Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2011 • Hotel St. Francis mixed use permit approved

Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2011, edition of the Lassen County Times.

The Susanville Planning Commission has officially approved the mixed-use permit for the Hotel St. Francis and all of the businesses inside.

The commission made the decision to allow owner John Nicoli to operate multiple businesses in the building at its Aug. 9 meeting. City Planner Jared Hancock said the layout and facilities were reviewed and approved by the commission, provided Nicoli abide by the terms and conditions set by the commission.

The mixed-use permit allows the building to now provide a number of additional housing units on the second and third floors, a new and used furniture and antique store and a restaurant coffee bar with a beer and wine license.

“A health and safety inspection was conducted and the general appearance and conformance of the building was found to be acceptable with a list of relatively minor items to correct,” Hancock said. “All items have been corrected and signed off by the building official.”

Hancock said the business licenses for both the store and the restaurant were issued on a temporary basis, pending the council’s decision to approve the use permit.

Hancock took the time to give a brief history of the building and its many uses since 2006, including Nicoli’s recent attempt to convert the bottom floor into a weekend flea market, which the commission denied after outcries from the community.

“Originally, the use permit was approved in 2006,” Hancock said. “It was for the conversion of 35 hotel rooms to 22 apartments. It also permitted a bar on the bottom floor, along with a nightclub, banquet facilities and a restaurant. Since that time, the bar and the banquet facilities and restaurant have been closed down.”

Hancock said one of the minor issues addressed was how Nicoli agreed to increase the frequency of trash collection from one day per week to at least three times a week. Hancock said the city reserves the right to increase the frequency again or that a trash enclosure be constructed to accommodate additional dumpsters.

Of the 11 specific conditions set forth by the commission, condition four was the one that appeased commissioners and community members, including commissioner Dan Foster and community member Michelle Zubillaga.

The condition stipulates “The facility and units shall be subject to inspection of city officials with reasonable notice to ensure that the use is being conducted in a clean, sanitary and safe manner and any negative findings shall be reported to the planning commission and may result in a revocation of the use permit.”

Commissioner Wayne Jambois said staff did a fantastic job satisfying each of the conditions for the permit and addressing the commission’s concerns.

Hancock said in staff’s inspection of the building, it was also found that Nicoli was very well respected by his tenants and deeply connected to them, with diligent maintenance and solid property management. He said the one concern he had was that if Nicoli ever left or was no longer in charge of the building, the whole building could fall into a state of disrepair and begin to fail very quickly.

Nicoli’s efforts last year to try and put a flea market into the lower portion of the building drew outrage from community members, from misuse of historic building registry status to improper use of a use permit. Since then, Hancock said he and the city have been in constant contact with Nicoli in addressing each of the issues.

“I am pleased with the outcome,” Zubillaga said. “I thought everybody did a great job. I like the conditions. I hope that everything works out well and that the conditions are met. If the conditions aren’t met, I hope there are consequences.”