Coastal Commission delays decision on Cambria motel project 

Visions of a new 26-unit Moonstone motel on Cambria's Burton Drive won't come to fruition anytime soon after the Coastal Commission delayed the review of the motel's construction and water use.

Moonstone Hotel Properties owner Dirk Winter wants to reconstruct the former Brambles restaurant and gift shop Oliver's Twist into a motel and received approval from SLO County to start construction this summer. After an appeal placed the project on hold, another recent delay has made the motel's future even more unclear.

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• File Photo Courtesy Of California Coastal Commission Appeal
• A PLAN IN BRAMBLES Moonstone Hotel Properties is again delayed on its project to build a motel where the former Brambles restaurant and gift store Oliver's Twist stood after the Coastal Commission pushed its hearing.

At its Sept. 12 meeting, the California Coastal Commission determined a "substantial issue" with the appeal submitted against the motel by commissioners Justin Cummings and Ann Notthoff, who argued Cambria did not have the water supply to sustain the motel under the SLO County Local Coastal Program, despite the county previously determining that it did.

As a result, the Coastal Commission delaying the motel's hearing indefinitely.

Moonstone Hotel Properties Marketing Director Brittney Hatteberg told New Times via email that while the project is put on hold for foreseeable future, the company understands that delays are part of the legal process and are not going to give up the project.

"We believe in the integrity of the original design and are confident that it meets the necessary requirements," she said.

Substantial issues arose when the Coastal Commission received a 124-page letter from applicant Winter's attorney on Sept. 11—just one day before the commission was to review the appeal against the motel.

The attorney's letter said the appeal "contains a number of material errors that render its recommendations ill-advised," and urged the commission to approve the project and issue a coastal development permit for the motel's construction.

Central Coast District Manager Kevin Kahn and Central Coast Coastal Planner Devon Jackson issued an addendum that same day, summarizing the corrections that the attorney's letter listed against the appeal including a numerical typo and additional information that was inadvertently left out of the appeal.

While the addendum stated the attorney's letter did not bring up any additional information, the corrections needed to be incorporated into the appeal report for the commission's review.

"While voluminous, staff believe that most of the points raised in the letter are not new and are therefore adequately addressed in the staff report," the addendum read. "Staff nonetheless takes the opportunity herein to respond to some of the points alleged and to incorporate them as commission findings in the staff report."

Based on these updates, the Coastal Commission determined that the appeal contained enough substantial issues that it would not be reviewed at the Sept. 12 meeting.

When contacted for a statement, Coastal Commission Public Information Officer Joshua Smith told New Times via email that the "project raises coastal resource concerns as articulated in the staff report, and we intend to discuss this with the applicant to better understand their position." Δ