Final Count Shows Del Mar Hotel Plan a Narrow Loser
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The Del Mar ballot measure to build a downtown hotel remained a narrow loser Wednesday after the county registrar of voters examined 25 contested ballots.
The hotel proposal lost, 1,112 to 1,097, a margin of 15 votes. Slightly more than half of the city’s voters cast ballots.
After all five precincts reported Tuesday night, the margin was 11 votes, but 25 votes remained uncounted because pro-hotel poll watchers suspected they might have been cast by people registered at incorrect or non-existent addresses.
The registrar determined that 12 of the 25 ballots were valid, and after those were counted, the margin of victory for the anti-hotel side grew to 15 votes.
Developer Jim Watkins had proposed construction of a three-story, 125-unit hotel at the northwest corner of Camino Del Mar and 15th Street, along with 24 time-share condominiums, a small park and retail shops. Opponents said the project would bring traffic and tourists to the seaside community.
Watkins had vowed that if the hotel measure failed he would build apartments on two-thirds of the 5.2-acre site and sell the remainder for commercial development. Any commercial development must be approved by Del Mar voters.
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