ST. HELENA — A petition proposing a hotel at Charles Krug Winery gathered enough signatures to qualify for the Nov. 5 ballot in St. Helena.
Organizers turned in the petition with 775 signatures. Napa County officials checked 500 of them and determined that 408 of those were valid, well over the 344 required.
A view of the proposed St. Helena Resort from Deer Park Road.
Courtesy of Noble House Hotels & Resorts (renderings by SB Architects)
The petition is scheduled to go before the St. Helena City Council on June 25. The council will have two choices: approve the hotel proposal as is, or put it on the Nov. 5 ballot.
Noble House Hotels & Resorts, the Napa Valley Wine Train’s parent company, wants to build a roughly 56-room luxury resort on fallow land at Charles Krug, with access from Deer Park Road. The hotel is designed to be independent of the municipal water and sewer systems.
Noble House has decided to pursue the project via initiative instead of going through the city planning process. Noble House CEO Jamie Colee has said the initiative process is quicker and will enable the hotel to start producing revenue for the city far sooner than it could under the usual process.
City officials and consultants will write what’s known as a 9212 report analyzing the project’s impacts. That report will draw on more than 1,000 pages of environmental documents the proponents submitted, mostly in mid-June.
Staff plans to present the report to the council on June 25. Under the California election code, the city has only 30 days to present it. The 30-day clock started on Tuesday, when City Clerk Cindy Tzafopoulos certified to the council that the petition was sufficient.
On April 9 the council said the 9212 report should analyze the project’s effects on water, traffic, city finances, the general plan and zoning, land use, housing, infrastructure, the economy and land use.
The initiative is formally known as the St. Helena Agritourism Initiative.
Photos: Napa Valley hotels — from the luxurious to the basics
Cambria Hotel Napa Valley
Inside the Cambria Hotel Napa Valley. The hotel, at 320 Soscol Ave., just opened.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
The Archer Napa Hotel
Napa Valley visitors check in at The Archer Napa Hotel.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
The Archer Napa Hotel
Napa Valley visitors check in at the Archer Napa Hotel.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Cambria Hotel Napa Valley
A couple waits for a ride outside the Cambria Hotel Napa Valley at 320 Soscol Ave.
Jennifer Huffman, Register file photo
The Archer Napa Hotel
Archer Napa GM Michael Collins talks with visitors (from Boston, Toronto and San Francisco) at the downtown Napa hotel.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Cambria Hotel Napa Valley
Inside the Cambria Hotel Napa Valley. The hotel, at 320 Soscol Ave., just opened.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Cambria Hotel Napa Valley
Inside the Cambria Hotel Napa Valley. The hotel, at 320 Soscol Ave., just opened.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Cambria Hotel Napa Valley
A courtyard at the Cambria Hotel Napa Valley, on Soscol Avenue in Napa.
Jennifer Huffman, Register file photo
Napa’s Vista Collina resort
Maria and her niece Mila, visiting from Sacramento and the Bay Area, enjoy a family-friendly game on the expansive lawn at Napa’s Vista Collina resort. Napa County hotel revenue, occupancy and rates are back to June 2019 levels.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Napa County hotel visitors
Napa County hotel managers and owners have seen a noticeable increase in the number of leisure travelers, they report. Occupancy is up, and hotel managers expect it to rise in the coming months. Now that more people are being vaccinated, people want to travel again, hoteliers say. This staffer is entering the Archer Napa.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Archer Napa hotel
The Archer Hotel on First Street.
Register file photo
Napa hotel
Napa County hotel occupancy and revenue dramatically declined in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic triggered shelter-at-home orders and other safety restrictions. These staffers helped some Napa Valley visitors check into the Napa River Inn in September.
Jennifer Huffman, Register file photo
Oriental Hotel at White Sulphur Springs, 1875
The Oriental Hotel, built by Sven Alstrom, circa 1875.
Courtesy Napa County Historical Society
Embassy Suites
Gary Ceron, housekeeping supervisor at the Embassy Suites Napa Valley, demonstrates how he cleans rooms at the Napa hotel with an electrostatic spraying device.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Embassy Suites
Gary Ceron, housekeeping supervisor at the Embassy Suites Napa Valley, demonstrates how he cleans rooms at the Napa hotel with an electrostatic spraying device.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Embassy Suites, Napa
Embassy Suites, Napa
Marriott hotel
Napa's Marriott hotel as seen during the county-wide shelter-at-home order and the COVID-19 outbreak. Hotel revenue across the county has plummeted in recent weeks.
Tim Carl
Embassy Suites
Napa's Embassy Suites hotel as seen during the county-wide shelter-at-home order and the COVID-19 outbreak.
