P.G. seeks more public input on proposed downtown hotel.

There's only one last piece of land to build a hotel in downtown Pacific Grove, and Nadar Agha's got it. 

He's waited 20 years to develop a hotel at 157 Grand Ave., just steps away from the city's library and the Pacific Grove Natural History Museum.

In January, his proposed 125-room, three-story Hotel Durell was on a track for possible approval without an environmental impact report.

That is until more than 50 residents wrote to City Hall bringing up nagging questions about what impact the hotel might have on the city.

The two biggest questions: Will the hotel bring too much traffic to the small downtown; and, will there ever be enough water?

The complaints by residents were enough to persuade city planners to call for an EIR back in March.

Mark Brodeur, P.G.’s director of community and economic development, called an EIR “a more defensible” document that would explain in more detail the project’s impact on traffic and water, as well as other issues like air quality, aesthetics, noise, and cultural resources.

The draft EIR was released on Aug. 31, and the city is currently seeking public comment until 5pm, Oct. 26.

Currently, the 33,827-square-foot-lot is occupied by a 17,650-square-foot single story building housing retail shops and commercial offices.

According to a traffic study commissioned by the city, the overall number of traffic trips would decrease with the proposed hotel located on the lot—from 786 trips per day to 746 trips.

However, the number of trips during morning and afternoon peak hours would increase, especially in the morning. Morning trips currently are estimated at 20, while the estimate with the hotel is 66.

Afternoon hours are currently higher than the morning, with 63 trips. The projected number of afternoon trips with the hotel is 75.

Despite the increases, the report states that the additional trips “would not result in the degradation of level of service,” and called the impact “less than significant.”

The draft EIR does call for the developer to pay for new raised crosswalks with crossing lights at the intersections of Grand and Central avenues and at Fountain and Central avenues.

It also suggests the developer pay for stop signs at the intersection of Central and Fountain avenues to make the intersection a four-way stop.

As for water, the draft EIR notes that the Monterey Peninsula is currently under tight water restrictions, but suggests future sources like a desalination plant built by California American Water and the Pacific Grove Local Water Project that will soon recycle wastewater for use in landscape irrigation. (The Cal Am desalination idea came into question in August.)

The draft EIR states that the current businesses on the site use 1.7 acre-feet of water per year. The Hotel Durell is projected to us 5.78 acre-feet, a difference of 4.08.

But P.G. currently has no water to allocate to new commercial projects as large as the Hotel Durell, which means even with approval it will sit on the city’s water waiting list.