July 30–An Oakland-based developer is once again taking steps to build an extended-stay hotel at an abandoned lot in central Nipomo, and so far the plans have tentative backing from the local advisory council.
According to documents from the San Luis Obispo County Department of Planning and Building, Rob Marinai has submitted plans to build an 83-room hotel on a 1.2-acre lot at 549 Hill St. near the Highway 101 and Tefft Street interchange.
The project calls for a three-story, 38,500-square foot Home2 Suites by Hilton extended-stay hotel. The hotel will have 77 queen-bed studios, which include kitchens, and six queen-bed one bedrooms. Some rooms will have multiple beds.
The plans also include a swimming pool, though exactly how large the pool would be was not specified in the preliminary planning documents.
Marinai previously proposed a hotel at the same location in 2006, and it was unanimously approved by the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission the same year. The project was put on hold in 2008 amid water concerns, and its building permit has since expired.
The lot was previously home to the Nipomo Recreation Center, which burned down in May 2008.
The project went before the South County Advisory Council on Monday, and received tentative approval. The council acts as an advisory body to county planners.
The council decided at its meeting Monday that it will recommend approval of the request to the county Planning Commission, though the recommendation is conditional upon an upcoming county traffic study, the design complying with the aesthetics guidelines in the West Tefft Corridor Plan and that the project complies with mitigation recommendations from Cal Fire regarding fire sprinklers and enclosed stairwells, according to SCAC chairman Art Herbon.
A Planning Commission hearing on the hotel has not been scheduled.
If approved, the hotel would be one of only two in Nipomo. The other, Kaleidoscope Inn & Gardens, is a bed-and-breakfast at 130 E. Dana St.
Read the documents
Nipomo hotel planning documents
