Plans to renovate and expand the Best Western Corte Madera Inn, long a freeway-side landmark, appear to be making progress toward town approval.
It’s been a rocky road toward that objective. Including plans to save the old flood control pond and enhance it should help smooth that path.
Reneson Hotels’ proposal also reduces the number of units, responding to officials’ complaints that its original design to expand to 187 rooms was too large and bulky.
That Reneson is continuing to invest in the plan for updating the hotel is a good sign of the market demand for visitor lodging. Renison’s preliminary plans call for demolishing existing buildings and building a new 149-room hotel that would be a Residence Inn by Marriott, which would offer longer-stay accommodations.
The latest milestone attained by Reneson was a green light by the town-commissioned environmental review, which concluded the project “would not substantially degrade the quality of the environment.” It also concludes that proposed mitigation measures would make its potential impacts “less than significant.”
Reneson and its proposal have some more local political hoops to get through before it can start construction, but given its plans date back to 2014 and the controversy over its now-abandoned proposal to fill in the half-acre pond, the outlook may be more promising.
Instead of debating whether the man-made pond is worth saving, Reneson plans to restore it and make it a focal point of its development.
A 2014 environmental report concluded that the pond was of little habitat value. To some it was a forlorn algae-choked pond, abandoned from its original role for flood control. But critics of paving over the pond were loud and clear in refuting the report’s finding and stood in the way of Reneson winning the town’s approval.
The Marin Audubon Society led the charge to save the pond and argued that it should be preserved as habitat, including as a roosting area for black-crowned night herons.
No doubt, Marin Audubon will stay involved, playing a role in shaping plans to restore and enhance the pond.
Reneson’s previous plan was turned down by the town Planning Commission in 2017.
This new plan could be a win-win-win for Reneson, the town, herons and other wildlife that call the pond area home.
Reneson hopes so. It’s been a long time coming. It was sent back to the drawing board. This is an example of a developer actually listening to the community.
Besides saving the pond, the latest plans call for 149 rooms, an increase of 39, built in several sections in a U-shaped design. The plan does not include keeping the building that hosts the restaurant, which in recent years has been reserved for hotel guests.
There will be 169 parking spaces, with 14 electric vehicle charging stations.
The new construction will follow “green” standards, among them installing solar panels and, possibly, a “grey water” reuse system for the laundry.
For the community, the project offers the promise of jobs, local tax revenue and customers for local restaurants and shops. There are some more hurdles facing the proposal, but the road to approval looks a lot less rocky.
