THE OCEANSIDER: Fusion Lodging Preliminary Rendering for New Hotel at Oceanside Cabins; An Eventful Week of Announcements to Come in the Village

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By Jerry Keene, Editor, The Oceansider
Oceansiders can look forward to some significant news during the coming week. Kris Woolpert, who coordinated balloting on designs for a new community entry sign, reports that the winning entry will be announced “mid- week.” In addition, a new Fire Chief has been provisionally selected by the working group that conducted interviews at the Netarts-Oceanside Fire District last week. Officials are finalizing administrative details before making the decision public later this week. Watch for a special edition of The Oceansider when the news breaks.
Architect Offers Oceansiders a Sneak Peak at Plan Concept for New Fusion Lodging Hotel
“We were a little bit fearful to show this,” said managing architect Steve Ewoldt in his Zoom presentation on Tuesday, because the designs were still “primitive” and subject to change. In the spirit of transparency and public engagement, however, Ewoldt said he prevailed upon the owners, Fusion Lodging, to allow preparation of a conceptual drawing specifically for this presentation. The goal was to provide special advance notice of the “design spirit” and “low scale, residential style” that will inform the eventual design, including an exterior with “a lot of wood or wood-like materials.”

Preliminary sketch of “design concept” for the new hotel planned at the site of Oceanside Cabins. The sketch depicts the front of the new hotel as it will face the ocean, with entrances facing Maxwell Mountain Road in the back. (The sketches in this article are the intellectual property of Woodblock architectural firm and may not be used or reproduced without the permission of Woodblock Architecture.)

More than 50 Oceansiders tuned in to the online presentation as Ewoldt outlined and fielded questions about the project. He shared that the current plan includes 16 rooms, a lobby and a restaurant that may or may not be open to the public because of county parking requirements. The ground floor will feature 17 parking spaces and an elevator entrance to the two upper levels of the 35-foot-high structure. Ewoldt frankly described the development process for the “currently underperforming” property as a balancing act that entailed “refereeing” among the competing imperatives of the owners, the regulators and the community. He and the owners were also well aware of the adverse community reaction to the controversial “concrete box” design proposed for the site several years ago, which he described as a “fine” design but not one that fit in with the community.

Preliminary renderings of the western elevations, top-down profile and the ground floor parking area. Property of Woodblock Architecture.

Some Oceansiders with homes or properties behind the planned hotel took the opportunity to press for more details and express concern about blocked views. Ewoldt expressed sympathy but noted that the site has always been zoned for a hotel and emphasized the work they put into minimizing the hotel’s visual “impact” and preserving open spaces between its component structures. Going forward, Ewoldt said the group has been working with the county on technical issues and is nearly ready to apply for the “conditional use” permit the project requires. He emphasized, however, that Fusion Lodging does not plan to request any variances or exceptions from the applicable zoning rules. Ewoldt, who personally plans to build a vacation home in Oceanside within the next year, committed to more community meetings and to staying in touch with The Oceansider to keep the community informed of the project’s progress.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

March 14         OAP Trails Committee Meeting
Oceanside Community Hall – 4- 5 p.m.

March 18         ONA Short Term Rental Cap Committee Meeting
Netarts Fire Hall – 7 p.m.
Link will be emailed for public viewing

April 1              Oceanside Community Club Monthly Potluck
Oceanside Community Hall – 6 p.m.

April 6               ONA Regular Membership Meeting
Oceanside Community Hall – 10-11:30 a.m.
Hybrid Meeting – live and remote attendance

And that’s the view from Oceanside!

www.oceansidernews.com
jerrykeene@oceansidernews.com