This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

City Will Seek McGregor Drive Hotel Plans

Dennis Norton is skeptical of selling land owned by the city.

A plan for city staff to solicit proposals for a hotel on McGregor Drive near New Brighton State Park was approved 5-0 at Thursday's Capitola City Council meeting. The City Finance Committee proposed the fact finding mission because selling the property—which is owned by the city—for a hotel to be built could create a long term revenue source.

Some councilmembers said they approve of seeking input from developers and wanted more information before committing to selling the property.

“I am going to approve of us looking around, but wonder if this project would simply cannibalize our existing hotels,” said Councilmember Sam Storey. “I'm not convinced building another hotel will really increase our [net hotel tax] revenue.”

Find out what's happening in Capitola-Soquelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Councilmember Stephanie Harlan said she would not support a chain hotel unless it could be tied into the identity of the area. She proposed naming the hypothetical business “The New Brighton Motel.”

Dennis Norton said he would insist that funds from selling the land would go toward buying different property rather than into the general fund.

Find out what's happening in Capitola-Soquelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Here are five other key takeaways from Thursday's council meeting:

  • A permanent quarter cent city sales tax increase was approved 5 to 0 to go on the November ballot.

  • Designs for a were approved 5-0. The plan is for Truckee-based artist Troy Corliss' plan to install sculptures on the median between Gross Street and Portola Drive. The pieces include a nine foot tall “grove of surfboards,” and “floating kayaks.” The public art fund, which currently has $370K, is backing the project.

  • The council approved amending zoning between Hill Street and Highway 1 to allow for a 13-bed homeless shelter in the future. No plans for a shelter were approved, but a local property owner expressed concern for the businesses nearby.

  • Council meeting agendas will no longer list budget amendments that occur within a single department, but they will still be available online.

  • The city said farewell to after serving with the department since 1973.
  • See Mayor Mike Termini's blog post on . And feel free to leave comments and questions for the mayor.

    Do you agree with the sales tax increase? What do you think about the funding for the art project? Got opinions on a possible new hotel? Tell us in the comments!

    Want Patch in your inbox every morning? Sign up for our free newsletter!

    We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

    The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?