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Gorillas in our midst?

Editor, Index-Tribune:

    

  A recent poll showed that Sonoma needs a grandiose, luxury hotel adjacent to the Plaza that will, in effect, create a major traffic jam on that corner basically forever, as much as it needs another tasting room or another real estate office or another bank.

  No, I’m kidding, there wasn’t such a poll, but I’d bet the ranch, if I had a ranch, that’s the thinking on the part of most, if there were such a poll.

  But seriously, how many people who live in or around Sonoma, or have to get through it on Highway 12, do you think are dying for an exceedingly ugly and hugely out of scale high-end overnight playground for the ultra wealthy? Sure, hotels bring in tax revenue, but our pricier hotels are not filled now, and a new glamour spot competitor will only take business from them without adding all that much new business if any. What you’d call a wash. Or a flush. Or some other sound associated with Old Sonoma going down the toilet.

  And did you know that this hotel project would occupy more space than 13 existing Plaza buildings including City Hall, the Swiss hotel, the Sebastiani Theatre, the Barracks and the Sonoma hotel? Think about that.

  All that aside, meditate on the perpetual traffic jam at the Plaza intersection, and watch Sonoma get bought and paid for. Caveat emptor.

  Will Shonbrun

  Sonoma