Balancing Tourism with Quality of Life (and Reality)

[DBOldford]

I am taking a Diet Coke break from preparing for a very crucial public hearing tonight. My design team has been working on this project for four years and tonight is the big night. It is a 35-room historic inn, offering 22 units of affordable housing (built on-site), safety improvements on the highway, a complete historic restoration of the old mansion and grounds, and a half-million dollars each year in bed tax revenues. You'd think this would be a slam dunk, as they say. Not in our town. We are hanging in there by a swing vote. We have been on file and in hearings for a year and nine months, a prolonged stress test. In spite of losing quite a few brain cells in this process, I can still count to three. That's the number of votes I'm pretty sure we have tonight. Wish us luck!

FYI, this is the flip side of a community going too far in the opposite direction where tourism is concerned. A vocal minority refuses to accept reality, not very firmly tethered to Planet Earth. They want no tourists, no new hotel rooms, and no change...ever. We get a lot of walking wounded types here. Local planning director quote: "If we have hotels or inns here, people might want to come and visit." Like every person walking down Main Street isn't licking an ice cream cone and looking for the perfect tee-shirt, then driving back to their inn room about 10 miles away. (They don't allow sales of ice cream or tee-shirts on Main Street). Our General Plan actually calls tourists "transients" throughout the document. Very rude and small-minded. And the planners who write this stuff don't even live here and never have!

My husband is the voice of reason on the Planning Commission. We had to get our best buddy elected as Mayor for a reality check. I thought of this project as a great gift to the City, but after tonight, I am going to stick with planning/designing new wineries. We only have 368 in the Napa Valley now and we can always use another. :shock: If you put a winery there, might people want to visit it? Duhhhhh.

 

[seagrovelover]

Good Luck Donna!!!! I hope things go your way tonight ;-)

 

[InletBchDweller]

Best of luck, hope you get everything you want with no problems....

 

[lindatat]

Donna, I hope things go well for you tonight. And I can totally relate to this. I have lived most of my life in 2 suburbs on the outskirts of O'hare Airport. There has been talk of airport expansion for years now, and several of the local politicians are vehemently against the expansion. One of the these politicians happens to be the mayor of a suburb with what is likely one of the largest industrial parks in the country. And I can guarantee that the residential property taxes in that suburb are low because of the revenue generated by the industrial properties. I can also pretty much guarantee that industrial park would turn into a virtual ghost town if O'Hare ceased to be the viable cargo center that it is right now. So every time I hear this guy speak out against airport expansion I have to wonder if he's ever really thought about this. Yes, the aircraft noise is somewhat of a nuisance, but most of of us that live here and purchased properties in the area, did so knowing that the airport was there (and in my case, it was a big selling point since I work in Int'l Transportation. It makes for a nice, short commute and a wide-open job market.) I think areas whose economies are supported by tourist revenue (such as yours) need to face a similar reality - lose the evil tourists, and you will lose the tax revenue that comes with them.

 

[Beach Runner]

Good luck, Donna! It's amazing how divergent people's opinions can be.

 

[Kurt]

Sounds like the people that are there already have the money they want and would just like to have things remain the way they are.

There is such a thing as too much of a thing.

 

[criolla man]

Donna,

I see you are in St. Helena and wanted to say that Jon Lail is a buddy of mine. I wonder if you have done any work with him.


Johnny Earles, The Criolla's Guy

 

[Mermaid]

Oh Donna Donna Donna, I have such sympathy for you because I have found myself in a similar aggravating situation this year. (Ask jdarg and bdarg; they heard me moan and groan plenty this past weekend!)

I have very nearly come to the end of my tether dealing with the powers that be! Sometimes I wonder if common sense hasn't gone the way of the dinosaur. Merman and I sit on the Board of Directors for our neighborhood association, which wields considerable power with the mayor and other elected officials in our city and state. The two of us are among highly educated, well-connected people, which would give you the reasonable assumption that great things happen in our neighborhood. And indeed they do. But sometimes all we do is squirm in our seats during meetings when ideas fly fast and furious and then hang motionless in the air, never to take flight. Why? Lack of initiative to put these ideas to practical use. There are not a few board members who think that their responsibility ends as soon as the idea is put forth. The idea is the "gift." Which is dumb when you think of it. Ideas are only as good as the use to which they are put. I've also noticed that the ones who like to talk lofty, talk ideal and talk utopian don't really have a grip on what really happens on the street. They think they do, but they haven't actually physically "worked" with those whose lives they're trying to improve (what's that called? not getting your hands dirty?) And you can't improve the street until you know what the landscape is. It's maddening. The only good part is that these board members are in the minority for most issues, as I hope the elected officials are in your town. I hope the vote swings in the direction of practicality and reality. Will you tell us how it turns out?

 

[DBOldford]

Criolla Man, it is really a small world! Yes, I do lots of work with Lail Design Group. Jon and Robin are friends of ours, too. I will call Jon tomorrow and tell him "Hey!" for you. In fact, Jon's firm is the architect I chose for the Grandview project. We do lots of winery projects together, just finished a new winery for the Mondavi family.

We were successful at our hearing tonight, winning by 4 to 1. It was a very exciting hearing. This historic mansion was at serious risk of loss. The re-use plan will allow it to be restored and cherished by this community. Our town would never approve a new hotel without some overriding benefits such as those associated with this existing landmark. But it was a challenge. I have been fortunate to get some really wonderful winery projects and clients, but this one was the most important and special project of my entire career. In fact, I have made a habit of not doing work in my town because I like just living here, husband is on the Planning Commission, and it is so impossible to ever get any new development approved here. I am vastly relieved.

By the way, we go to your restaurant often when we're down at Grayton and have always enjoyed it. You are a well known person in the restaurant world. Do you know our friend, Thomas Keller, who has The French Laundry? We are doing a small luxury inn across the street from The Laundry, in the old European style. You must call us if you're planning a trip to the Napa Valley. We can set up some special winery experiences for you.

I will try to post a photo of the Grandview mansion and grounds tomorrow. She is a gorgeous old gal.

 

[Jdarg]

Congratulations Donna! What a great victory after your hard work!:clap_1: :clap_1: Looking forward to hearing more about this project down the road.