Battle Over Miramar Hotel Project Moves to the Next Round

Ahead of Wednesday's Montecito Planning Commission meeting, developer Rick Caruso says he will forgo the project's second floor of the spa room to ease concerns about the building's height.

By Rob Kuznia, Noozhawk Staff Writer | Published on 08.04.2008

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The proposed developer of a hotly contested plan to revive the Miramar Hotel alongside Highway 101 in Montecito sent a mass e-mail Monday announcing that he would eliminate the second floor of the spa room to appease critics.

Rick Caruso, a Los Angeles-area shopping center developer and potential L.A. mayoral candidate, made the announcement two days before a widely anticipated hearing before the Montecito Planning Commission, which could make a decision at its meeting at 9 a.m.Wednesday.

“This reduced the height of this building at this visible corner by 11 feet, and significantly reduces the mass of the project as seen from South Jameson Lane,” Caruso wrote in the e-mail to supporters. He urged them to attend the meeting and speak in favor of the project.

Caruso’s critics say he is making the concession only because at the last Montecito Planning Commission hearing in mid-July, commissioners grilled him on whether he had undercalculated the project’s net floor area.

It’s a factor because code doesn’t allow for the total interior square footage to be much larger than the amounts that were given.

“Now they are responding to the fact that they were trying to pull the wool over the commissioners’ eyes with respect to floor area,” said Marco Gonzalez, a lawyer representing a group of opponents. He added that “they are still just scraping by,” saying there are other areas where they cut corners.

Caruso Affiliates spokesman Matt Middlebrook said the hotel is indeed trying to decrease its net floor area, but said there is nothing nefarious about it.

“Some critics of this project — we’ll never be able to make them happy,” he said. “The MBAR (Montecito Board of Architectural Review) said we are consistent with the buildings in the neighborhood, the Montecito Association has said our project is consistent with the Montecito Community Plan, and the county staff has said our project is consistent with the Community Plan. All the people who look at these types of things and provide their guidance to the Montecito Planning Commission have all said our project is consistent with the Montecito Community Plan.”

In general, critics say the project is too large, pointing out that it fails to meet zoning requirements on matters such as height, setbacks and parking. They also worry about flooding, and believe at the very least the project should be subject to a full environmental impact report.

Supporters say the blight needs to go, and they credit Caruso as an able developer who has a shot at building something that will be economically viable and aesthetically pleasing. They don’t believe that the project needs an EIR, because a former project to revive the hotel had been given clearance before being abandoned in 2000 by Studio 54 co-founder Ian Schrager.

Noozhawk staff writer Rob Kuznia can be reached at rkuznia@noozhawk.com.

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» CS on 08.05.08 @ 06:57 AM

If not now -when?  If not Rick Caruso - who?  Let this happen, MBAR!  It’s time to move on, it’s time to rebuild.


» Come to the Party on 08.05.08 @ 08:23 AM

Spin as you like, Matt Middlebrook, but the only people who matter, the Montecito Planning Commission, don’t think your plan is at all consistent with the Montecito Community Plan.  You’ve missed the mark, boyfriend, on bulk, scale, height, setbacks, parking, employee counts – oh, I forgot, you double that number this week from 100 to 200 and reduced your water demand by two-thirds!  I’ll bet by then end of Wednesday you’ll be changing a whole lot more of your Bellagio-like citadel.  You know, Matt.  Montecito welcomed you and was ready to give you a bunch of powerful, valuable entitlements, overlooking the fact your project destroyed our historical cottages, took away our road rights, sought abusive land grading, removed 100 year old trees, and unbelievably asked for the right to drown in a flood plain. All we asked in return was that you be consistent with what remained of our shredded community plan and give us a cottage hotel on your new spread. But, Matt, you thought Montecito was an easy make and you got greedy.  You threw a bunch of country club cocktails parties and schmoozed unwitting locals, creating a gaggle of yes-men instead of working hard to design a positive, buildable project that fits in our residential community.  In the end, look who’s the piggy in the blanket? Our Planning Commissioners are not the bumpkins you thought they were, so, Matt, enjoy their feast on Wednesday, when your project is going to get chomped down to size.


