Nov. 25–The final count from last week’s election in the city of Sonoma has confirmed defeat of a measure limiting the size of new hotels — the end results showing Measure B lost by 124 votes, the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters said.
Opponents of the Hotel Limitation Measure garnered 51.6 percent of the overall vote, or 2,032 ballots cast.
Those in favor represented 48.4 percent of the vote, or 1,908, with all absentee and provision ballots counted, officials said.
The ballot measure would have prohibited construction or expansion of lodging facilities beyond 25 rooms, unless the city were to attain an annual occupancy rate of 80, which opponents contended was not feasible.
It was put to a vote in reaction to a plan to build a luxury hotel on West Napa Street with 59 guest rooms, as proposed by local developer Darius Anderson, owner of Kenwood Investments. Anderson also is a principal in Sonoma Media Investments, which owns The Press Democrat.
Sixty-one percent of the city’s registered voters participated in the election.