Tim Carl
Napa Winery Inn
The Napa Winery Inn, a 59-room hotel located in North Napa, has been sold for $12.9 million.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Stanly Ranch resort opens for business
Entrance signage at Stanly Ranch in south Napa.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Stanly Ranch resort opens for business
Merchandise found at Napa's Stanly Ranch resort.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Stanly Ranch resort opens for business
Inside Gavel, at Napa's Stanly Ranch resort.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Stanly Ranch resort opens for business
Eli Harrison and Sydney Lindsey, both living in Napa, work as ranch hands at the newly opened Stanly Ranch resort. On the right is General Manager Ed Gannon.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Stanly Ranch resort opens for business
Stanly Ranch pastry chef Harry Flager made strawberry and hibiscus cheesecakes for a private event at the south Napa Resort.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Stanly Ranch resort opens for business
A main gathering area at Stanly Ranch resort.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Stanly Ranch resort opens for business
Guests enjoy one of the pools at south Napa's Stanly Ranch resort.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Stanly Ranch resort opens for business
Baristas Vanessa Calderon and Cindy Torres at work at Stanly Ranch in south Napa.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Jay Jeffers
Jay Jeffers of St. Helena has reopened The Madrona, a newly renovated boutique hotel in Healdsburg.
Tim Carl Photography
The Madrona
The Madrona is a Victorian-style boutique hotel recently acquired by St. Helena's Jay Jeffers and his partners.
Tim Carl Photography
Las Alcobas
The city of St. Helena is counting on the Las Alcobas hotel project to help improve the city’s financial outlook.
Jesse Duarte, Star
Telegraph Alley
St.Helena had telegraph service at least since 1881. There was a line between the White Sulphur Springs Resort and the Stock Exchange in San Francisco at that early date. A telegraph line from the Springs went through Telegraph Alley, south of Hotel St. Helena (1881), giving the alley its name.
History
The Hotel St. Helena as in looked during a parade in 1905. Submitted photo
Mount View Hotel
Calistoga's Mount View Hotel has extended outdoor seating with a new patio area.
Submitted photo
Mount View Hotel
A 1930 Packard Touring car parked in front of the Mount View Hotel on Lincoln Avenue in downtown Calistoga, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
TIM CARL PHOTOGRAPHY
Sunburst Hotel
The Sunburst Calistoga Hotel will revitalize a restaurant and add a spa under new ownership.
Tim Carl/Weekly Calistogan
Mount View Hotel at night
Mount View Hotel is located at 1457 Lincoln Avenue in Calistoga.
Anne Ward Ernst
Bergson hotel
This is one of the rooms at the Bergson hotel in Calistoga. The inn recently reopened after a renovation.
Submitted photo
Brannan Cottage Inn wins award
The Brannan Cottage Inn of Calistoga was recognized in the June issue of Sunset Magazine as “Best Hotel Redo.” “Our judges loved how this Victorian hot-springs haven in Calistoga, California could exude so much history – it was built when Abe Lincoln was president – and still be so contemporary,” the magazine wrote. The Sunset Travel Awards was decided by 12 travel experts, the magazine’s in-house staff, and a vote by readers. The inn reopened on Labor Day 2014 after extensive renovations.
Submitted photo
Calistoga Hotel
The Calistoga Hotel, circa 1940s. The streets were paved in the early 1920s. There were more power lines then, and the parking meters have since been removed.
Submitted photos
The European Hotel
Mount View Hotel. In 1907 this was the location of the Europa Hotel, built and owned by Louis Banchero. The property was sold to Johnny Ghisolfo in 1912, and by 1919 Ghisolfo had built his new hotel, the Mount View, in the popular Mission Revival style. By 1938, the hotel had a total of 45 rooms, all equipped with running hot mineral water. This beloved Calistoga structure is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Submitted photo
Napa's McClelland House luxury inn
General Manager Giselle Luce (right) and innkeeper Choolwe Kalulu at the McClelland House luxury inn.
justin lee photography
Napa's McClelland House luxury inn
The newly renovated and redecorated McClelland House luxury inn is located at 569 Randolph St.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Napa's McClelland House luxury inn
The McClelland House luxury inn is located at 569 Randolph St., at a five-way downtown Napa intersection. The property has been completely remodeled.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
Napa's McClelland House luxury inn
The newly renovated and redecorated McClelland House luxury inn is located at 569 Randolph St.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
The George
This historic Napa mansion, located at 492 Randolph St., has been completely remodeled and is now a luxury inn called The George.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
The George Napa
Kiki and George Theodorides check over the last remaining details at The George. The luxury inn is about to start welcoming guests.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
The George
A first floor gathering area inside The George inn of Napa.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
The George
A room inside a turret at the George inn of Napa.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
You can reach Jesse Duarte at 707-967-6803 or jduarte@sthelenastar.com .
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