built in red-tile-roof style to match the nearby Camino Real Marketplace. The vote at the Tuesday night, February 3, council meeting was 3-2 in favor, with holdouts Margaret Connell and Ed Easton arguing that the market for hotel rooms will be spread thin by the 99 new rooms on Storke Road near Phelps Avenue.
The new hotel is a project of the marketplace’s developer Mark Linehan, president of Wynmark Corporation, and was, in fact, part of the mall’s original plans. Linehan told the council the hotel fills a niche for “boutique hotels” - a term that one observer defined as costing “more than the Holiday Inn but less than the Bacara.”
Roger Aceves, the swing vote in many differences of opinion between the council’s slow-growth and pro-growth interests, said he was “very excited” about the new hotel. Aceves said he has heard numerous times from Goleta’s international businesses that they want more conference and hotel rooms. During his campaign two years ago, Aceves emphasized downtown redevelopment and made it clear that he felt Goleta should not play a distant second to Santa Barbara in attracting visitors.
“I want Goleta to be a destination location,” Aceves said. “We’re less than a gas tank away from L.A., so if people want to get away - why not stay in Goleta?” He said Goleta should take advantage in particular of families who are visiting UCSB students. “There’s really no reason they should go stay in Santa Barbara.”
Connell said she had nothing against the project per se, including the developer’s aspirations to obtain LEED certification for green building, explaining, “I’ve been saying for a long time that there should be a study of the actual market for hotel rooms, because the council has been adding hotel after hotel.” She listed the recently approved Marriott and Rincon Palms-not to mention the Bacara’s expansion plans. “I would have approved it if it had been 50 rooms,” she said.
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Comments
Oh, crap. Just what I don't want - more tourists from LA making themselves comfy in Goleta. I don't want to be the new destination location. Can't we just live quietly under the radar?
I guess not. Thanks City Council. I'm voting you all out next election.
goletasue (anonymous profile)
February 4, 2009 at 5:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Speaking as someone who works for one of "Goleta's international businesses" as Aceves labels us ... when I go visit my partner tech company in Orange County, I pay ~$100 per room. When they come up to visit us in Goleta, they often have to pay twice as much for a similar level hotel. That just drives up our cost of doing business on a long term project with no real value add.
And having worked for decades in Goleta, I have never seen the need to rent a conference room, our own facilities have always adequate.
So from my viewpoint, there isn't any value add in a "boutique hotel". Just give us regular business class hotels! UCSB parents won't care when they come for graduation.
EastBeach (anonymous profile)
February 4, 2009 at 8:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
So, what happened to the MTD facility that was *supposed* to go next to the Marketplace, on Storke. Will that get built as a mitigation for the horrendous traffic that this new hotel will generate? Will Camino Real Marketplace itself finally start adhering to its alternative transit agreements as part of this?
sevendolphins (anonymous profile)
February 4, 2009 at 10:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What a wonderful sight for sore eyes.
Count me in as another slow-growth advocate in favor of beautifying our community. Fess Parker won me over by cleaning up the mess that once existed along Cabrillo. The Bacara gave us much better access to the beach and a beautiful addition to Goleta. And as much as I love open space, I love the new Storke overpass, a shorter commute to UCSB, the Camino Real Marketplace, and Girsch Park.
Now if only UCSB would follow suit and further develop the Santa Barbara style rather than more modern-today and ugly-tomorrow buildings they have thrown up in recent years. If the University of Colorado can have a red tile roof on every building, not to mention gorgeous stone exteriors, why not us?
To all of those who have improved the Santa Barbara and Goleta areas over the past 50 years, thank you.
LaGrange (anonymous profile)
February 5, 2009 at 12:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I take the Storke exit to go to and from home everyday. At 99 rooms at full capacity it is about 99 more cars. I won't even notice it. And it would occupy the eyesore behind home depot, in front of the fire station and will not interfere with the park. And 7D - do you really want an MTD bus facility out here?
As a plus, we won't after discuss beach access on this one. :) Peace
laszlo (Laszlo Hodosy)
February 5, 2009 at 12:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What an original architectural design! Also, I know that those who are behind this project are behind it not because they are benefiting in any way from it, but because they know that it will truly help the community.
This will go a long way in addressing the problems affecting the nearby community including too much traffic, gangs, drunken U.C.S.B. students, and of course, the high price of housing. The quality of life is so much better here now that it was 30 years ago and we all know why.
Think about the tremendous benefit all the building and growth Santa Barbara/Goleta has reaped. Think of all the tourist dollars that have been spent! So what if most of us can't afford to live here comfortably, the bottom line is our leaders tell us growth is good for the economy and if they say it, I believe it. The benefits of bringing in more people have been obvious: I notice when I drive how much more relaxed other drivers are.
Another thing: (If you silly slow-growth people would only listen) If we were to develop all the land around us, there would be no more fire danger! Think about it: Get rid of that ugly useless grass that grows out of the dirt and cover it with concrete, and nothing will burn since concrete isn't flammable. Nothing green, nothing to burn; simple! Joni Mitchell never got it--we *should* make this one big parking lot; if we did that, there would be no more problems parking. (Duh!) Pave it all over, I say.
Remember people, this is ALL for our benefit, and not for the developers, even if some of them do live out-of-town.
Meanwhile, someone is offering a good deal on some beachfront property in Kansas.
billclausen (anonymous profile)
February 5, 2009 at 3:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
And what's the deal with the theft of McDonald's ???
mangomamma (anonymous profile)
February 9, 2009 at 12:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)