The current site along Dorcas Lane, Classic Street and Ridge Road is a natural wooded plot that harbors numerous wildlife. I took the attached photo of this elk herd bedded down there. The elk and other wildlife will undoubtedly be a memory if they pave paradise and put up a parking lot…
The noise and traffic, both human and vehicular, of a 34-unit hotel and community center, largest hotel complex in Manzanita history, will significantly change the density of this plot adjacent to the serene wooded Signature 5th hole of the Manzanita Links golf course (photo attached).
The increased density will bring with it increases in both vehicle and pedestrian traffic. My wife and I counted 210 cars in just 2 hours on Classic Street only! (Dorcas was under construction) And that was in mid-May, neither a holiday nor a peak summer weekend.
The hotel entrance/exit will be immediately next to a 4-way intersection renowned for drivers dangerously ignoring traffic regulations. Imagine the effect the increased density of vehicles from the hotel will have on traffic and pedestrians.
The increased density of a hotel and community center will also increase the number of pedestrians walking/jogging/bicycling on Classic and Dorcas. This is doubly dangerous with increased vehicle traffic and neither street has sidewalks.
To build this huge complex the developer intends to cut down 25 or more towering evergreens on the plot. The trees form a natural barrier between the golf course and the proposed hotel. Their removal and the increased density of a 34-unit hotel could create liability to the city from potentially deadly errant golf balls striking hotel guests, and pedestrians using the hotel public trail.
A petition opposing the hotel has been signed by 135 folks of Manzanita!
I and many others in our community have submitted letters and emails to Manzanita’s City Council and Planning Commission opposing this project.
A consensus is a hotel just doesn’t belong in this location – – there are 32 residences on Dorcas Lane. A 34-unit hotel will more than double that density!
I and a number of others testified AGAINST the project at the Planning Commission meeting on May 30, 2023. No one, well, except for the applicant, testified FOR it!
Just yesterday, pointing to the wooded plot next to the Signature 5th hole, I asked a passer-by walking along Dorcas if she knew a hotel was proposed for that location. Her reply “Yes, that gives meaning to the word RIDICULOUS!”
Don’t the voluminous well-researched letters, emails, eloquent testimonies and the petition LOUDLY say the Manzanita community opposes this project?
Take a look at the photos, the serenity of the site and Signature 5th hole; then imagine adding a 34-unit hotel and community center.
I borrow a line from an iconic pop song – – you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone…
Paul A, Hughes
