Editor, Index-Tribune:
The hotel initiative that is coming up for vote is more than a little strange. It favors new businesses over established ones and creates an illusion of control over the City. El Pueblo Inn was built more than 50 years ago and is still in our family. Should this initiative pass, we will not be able to expand or convert space to add even one room. However, someone could build a new hotel with up to 25 rooms. That doesn’t make sense.
Our retail stores are not restricted from adding inventory. Where is city loyalty? It is a slap in the face to a business that has always felt a part of the city.
Sonoma’s city limits are not large and they end very close to what is now downtown. What is to stop a large hotel from going in just outside the city limits, say, next to the Lodge or across the El Verano bridge on the old Nicholas property? Sonoma would still get the tourists, more traffic and no TOT. The TOT would go to the county. Each proposed project, of any kind, should be considered on the project’s merit and in our existing planning process. The limits in the proposed initiative don’t solve what it’s supporters want to believe will be solved. Thank you, Sonoma, for your support all these years. Please vote on Nov. 19 and please consider voting “no.”
Calvin and Wendy Stewart
El Pueblo Inn
Sonoma
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