GARDEN GROVE : Decision on Hotel Developer Delayed
A decision on whether to keep La Quinta Motor Inns Inc. as the developer of a hotel in Garden Grove has been delayed until Nov. 13 by the City Council as the two parties wrangle over how to cope with a potential flood from an overflow of the Santa Ana River.
The council, sitting Monday night as the Agency for Community Development, voted 4 to 0--Councilman Frank Kessler was absent--to consider at that meeting whether to modify or terminate a development agreement between the city and the hotel chain for the construction of a three-story hotel at the northwest corner of Haster Street and Garden Grove Boulevard.
The city’s economic development staff will work with the developer to resolve the Santa Ana River flood plain issue.
According to City Manager George L. Tindall, La Quinta has been in default of the agreement to develop the site because it failed to meet an Aug. 30 deadline to submit plans that include elevating the project five feet to meet federal flood protection guidelines.
La Quinta, based in San Antonio, has for two years been planning the construction of the 174-room inn. The project, which is on a 3.8-acre site and has an estimated cost of $8 million, has been seen as a key step in revitalizing that portion of Garden Grove Boulevard east of Harbor Boulevard.
Ralph D. Barrett, western division real estate manager for La Quinta, maintains that the costly elevation--estimated at $500,000--isn’t necessary.
“We believe that with the county raising the western levee of the Santa Ana River, and with the improvement and widening of the Katella Avenue bridge, we shouldn’t be in the 100-year-flood-plain area,” he said.
But Tindall argued that the developer must still provide evidence that its grading plan would meet federal regulations and was required do so by Aug. 30.
“We have a technical default. Right now, I have no evidence that says that the site is not in the flood-plain area,” he said. He urged Barrett to apply for a variance from federal regulations and to provide supporting evidence justifying that variance to the agency.
The city and redevelopment agency have been acquiring and consolidating land for the project, which would include a restaurant. It used the power of eminent domain to acquire the D.O.K. West, a bar on that site.
Recent problems with development of the site have revolved around the flood-plain issue. Under guidelines issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the proximity of the site to the Santa Ana River requires that the project would have to be raised five feet as a precaution against the effects of a “100-year flood”--that is, a flood so severe that it is expected to occur only once each century.
Having missed the deadline for submitting a complete plan, La Quinta could forfeit its $50,000 deposit, officials said.
