Santa Monica : Controversial Hotel Plan OKd

After hearing sharply divided comments from a long parade of residents, the City Council Wednesday gave preliminary approval to the construction of a 196-room hotel at the end of Pico Boulevard overlooking the ocean.

Council members voted 6 to 1 to grant an appeal to the developer, R.E. International, reversing a denial that had been issued by the Planning Commission based on technicalities.

The hotel, as proposed, would include restaurants, a bar, a health club, meeting rooms and 495 parking spots.

In a council meeting that stretched more than five hours into the early morning, residents opposed to the project said they feared it would clog traffic in the area, block the view of the ocean and dump sewage into the bay.

Residents in favor of the project said the proposed site is an eyesore that attracts vagrants. Improving the area would drive the transients away and make that end of Pico more attractive, the proponents said.