Montage parking approved

Barbara Diamond

“See you at the City Council” was the parting shot of opponents to a

street level parking lot to handle overflows from Montage Resort and

Spa.

The Planning Commission voted 3-1-0 on Wednesday to approve a

conditional use permit to construct the parking lot on the old Unocal

Service Station site across the highway from the resort and 4-0-0 to

extend a temporary use permit for the linear parking strip between

the station site and the signaled intersection to the south.

“This ‘used car lot,’ this eyesore, can’t be condoned,” Driftwood

and Hobo Canyon Neighborhood Assn. President Penny Elia said.

Montage spokeswoman Carol Hoffman said extensive landscaping would

soften the view from the high way of the lot, which is intended to

keep employees from parking in the nearby residential neighborhoods

or the Aliso Creek Shopping Center.

Provisions were included in the resort’s Coastal Development

Permit for off-site parking if needed, as long as the site was within

300 feet of the hotel and owned by the hotel.

The hotel owners recently closed escrow on the Unocal site and are

still pursuing the purchase of the so-called “linear lot.”

“When provisions were made for overflow parking, I don’t think

anyone thought it was going to be everyday,” Barbara Metzger said.

Metzger was speaking on behalf of Village Laguna, which favored

all parking on the hotel’s primary site.

Elia would have settled for hotel employee parking at Aliso Creek

Inn and Golf Course, which was bought earlier this year by the hotel

owners.

Hoffman said the golf course property is outside the permitted

perimeter for off-site parking.

The hotel does park some employees in South Coast Medical Center

garage on weekends, but that parking is above the requirements and

not subject to the perimeter. Leased parking under Albertson’s Market

is required.

“Had the hotel been a Marriott, there would be no parking

problems,” commission Chair Norm Grossman said. “It was a Marriott

when we approved the parking.”

Montage has a higher standard of service, meaning it employs more

personnel.

Hoffman said it is hard to calculate because some workers are

part-time or split shifts. She estimated that during peak periods --

summer -- the first shift of the day would range between 200 and 235

employees. She estimated the second shift range at 100 to 175 and the

overnight shift at 75.

Planning Commissioner Robert Zur Schmiede said he understood the

hotel’s desire to provide the best service for its high-end

clientele, but that drives the need for more parking. He suggested

that the commission should amend the 300-foot perimeter.

Zur Schmiede voted against the permanent use of the Unocal lot,

but in favor of extending the temporary use of the linear lot.

Although not legally required to, Commissioner Bob Chapman recused

himself from the vote to avoid any complications from perceived

conflict of interest due to his position as vice president of

Prudential Real Estate, which has an office at the south end of the

linear lot.

Opponents of the project have 10 working days to file an appeal to

the City Council.