Pacific Grove staff recommends certifying ATC Hotel Commercial Project EIR

PACIFIC GROVE – The Pacific Grove Planning Commission will consider certifying the ATC Hotel and Commercial Project Environmental Impact Report, and approve four permits sought, as recommended by staff, at its meeting Thursday.

An agenda report from contract planner Rob Mullane of the American Institute of Certified Planners to members of the planning commission says, in part, “the project demonstrates consistency with the General Plan, Coastal Land Use Plan, and Local Coastal Program Implementing Ordinances. The Environmental Impact Report for the project is an accurate and objective statement that has been completed in full compliance with California Environmental Quality Act and the State CEQA Guidelines and reflects the independent judgment and analysis of the city.”

The Pacific Grove Planning Commission Special Meeting will be held virtually at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89769183876, beginning at 6 p.m. The agenda packet can be found at https://tinyurl.com/4n6xsdj8

Staff recommends the Planning Commission certify the American Tin Cannery Hotel and Commercial Project EIR based on the entirety of the record of proceedings and approve the architectural permit, tree permit with development, use permit and coastal development permit.

The report says no evidence of new significant impacts or any new information of “substantial importance” that would require recirculation has been received by the city after the circulation of the Draft EIR.

The ATC Hotel and Commercial Project would convert a 6.2-acre site into a new 225-room hotel with amenities, 10,968-square-feet of retail space, and on-site valet parking for 290 cars.

The 5.59-acre site now includes the components and improvements proposed for the Sloat Avenue right-of-way, for a 6.2-acre site.

The project includes development and uses in the Sloat Avenue right-of-way between Eardley Avenue and Dewey Avenue, and requires the execution of a real property agreement for vacating the city’s right-of-way easement.

The hotel’s design includes two wings – the Bluffs with 104 guestrooms and the Shoreline with 121 guestrooms – each with separate entrances and lobbies. The Bluffs and Shoreline were previously referred to as the Executive and Group/Family wings respectively.

An existing encroachment of up to 10 feet into Ocean View Boulevard right-of-way would be retained and improved. The proposed development would total 353,489 square feet, and the gross floor area for enclosed areas of all floor levels and garages would be 317,160 square feet.

An existing surface parking lot at 124 Central Avenue would be retained and reconfigured with new landscaping and striping. The parking lot’s upper lot would be leased by the hotel operator for valet parking uses.

In 2016, voters approved the Measure X initiative for the site of the project that would allow for a hotel.

The initial planning permit application was filed in June 2019, the project was deemed complete in October 2019, with the understanding that a Coastal Development Permit application would be required.

The Pacific Grove Local Coastal Program was certified by the California Coastal Commission in March 2020. In July 2020, the Coastal Development Permit was submitted and deemed complete November 2020. At the Pacific Grove Architectural Review Board’s December 2020, meeting several design changes were recommended. In April 2021, a Local Coastal Program Implementation Plan Amendment was initiated by the Planning Commission to address inconsistencies between the Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan and Implementation Plan regarding site-specific standards for the American Tin Cannery site. The California Coastal Commission held a public hearing on the city’s Local Coastal Program Amendment and certified it in August.

On Sept. 8, the project applicant submitted an amended planning permit application for the architectural permit, tree permit with development, use permit and coastal development permit application, along with a revised project description and a revised plan set. It includes revisions to the project design addressing many of the Architectural Review Board’s recommendations provided at its December 2020 meeting, including a reduction in building mass and incorporation of top-floor setbacks in the Bluff’s Wing, incorporation of design elements reflective of Cannery Row and other industrial and commercial buildings, reduction and relocation of excavation for subgrade parking, reduction of meeting and event space and street retail space, parking plan reconfiguration and increase in the number of new trees.

The excavation under the Shoreline Wing and closest to sensitive marine wildlife has been eliminated and the total proposed excavation would be reduced by 35%, from 45,500 cubic yards to 29,700 cubic yards including grading plan changes for the Shoreline Wing parking where an additional 2,500-2,900 cubic yards of grading would be avoided for a total reduction in grading of 38%.

The proposed meeting and event space has been decreased, as has the proposed retail space.

With the elimination of subgrade parking at the Shoreline Wing, at-grade parking has been added and the use of horizontally-stacked parking has increased to add parking spaces to the reconfigured lots. A total of 40 vertically-stacked parking spaces are included in the revised design. The number of proposed valet parking spaces has been reduced from 304 to 290 spaces.

The agenda report concludes the proposed project complies with the General Plan, Local Coastal Program and Zoning. It meets all development standards of the applicable zoning districts and would be compatible with the neighborhood and revitalize the underutilized, somewhat dated commercial area.

The proposed project would increase the range of visitor lodging types in the city and provide a high-quality visitor experience for families, leisure, and business travelers. Its hotel and amenities would enhance the desirability of investment in the neighborhood and provide additional uses for city residents as well as visitors. The proposed project would also establish new uses that address the needs of business, education, and tourism visitors to the city including additional meeting and gathering space.

The environmental impact report concludes that the proposed project requires mitigation for several potentially significant but mitigable impacts and that the proposed project results in unavoidable and significant impacts on historic resources and impacts on visual character. To approve the project, the Planning Commission would need to make several California Environmental Quality Act findings regarding the feasibility of each identified mitigation measure and would also need to make findings of overriding considerations as part of any certification of the Final EIR.

The Planning Commission could opt to request modifications to the proposed project and continue the item to another date, or it could opt to deny the project based on an inability to make the required findings for the approval of the permits and or certification of the EIR.