Hotel Project Sonoma to be heard by city’s Planning Commission

Planning Commmissioners may get a chance to vote on a downtown hotel first proposed in 2012.|

The six-year-long effort to gain approval for a hotel half a block from the Sonoma Plaza moves one meeting closer to conclusion on Wednesday, Oct. 3. On that date, the City of Sonoma Planning Commission will discuss, evaluate – and potentially vote on – the “draft revised EIR” for what is called the Hotel Project Sonoma.

In its current form, the project is a three-story 62-room hotel, 80-seat restaurant and on-site spa, with both above-ground and underground parking.

The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process started in 2012, and had its first commission hearing in early 2016. The final EIR was “certified” by the Planning Commission in April, 2017, but appealed to the City Council which, in July of 2017, upheld the appeal, sending the project back for a revised draft EIR.

The draft was released in July, and is currently open for public review. A special Planning Commission meeting was held on Sept. 4 to hear public comment and commissioner viewpoints, but no action was taken.

Public comment is still being accepted, by email to planning@sonomacity.org. The entire document is online, along with historic planning documents, at sonomacity.org/hotel-project-sonoma. The public comment period ends Thursday, Sept. 13.

The Planning Commission will meet on Oct. 3, at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at 177 First St. W. to conduct a public hearing on the project. It is possible the commission will vote that evening but, depending on the amount of comment and discussion, the vote could be delayed until a following meeting of the commission.

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