It wasn’t quite a matter of inches, but it came down to a matter of feet. Five feet, to be exact, the difference between city code requirement and a proposed side yard.
Antoine Simmons had been granted a variance this summer from the Planning Commission to go ahead with his 48-room luxury motel, the Pearl of Seaside.
Neighbors said the Planning Commission should have never issued the variance and called for an appeal. And they won.
At the City Council’s hearing last month, councilors urged Simmons and neighbors Susan and Dan Calef and Avrel Nudelman to try and work things out.
Early in Monday’s meeting it became clear those talks had fallen apart. The Calefs had no intention of selling. Simmons and Nudelman went back and forth on a price for Nudelman’s Beach Drive home, but never came to terms.
Simmons, with his wife, Rocio, owns and operates four boutique hotels in Seaside and Cannon Beach, including Seaside’s Gilbert Inn, purchased in 2014, and the Inn at the Prom, which they bought in 2011.
Plans for the Pearl called for three stories, a penthouse floor and tower roof. A two-level parking garage on Beach Drive with 41 inside spaces would have been supplemented with an additional 10 outdoor spaces on Avenue A.
But minimum stall lengths, back-out and lane widths required a variance from the Planning Commission. Simmons also requested a height variance of 7 feet because of grade differences on various parts of the property.
After several months of testimony, the Planning Commission granted both variances.
Their decision was appealed by the Calefs and Nudelman.
“That’s my home,” Nudelman told city councilors Monday. “I have a right to live in my own home the same way you do, in the comfort of my home that I love. And no one has the right to force me to move.”
Councilors responded to his plea. “The need for a side yard setback variance was based on Mr. Simmons’s building design and not circumstances unique to the property,” Councilor Jay Barber said in introducing the motion to support the appeal.
Along with Barber, Councilors Don Johnson, Tita Montero, Randy Frank and Seth Morrisey voted to grant the appeal. Mayor Don Larson voted against it.
Simmons now has the option of bringing revised plans back to the Planning Commission for approval.
“I’m happy that it’s going to go back to the Planning Commission and then we’ll be able to work with Antoine to get a building that won’t overwhelm our house,” Dan Calef said after the meeting. “We were civil as neighbors, but we don’t have any interest in selling. The offer to buy the place wasn’t of interest to us. “
“I’m happy with the process and happy with the granting of my appeal,” Nudelman said.
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