» The real issues on 08.05.08 @ 10:43 AM

Although it is encouraging that Caruso has reduced the size of one of the many proposed gigantic buildings on the site, he now needs to address the more important issues in order to comply with the Montecito Community Plan:

Neighborhood Compatibility (Violation of Montecito Community Plan): The looming effect of height, bulk and scale is not compatible with Montecito’s neighborhood style. The central building is 49 feet tall in addition to a 10’ landfill all along South Jameson with two floors of underground parking. The main building and ballroom are the same approximate size and scale of the Home Depot in Goleta, while the whole project is approximately the size of three Home Depots. The community plan dictates that it must remain semi-rural, with single-story cottage style buildings, which is nothing close to what Caruso is proposing.

Water Issues: It has asked for three times greater allotment of water than the Montecito Water District has given to the project, which is an obvious red flag that the project is at least three times as large as it should be. This is also a large issue considering that we are in a drought and have been asked to cut our water usage by a third.

The Project has not undergone a full environmental review The site is extremely sensitive as it is right on the ocean, right on Oak Creek, and most of it in a flood plain. Why a full EIR is not being asked for is incomprehensible. The project calls for massive re-grading of the site with thousands of tons of dirt fill, while the Schrager plan involved no re-grading and no building in the flood plain. This is a huge risk for local residents as nobody can predict what will happen to the runoff in a flood situation.

Caruso’s Project is Not a Restoration: Although Caruso claims that he is restoring the old Miramar, there isn’t one element about the old hotel that will be present in the new. He is going to demolish the whole site and fill it with thousands of tons of dirt to make more ocean view rooms. It will be a huge five-star, Plantation-style resort suitable for Orange County or Las Vegas, but not Montecito.

Traffic and Parking Problems: The ancient freeway entrances and exits at San Ysidro are already over-burdened during rush hour; adding hotel traffic to this already growing problem has not been addressed nor has a study been conducted. The parking structures on the proposed hotel fall very short of meeting the needs of guests and staff (they allot 1 parking space for every 5 employees and is a minimum of 120 spaces short). The parking will most definitely be overflowing into the streets of the surrounding neighborhood and impact access to Miramar Beach.

Commercial Space: The plan includes 4,000 sq. feet of retail space. Although Caruso is obviously experienced at creating shopping malls, this is not what was intended for the site and new shops will have an impact on the local businesses on Coast Village Road. The original Miramar Hotel had 800 sq. feet of retail.

Sound Issues: The tallest structures are designed to lie all along the 101 freeway to shield the hotel from freeway noise, but this will bounce all of the freeway noise into the historic Hedgerow neighborhood north of the hotel. There needs to be a full analysis of the sounds levels.

  Caruso’s team has done a full-time PR job on residents and politicians, attempting to “sell” a project that simply does not fit. Take the time to do your own research. This is not just a Montecito issue. This property is the gateway to the Santa Barbara Community.  and will impact all of us.


» AMS on 08.05.08 @ 03:13 PM

Maybe Montecito would rather have a TARGET, It would be a great addition and then Santa Barbara residents would save on gas, pollution, and traffic.


» John Locke on 08.05.08 @ 03:35 PM

The MPC should mandate inclusionary housing with an attached homeless encampment for the site.


» curzy on 08.05.08 @ 04:26 PM

Hey, If its good enough for Grover, its good enough for me.


» John Locke on 08.05.08 @ 07:10 PM

Who is Grover?


» curzy on 08.06.08 @ 07:09 AM

Grover Barnes is a wise man.  He was like a second father to me as I grew up around the Miramar. He was the longtime bellman at the Miramar, a respected and kind man.


» anonymous on 08.06.08 @ 04:21 PM

I don’t trust Caruso.  I’m not surprised that he is thinking about running for Mayor of LA.  The problem is that he gives politicians a bad name.  Montecito better get an EIR on this project.  Mark my words—-Caruso will do less than what is required of him, not more.


» SB Observer on 08.09.08 @ 12:12 PM

If the time and money used for PR had been used to give an accurate description of the project, the hearing and decision would have lasted a couple of hours and the result would likely have been similar.  The only need for the PR campaign was to pressure the Commission to ignore or miss the size, bulk and scale.


» Bert McEwen on 08.09.08 @ 03:29 PM

Sorry, SB OBSERVER, if anyone thinks that IF Caruso had given “an accurate description of the project, the hearing and decision would have lasted a couple of hours,” I’ve got an abandoned hotel in Montecito to sell you.

Face it, the handful of anti-development foes won’t be satisfied with ANYTHING there. Unless Caruso just gives it to the county for a park.


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