Tribal Hotel Near Trinidad Tripped Up By Local Lawsuit

A controversial hotel project adjacent to a tribal casino on coastal bluff in far northern California may or may not move forward after an appellate court found that the Coastal Commission’s review under the did not contain sufficient evidence that fire protection was adequate. Just as important, the appellate court ruled in favor of the Coastal Commission on all other environmental issues, including most significantly the hotel’s visual impact. The hotel is proposed by the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of Trinidad Rancheria, which owns a nearby casino in the coastal town of Trinidad in Humboldt County. The project was considered a federal project because of a loan and lease requiring approval of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, meaning the project had to be consistent with the federal Coastal Zone Management Act. The BIA declared the project consistent, but this determination then went before the Coastal Commission because the California Coastal Act is the federally approved coastal plan for California under the CZMA. The tribe originally proposed a 64-foot hotel. The Coastal Commission staff originally recommended that the commission object to the BIA’s consistency determination because of the visual impact, citing Coastal Act §30251, which requires protection of “scenic and visual qualities”. After originally agreeing with the staff, the Coastal Commission then voted to conclude that the project could be consistent with the Coastal Act if the height were reduced to 40 feet.

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