A five-hour Truckee Planning Commission marathon on November 12 ended with the approval of Hotel Avery, a 40-room boutique hotel set to occupy a prime piece of real estate on the corner of South River St. and Brockway Road. The project, which has undergone numerous iterations, was first submitted to the Town three years ago and has been reviewed by the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee five different times. Hotel Avery is owned by San Francisco based JMA Ventures, a real estate investment firm with a portfolio that also includes Homewood Mountain Resort, Alpine Meadows, Fairmont Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square and Red Lodge in Montana.
The nearly 48,000 square foot condominium hotel will also include a restaurant, two large decks overlooking the river and something totally new for Truckee – underground parking and valet service for customers.
Many of the 28 citizens who addressed the Commission were excited about the positive impact Hotel Avery will have on the vibrancy of Truckee’s downtown and the town’s economic outlook as a whole. However traffic and parking issues surfaced as major concerns throughout the night. The underground parking structure will have 38 spaces, but to meet customer demand and town requirements, JMA will need to secure at least 20 offsite spaces for the project.
Although none of the possible offsite locations were discussed during the meeting, Town Planner Denyelle Nishimori said later that there are several potential options including the Andy’s Diner parking lot and Hilltop. Negotiations between JMA and property owners will officially begin now that the project has been approved. A final plan for offsite parking, as well as JMA’s provision of the required 1.8 units of employee housing, will come back for Planning Commission consideration at a later date.
Pleased with the evening’s outcome, David Tirman, JMA’s Executive Vice President, said after the meeting that JMA’s ‘goal is to break ground this coming summer (2009) and we are planning for a construction timeframe of about 20 months. The relocation of an existing sewer main and excavation for the underground parking will be the first steps.’
Many believe Hotel Avery, named for JMA President Art Chapman’s granddaughter, is the perfect project for Truckee at the perfect time. Ted Owens, taking off his Nevada County Supervisor hat to speak as a citizen, declared Hotel Avery ‘top shelf.’ Resident Mark Tanner noted that it would ‘revitalize the river corridor.’ Attorney Jim Simon proclaimed ‘the project should be approved!’ and Pam Hobday told the commissioners that ‘you have a wonderful opportunity tonight…please don’t wait to approve this project.’ Stefanie Olivieri, speaking on behalf of the Truckee Downtown Merchants Association, added an historical perspective, ‘mixed use defined our community then and now. Hotel Avery anchors South River Street in size and beauty.’
But it wasn’t a total love fest. Truckee resident Denny Dickinson addressed the commission with a ‘very heavy heart.’ He went on, ‘The Town of Truckee has a moral obligation, a fiduciary duty, to make sense of this project…the Planning Department has breached their duty to give the full report…please take your time and do it right.’ Dickinson feels the hotel is simply too large for the site and that development code standards for the project have not been properly interpreted and applied.
Leon Smith, whose property sits next to the hotel site, thinks overflow street parking is the biggest issue and is concerned that ‘people are going to park along the street right in front of my house.’ He also worries that ‘the noisiest part of the building is 30-feet from my bedroom, the deck extends very close to my property line and it’s just too big!’
Luthea Thomas, a local artist who owns four historic properties across the river from the hotel site, said that while she is now ‘ready to embrace the project,’ she does feel that the Town’s historic guidelines were ‘disrespected’ and that ‘double standards’ were applied in HPAC’s approval process. Thomas feels that the size and mass of the hotel, as well as its intrusion into the view corridor, are not in keeping with the ‘South River Character Area’ established in Truckee’s Downtown Specific Plan.
Other residents pointed out that pedestrian safety in the already crowded traffic corridor on Brockway Road is of utmost concern. Local attorney Yvette Durant thinks that crosswalks and flashing lights are needed in the vicinity of the new hotel and that they should be ‘added as formal conditions of approval.’ Andrew Esler, a local who’s outspoken on traffic issues, was flabbergasted by the size of the hotel and the traffic it will generate. ‘We’re stifling this place until it doesn’t function,’ he remarked.
Even Truckee Fire Protection District Chief Bryce Keller weighed in, noting that the ‘Fire District does not have the capacity to serve the Hotel Avery project’ and that there needs to be an ‘appropriate offset for the growth it brings.’
But with an approval in hand and the appeal period ended, JMA is moving forward. According to Tirman there is ‘room for ongoing dialogue…we want to work with our neighbors.’
