Montebello : Funds OKd to Study Need for Hotel on Golf Course

After years of discussion, the Montebello City Council has approved a three-phase study to determine whether to build a hotel on the municipal golf course.

The council voted 4 to 1 to spend up to $92,000 in redevelopment agency funds to begin fiscal, environmental and traffic studies on a proposal by Quiet Cannon restaurant operators Dave and Brad Perrin to build an eight-story, 245-room hotel.

Councilman William Molinari, who voted against the plan, criticized his colleagues, saying that such studies should be paid for by the developers. He also said that such money could be put to better use elsewhere, and that given the gloomy economic predictions for the hotel industry, it would be better to wait.

Council members Kathy Salazar, Arnold Alvarez-Glasman, Edward C. Pizzorno and Mayor Art Payan said that it is customary for the city to foot the bill for such studies when a large development is being considered. Some also said privately that Molinari’s opposition actually stems from a longstanding feud with the Perrins. Molinari once sued Dave Perrin for libel. The case was settled last year. Molinari said his past “misunderstandings” with the restaurant operators have nothing to do with his opposition.

The council ordered city staff members to prepare the fiscal phase of the study first. Pizzorno said that if the fiscal study, which will cost $12,000, shows that the market area around Montebello and the San Gabriel Valley will not support another hotel, the project will be put on hold.

“All we are saying now is let’s go get the facts and see if this could work,” Pizzorno said.