Poway golf course owners seek hotel ballot measure
The owners of the Maderas Golf Club will be asking the Poway City Council to place on the November ballot a measure that, if passed, would clear the way for them to propose a hotel on the Old Coach Road property.
Bob Manis, the city’s development services director, said that Sunroad Enterprises is interested in building a hotel of up to 240 rooms but that the specific plan covering the Old Coach area would first need to be amended to allow the use. That would require a citywide vote under Proposition FF. The specific plan covers land uses within the two Old Coach luxury residential developments and the golf course.
If the measure passes, Sunroad would then be able to proceed with proposing what Manis called a “boutique hotel/resort.” The plans would be subject to a thorough City Council review, including public hearings, he said.
The matter is scheduled for the council’s next meeting, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 19.
The 18-hole golf course, consistently ranked among the top 100 in the country, was opened in 2001 by Sunroad. On Tuesday, former Sunroad executive Tom Story, who now serves as a planning consultant, confirmed that the company would like to move forward with a hotel providing the council places the measure on the November ballot and that voters give it a simple majority approval.
Story stressed that voter approval would be only the first step in the process and that Sunroad intends to comply with all building and environmental issues related to the project. That includes, he said, keeping the buildings to two stories in height to comply with city codes. The project would require a conditional use permit and, most likely, an environmental impact report, he said. The design review and permit process might take as long as two years, with another year required for construction, he said.
Sunroad wants to build a hotel that would attract golfers interested in spending a couple of days rather than just making day trips, Story said. It would be a way to generate new revenue opportunities for a golf course that Story said has not made a profit since it opened.
