Council, mayor to discuss La Quinta today

The issue of the La Quinta Inn and Suites, the hotel planned for front beach between Hopkins Boulevard and Seal Avenue, will be discussed this afternoon in a special meeting immediately after the 1:30 City Council meeting.

No votes are expected to be taken during the session, which is at City Hall and open to the public. Instead, councilmembers are expected to discuss the merits of an appeal filed by nearby residents and the composition of the city’s Architectural and Historic Review Commission, whose nine members currently include only four who live in an historic neighborhood, short of the required seven.

One proposal being considered by Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich: increasing the size of the AHRC to 12 members, with seven residing in historic districts. Gilich had initially asked five members to resign Monday in hopes of adding residents who live in an historic district. The composition of the AHRC has become an issue in the La Quinta appeal.

The AHRC, whose members are appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council, reviews plans and development in historic districts and at landmarks in the city. The commission meets the second and fourth Thursday of each month in the auditorium of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Municipal Building.
See the agenda for the 1:30 council meeting