Council Approves 106-Room Hotel on Broadway Near Ocean

After hours of hearing from community members who were mostly against the project, the Santa Cruz City Council finalized approval of a 106-room Hyatt Plaza Hotel on the grounds of the abandoned Unity Temple at 407 Broadway.

"I think the process has been conducted thoroughly and thoroughly transparently," said Councilman Cynthia Mathews who was one of five representatives who voted to approve the project. Only Micah Posner voted against it. Posner owns a home in the neighborhood, but said he got permission to vote on it because he lived more than 500 feet from the project.

When it was passed two years ago, then councilman Ryan Coonerty abstained because he lived next door to it. Councilman Hilary Bryant wasn't at this meeting.

"I think the people best qualified to determine whether something will clean up a neighborhood are the people in the neighborhood," argued Posner, adding that few in the neighborhood wanted the hotel, which was allowed in an area zoned for homes and apartments.

"Every hotel brings a neighborhood down," he added. "A nice hotel just brings it down a little less. How do we control it? Through zoning."

Posner said he bought a home in the area knowing it wasn't zoned for businesses and thought it was a disservice to neighbors to change it.

Councilman Don Lane, however, argued that the decision was made two years ago and the developers have put in hudreds of thousands of dollars into the project. To back out now would "be damaging both to the community and to the developer."

The church site has been a problem for years, even when it was functioning according to police and neighbors. It was a place to find drugs and prostitutes.  

Mathews said she thought the hotel would give added security to the neighborhood with lighting, video cameras and 24-hour parking staff. All guests will be required to use valet parking, and they will park some cars with an elevator stacking system, like those used in New York. 

One problem no one had much of an answer for was the added traffic in the already crowded area and the difficulty of making a left turn on Broadway into the hotel's lot.

The city is studying a dedicated turn lane there, but neighbors said the street is already packed, particularly after school at 3 p.m., the same time hotel guests will be able to check in.