Marriott hotel in Truckee nears approval

Disagreement over cosmetic changes shouldn’t be enough to slow down groundbreaking for a new hotel above downtown Truckee.

The 13-acre Barsell property, located near the Interstate 80/ Donner Pass Road interchange and next to the Truckee Cemetery already had plans approved for retail, restaurant space and most notably a 109-room Marriott Residence Inn.

“We’re hoping to break ground this summer for the hotel and some of the other buildings,” said Heidi Burns, planner with SCO Planning & Engineering.

If all goes according to plan, grading could begin in June, wrap-up at the end of the summer, and with foundations down construction could continue through the winter, finishing with the hotel opening mid-summer 2009, Burns said.

But a number of exterior material changes, like roofing material, siding, and paint, meant the project had to go back to the town’s planning commission on April 9.

“The hotel was approved with what I would call all natural materials,” Jenna Endres, associate planner for the Town of Truckee, said. “So these are fairly big changes in the scale of the planning commission not being supportive of some of the changes.”

The planning commission’s concerns were mostly with color choices — which were lighter than they would have liked for the surroundings, Endres said.

Burns said most of the changes to roofing and siding were for fire safety, but expects to be able to reach a solution by the next meeting.

The planning commission decided to continue the April 9 hearing into May, giving the developers the chance to rework their changes according to commission recommendations, Endres said.

“This really doesn’t change the timeline, there are a number of other issues, such as site clean-up,” she said. “Assuming they get approval next month they should have no problem starting grading this season.”

Because the site was a former town dump, some soil clean-up is required, Endres said.

Burns said site clean-up for some led contamination could be resolved by May.

Project history A Kmart store was once proposed for the Barsell site in the 1980s, which was first denied by Nevada County’s planning commission, then approved by the Board of Supervisors, said Town Planner Duane Hall in a previous interview. The Mountain Area Preservation Foundation formed in response, filing a lawsuit against the county, and the project was withdrawn shortly thereafter, he said. Once the town incorporated, property owner Rich Barsell disputed the requirements put on the site by the Downtown Specific Plan, Hall said. A settlement was reached by Barsell and the town in 1999, keeping the same land uses, but increasing density to allow for more development.