At
a meeting for Los Olivos residents, representatives
of the tavern’s new ownership shared drawings and a site plan for a 70-room
boutique hotel and second restaurant on the iconic property at 2350 Railway
Ave. in Los Olivos.
If
implemented as designed, the plan would drastically change Mattei’s
as it exists today. Three of the five historic cottages on the property would
be moved to other locations and converted to guest rooms. Seventeen, two-story
guesthouses would house the additional 65 rooms. The Keenan Hartley house
behind the tavern would also be moved.
Artistic
renderings of the proposal showed shaded walkways leading between the
guesthouses, new locations for the historic water towers on the property and a
central water feature.
The
tavern itself would be remodeled, with the existing bar left alone and
converted into two restaurants that could serve a total of 80 diners. The total
size of the hotel would be 61,802 square feet.
Under new
ownership
The
new owner of Mattei’s is Terroir
Capital, LLC, a Santa Barbara-based group that owns two boutique hotels in Napa
and Hawaii. Charles A. Banks, managing partner in the firm, took questions and
comments from attendees at the meeting. Banks also is the owner of Napa’s
exclusive Screaming Eagle wines.
Santa
Rita Land and Vine LLC, a Terroir subsidiary,
purchased Mattei’s in 2007 for $8.5 million from Adam
Firestone and four vacant adjacent parcels for $2.5 million from Doug Herthel.
At
the time, the selling parties told local media that they were of the impression
that the new owners did not have any plans to dramatically change the property.
Reaction
to their plans from the more than 200 attendees at the meeting was mixed.
Casual conversations in the crowd ranged from criticism of the proposal for
being too big to admiration for Banks’ willingness to attempt the often-grueling
Santa Barbara County planning process. Many had unanswered questions.
Written
comments were collected from those who came to the meeting, asking people if
they liked the renovation concept, plans for a second restaurant, and overall
vision.
Kathy
Cleary, a board member of Preservation of Los Olivos,
said the group will not take a stand on the project.
“P.O.L.O.
is fully supportive of private property rights and so historically P.O.L.O. has
not gotten involved in projects when the project will stay within the
property’s zoning,” Cleary said in a statement.
Project OK
under current zoning
Conceptual
review of the project is scheduled for the Dec. 5 Central Board of
Architectural Review meeting in Solvang. The meeting begins at 11:30 a.m. at
the Solvang Municipal Courtroom.
The
current zoning of Mattei’s Tavern is highway
commercial, which is defined as “applied to areas adjacent and
accessible to highways or freeways appropriate for uses that serve the highway
traveler.” A hotel or motel is among the permitted uses.
In
the current draft of the Santa Ynez Valley Community Plan, the zoning for the
site would change to “general commercial.” That plan has yet to be approved by
the county and has held up final approval of Stagestop
Plaza, planned for the corner of Grand Avenue and Railway in Los Olivos.
Hotels
are allowed in general commercial zoned areas as long as a land use permit is
issued.
Originally
constructed by Swiss immigrant Felix Mattei and his
family in 1886, the tavern once housed hotel rooms and a bar and restaurant
where travelers who got off the train in Los Olivos
and were taking the stagecoach south could catch a respite.
Mattei was said to have valued the mission
of his establishment as a tavern and restaurant first, hotel second.
A
quote from him on the Brother’s Restaurant Web site states, in part: “We are
first a restaurant, only by sideline a hotel. Our menus are more important than
our mattresses.”
Since
the 1960s, the building has housed many different restaurants over the decades
and is currently the home of the popular Brother’s Restaurant.
Wastewater and
traffic concerns
Recent
plans for development in Los Olivos have come up
against the stumbling block of the town’s non-existent sewer system. Businesses
and residences in Los Olivos are all on septic tanks.
The
county is said to be looking into options for a sewer in Los Olivos, but no official plans or proposals have been
brought to the community.
Hady Izadpanah,
principal engineer for Penfield and Smith, said that the hotel’s wastewater
would all be handled onsite with a tertiary treatment system that would pump it
back into the ground after the bacteria was killed.
“It
treats it close to drinking water (quality),” Izadpanah
said. The treated water would be pumped under the project’s 118-space parking
lot. Some might be recycled for irrigation purposes.
Claiming
that they have been talking to locals since their purchase of the property, the
developer claims they were told of locals’ “desire for an approach that is
distinct from the focus on tasting rooms and the ‘Sideways crowd.’”
But
one neighbor to the project said she is concerned the new plans might attract
more of that element.
“We
already have all the drunks in the world on the road in Los Olivos,”
said Donna Keeler, who added that she would like to see a traffic study about
the impact the project would have.
Reach Leah Etling at
letling@syvjournal.com.