Will local NIMBYS try this if a hotel is approved on Beach Boulevard?

Ballot measure rejection results in lawsuit against San Bruno over hotel

By (Pacifica's own)  Brendan P. Bartholomew on June 5, 2016 1:00 am

Opponents of a planned hotel in San Bruno are suing the city after a ballot measure seeking to block the hotel was rejected from the November ballot.

Late last month, city officials told the hotel’s opponents that approval by the City Council to sell the 1.5-acre parcel to the hotel developer was not a legislative action, and therefore not subject to the referendum process.

But backers of the referendum, which would reverse the City Council’s decision to sell a parcel of city-owned land to hotel builder OTO Development, believe San Bruno doesn’t have the authority to decide whether a referendum is valid and have filed a lawsuit against the city in San Mateo County Superior Court.

The hotel is opposed in part because the developer reportedly refuses to offer any guarantee the future hotel workers would be allowed to unionize. Opponents also claim city officials aren’t getting a good deal for San Bruno residents, because the 1.5-acre parcel’s $3.97 million selling price is too low.

The City Council voted March 29 to approve the land sale. That prompted the hotel project’s opponents to launch a petition drive to gather signatures in support of their referendum to reverse the council’s decision.

On April 27, opponents submitted about 3,200 signatures at San Bruno City Hall, well in excess of the roughly 2,000 signatures needed to place their measure on the ballot.

The referendum is backed by Unite Here Local 2, a union representing hotel and restaurant workers, and by the San Bruno Committee for Economic Justice, a recently formed coalition of residents.

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Posted by Steve Sinai