By now, everyone in the Valley knows about Measure B which, when it passes on November 19 will finally control the now-uncontrolled growth of big hotels being planned or rumored for the small town of Sonoma. Proponents want to preserve Sonoma's small town charm which provides an unsurpassed quality of life for its residents, while opponents see Measure B as keeping them from "monetizing" Sonoma's tourist-trapping charms for all they are worth.
One of the issues in the debate is whether putting a size limit on new hotels is a 'good thing or a bad thing' for Sonoma residents. That has led to much huffing and puffing from those opposed to Measure B about the 25 room limit that Measure B will impose on new hotels unless occupancy of existing hotels hits 80% the preceding year. They say hotels many times that size would not have a negative impact on Sonoma's historic small town charm, the charm that put Sonoma on the Conde Nast list of "Top Ten" friendliest places in the country to visit.
So -- How big is a big hotel? One editor in town has flatly declared that a 59 room hotel planned for Sonoma is “small” according to “industry analysts.” But Sonoma isn’t controlled by industry analysts. Not yet anyway.
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Size is relative, something in the eye of the beholder. A ‘small’ hotel for Las Vegas would be a gigantic hotel for Sonoma, & vice versa. So as to Measure B, what does “big” really mean? Here’s an exercise in beholding:
Stand across from the 6-room Ledson Hotel and observe its mass. Walk around behind to get a feel for its size. Measure B would still allow a small hotel more than four times bigger than the Ledson (i.e., 25 rooms) to be built.
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Even a hotel that small would stretch from E. Napa Street to north of the Sebastiani Theatre. Its mass would equal or dwarf any other Plaza building. Most residents would agree: For Sonoma, that’s a big ‘small’ hotel! Yet those opposed to Measure B want even more massive hotels.
So, visualize a 60-room hotel ---10 times the size of the 6-room Ledson. It would be the largest building downtown has ever seen. Its footprint would be large enough to hold 13 of the biggest downtown buildings, including City Hall. For Sonoma, that’s a really big hotel.
As many as three such hotels are planned or rumored for Sonoma if Measure B fails, including a project by The Kessler Collection, hotel developers headed by Richard C. Kessler, the former Chairman, President and CEO of Days Inn of America, Inc. Would hotels that size change the character of Sonoma, & if so, how? What if more such hotels followed, some even larger?
That’s what Measure B is about. The moneyed special interests arrayed against Measure B insist that hotels 5, 10 or more times bigger than the Ledson won’t ruin Sonoma’s Quality of Life or historic & priceless small-town character.
Everyone in town who knows better is voting “Yes on B.” They know that Size Matters.
