The proposal is to create a
cottage-style hotel with 65 guest rooms, a conference room, swimming pool and
spa, and alterations to Mattei’s Tavern and the five cottages associated with
it.
The project looks to
relocate the Keenan-Hartley House, which has historic landmark status, closer
to the tavern.
Despite a popular
misconception, it turns out the 123-year-oldMattei’s Tavern may not be a place
of historical merit. But because the Hartley House does have the designation of
landmark, the property owners, Santa Rita Land and Vine LLC, must submit an
application to the committee for approval before they can conduct any type of
activity around or to the historic landmark.
Santa Rita Land and Vine, a
subsidiary of Terroir Capital, LLC, purchased Mattei’s in 2007 from Adam
Firestone for $8.5 million and bought four vacant adjacent parcels from equine
veterinarian Doug Herthel for $2.5 million.
While the committee has to
approve any changes to the Keenan-Hartley House, it also has the power to name
Mattei’s Tavern a historic landmark without the cooperation of the owner, which
could alter the entire scope of the project.
Project developer Ward
Bourdeaux said they are excited to rehabilitate buildings on the site with
historic features and keep architecture in the late 1800s style. He said they
want to enhance “the essence” of the place.
“We’d like to finish what
Felix Mattei started,” Bourdeaux said.
Nine community members came
forward to speak during the public comment period, and all but one expressed
concern about the project. Most asked the committee to name Mattei’s a historic
landmark.
Former county supervisor
Gail Marshall, one of the speakers, said in the 2004 Santa Ynez Valley Plan
draft, Mattei’s Tavern was referred to as a place of historic merit. In a 2006
draft of the plan, when Brooks Firestone was a supervisor, the tavern was
missing from the list of historical merit locations. It seemed when the Keenan-Hartley House was moved to Mattei’s property by Adam
Firestone in the 1990s, Mattei’s was also on its way to gaining
historical merit, though something, she said, has gone wrong.
“It is in your purview to
place protection on Mattei’s so we don’t have to worry in the future what
happens to this beautifully historic property,” Marshall told the committee.
Minutes from committee
meetings in the late 1990s show that Mattei’s Tavern nomination and resolution
to become a place of historic merit were continued for two years because Adam
Firestone never completed the landmark application form.
“To put it bluntly, I feel
this project would forever change the face of Los Olivos,” said Sarah
Chamberlin at the hearing. “I think it’s really ugly … I don’t like anything
about this project, nothing whatsoever about it.”
One member of the public
said everyone thought it already had historical merit, and others expressed
concern about negative effects on Highway 154, water and sewage issues for the
proposed resort, and that an environmental impact report should be conducted to
evaluate the impact on the cultural landscape as well as on the environment.
Herthel, the lone member of
the public to express solid support for the project, said he wanted the
committee to do what they can to preserve the site, but also said he thinks the
current owners will enhance the property’s historic value.
Herthel said he and his wife
sold the adjacent vacant parcels to them after he and his wife saw some other
properties the company had restored and turned into boutique resorts. The owners care about preserving the property, he said, and the
town could be proud of the finished project.
“I think it could be good to
keep an open mind,” Herthel said. “Someone needs to protect that building, and
these are the best suitors to be found.”
During the commission
discussion, some members refrained from commenting until further information on
Mattei’s historical status could be reviewed. Several members, including
commission chairman John Woodward, encouraged the developer to consider
applying for the building to become a landmark, as a win-win deal.
The committee planned to
schedule an on-site visit to the property where the owner and developer could
show plan details on site. The item was continued without motion as a
discussion item.
lauren@syvjournal.com