It’s a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean from Don Webber’s balcony. A clear shot between the bell tower and Court of the Mariners of the La Bahia Apartments over the warm and busy sands of Main Beach, it’s a postcard-worthy scene by anyone’s standards. And on a particularly gorgeous morning, the retired lawyer, political gadfly and leader of the Build a Better La Bahia coalition points down from his perch to the single piece of decaying property between his hand-built two-story home and the shore and explains why he’s suing the city of Santa Cruz to save at least some of it.
“The La Bahia Apartments are obviously falling apart. But that doesn’t mean Barry Swenson can’t come up with a hotel plan that incorporates part of it. He just doesn’t want to,” says Webber. “I can’t blame him for that, but the law says a developer must consider options that mitigate the environmental effect of their project. I’m really just insisting that the law be followed.”
Webber’s lawsuit is the latest shot fired in a seven-year fight against Bay Area development mogul Barry Swenson Builder’s plan to build a four-star hotel at 215 Beach Street. A fixture at nearly every meeting on the project, Webber, usually in trademark denim jacket, has become the reluctant face of opposition to the new hotel. He says his image has been skewed.
“I’m not the guy who moves near the airport then complains about the noise,” he says. “I want a hotel there. I just think it should be a great hotel, not just a great big hotel.”
The lawsuit, filed May 20, five weeks after the Santa Cruz City Council voted 5-1 to allow BSB to bulldoze the dilapidated apartment complex and build a 125-room hotel on the property, alleges that the council violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not considering alternative blueprints that preserve a portion of the historic building. His beautiful view, he assures, has nothing to do with it.
“This is about what the law says,” he says. “CEQA was established so city governments would have a harder time turning their towns into strip malls. This is a long-term project that needs to have all the options on the table.”
The majority of Santa Cruzans support the latest plans for a new La Bahia, if measured by support shown at public meetings. Indeed, Webber and the Build A Better La Bahia coalition have been called “anti-growth,” “obstructionist,” “selfish,” “wasteful” and a host of other names by project proponents, both before and after the latest lawsuit was filed.
Jesse Nickell, vice president for Barry Swenson, slips into frustrated New Agese when he talks about Webber and the lawsuit, calling it “bad energy.”
“Look, the lawsuit just impedes the process,” says Nickell. “They’re going to try and drag this along. That’s their goal. Santa Cruz is very good at challenging the environmental review process.”
As for whether Webber and Co. will win their suit, Nickell trumpets La Bahia plans approved by the city council in 2003, which saved 70 percent of the original building, as proof that his company has been down the preservation road before. Those plans got a good laugh from investors, who passed on funding the job when they saw a solid block of rooms in the northwest corner of the property and no front entrance on Beach Street.
Today, Nickell describes the old plans as a “fortress” and Webber remembers them as “San Quentin.” Since that failure, all the plans put forth by BSB have called for the total demolition of the old building, and it’s this “lack of a hybrid plan” that Webber and his lawyer say will win the lawsuit.
“The Environmental Quality Act provides for buildings the same way it affects air or water,” says Susan Brandt-Hawley, the Bay Area lawyer representing Webber’s coalition. “The state law says if there are any feasible alternatives that won’t cause the significant environmental impact, that they need to be considered. Everyone wants to see a good use of the property. A project that incorporates all or part of the La Bahia (Apartments) will be a benefit for the community.”
Whatever happens with the lawsuit, Barry Swenson’s plans must still be approved by the California Coastal Commission before anyone calls in the bulldozers. The state agency hasn’t scheduled its hearing yet, but it’s expected to happen in six to nine months—precisely the time frame of the coalition lawsuit. For now, Webber is soaking up his veranda view and polishing his environmental law knowledge. And in the meantime, the La Bahia Apartments continue to crumble.
“It’ll all be worth it once we have a good hotel that incorporates at least the spirit of the old building,” says Webber, heading back inside from the balcony. “The city shouldn’t be driven to approve projects solely because it needs the money. Do we want our town to look like Rancho Cucamonga?”
