Members of the California Coastal Commission said Friday that a hotel approved by the Grover Beach City Council for the corner of Highway 1 and West Grand Avenue cannot be built without another hearing before the state panel.

The Coastal Commission made the de facto decision Friday by taking no action during a three-day meeting in San Diego.

Jonathan Bishop, a coastal program analyst for the commission, said since none of the commissioners chose to open up the appeal for discussion, it is assumed that the appeal - by two members of the commission - raised substantial issues with the project.

The hotel is now on hold until the commission holds a “de novo” hearing on the project, at a date yet to be determined, Bishop said.

A de novo hearing will essentially review the entire project from the beginning, with the commission now in control of the necessary coastal development permit.

The 20-unit condominium/hotel project was approved Sept. 17 by the City Council after it had been revised a number of times at the request of Grover Beach officials as well as Coastal Commission staff.

In addition to the condominium/hotel aspect, the project includes five first-floor retail spaces - one designated for a cafe - and a 37-space underground parking garage, as well as an observation tower.

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Ron Perkins, chief executive officer of IGIT Inc., the Grover Beach company developing the project, said earlier this month he was “not surprised at all” by the appeal.

However, he said he sent

his entire staff to meet with the Coastal Commission

staff a year and a half ago,

and his staff believed they

had designed the project within commission guidelines.

But commission Chairman Patrick Kruer and April Vargas, alternate for Commissioner Sara Wan, appealed the project, claiming it is not an allowable use for the site and encroaches on environmentally sensitive habitat with no definite plan to mitigate its impacts.

They also claim the project does not adequately address potential impacts on marine resources and coastal water quality, will block scenic views, is out of character with the community and fails to include an analysis of its impacts on available city services.

Associate editor Mike Hodgson can be reached at 739-2221 or mhodgson@santamariatimes.com.

November 17, 2007