The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

City Council turns down hotel project

By Natasha Collins

Although councilmembers agreed that another hotel was needed in Sunnyvale, they voted down the proposal for a four-story hotel on El Camino Real at their Sept. 16 meeting.

De Anza Properties proposed a four-story hotel with four additional buildings for extended-stay rooms at 871 El Camino Real. In total there would have been 110 rooms, a pool and 118 parking spaces. The hotel would have been built between El Camino Real and homes on Olive Avenue. A road and an 8-foot masonry wall would have separated the residents from the hotel.

After four hours of testimony from neighbors and the developer, councilmembers Stan Kawczynski, Jim Roberts, Landon Curt Noll and Pat Vorreiter decided the hotel either was the right idea at the wrong location or was simply too big for the proposed site.

"This hotel should be in the downtown area so the hotel residents will have access to shopping and high-end restaurants," Kawczynski said.

Vorreiter disagreed that the location was wrong, but was not comfortable allowing a four-story building on El Camino.

"This is an appropriate site for this hotel, but the starkness of a four-story building is not equal to the payoffs of the development," she said. "If it was three stories I would support it in a heartbeat."

The council did agree--by a vote of 5-2, with Robin Parker and Kawczynski dissenting--to allow a three-story hotel with smaller buildings in the back. This would mean a loss of 32 rooms at the hotel.

John Vidovich, owner of De Anza Properties, said the smaller number of rooms would make it impossible to get financing.

"That would be a loss of 32 percent for me and would not be worth doing," he said. "In order to make this project a successful, high-quality hotel, there would need to be all the rooms."

Residents were relieved to learn that the hotel would not be four stories and that the hotel may not be built at all.

"A hotel would not blend in with the community," said Jean McLaughlin, who lives behind the proposed hotel. "It would block the sun into some of the neighbors' yards and homes."

Neighbors were also concerned about privacy and noise.

"We don't want to be on display for hotel guests," said Casey Miller, who lives near the proposed site. "We want to be able to meet outside on our lawns with our neighbors without being watched."

Councilmembers Parker, Manuel Valerio and Jack Walker agreed that the residents had a right to their concerns, but voted in favor of the four-story hotel.

"It is too great of a distance for me to believe that someone would spend a lot of time looking into someone's yard," Walker said. "I also don't believe that noise is going to be an issue. The people staying at the hotel are like you and me--they go to work, come back to their rooms and want peace and quiet.

"There are other four-story buildings in Sunnyvale and I think this is the best use of the property," Walker added.

The site is zoned as "commercial two," which allows for the development of an eight-story building, Roberts said.

There are several hotels in Sunnyvale, including the Woodfin on El Camino Real and the Embassy Suites on Wolfe, that back up to residential developments.

"The complaints about hotels are a lot less than [those about] other developments," said Trudi Ryan, a city planner.

A hotel would be the best development for the property and would have the least amount of impact on neighbors, Valerio said.

"This is a quality hotel that will not attract many of the problems other developments would," Valerio said. "I think this is something the residents could live with."

Other developments, such as strip centers, tire stores, auto supply or repair shops, would generate a lot more complaints from the community about noise and health issues, he said.

Vidovich has not yet announced whether he will build the three-story hotel or another commercial business.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 24, 1997.
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