City Manager Sage Sangiacomo cut off public discussion at a City Council meeting on Wednesday night about a highly anticipated permit application that will determine the fate of the downtown landmark Palace Hotel.
The application, a matter of intense public interest, has been shrouded in secrecy for two days at City Hall following current Palace owner Jitu Ishwar's submission on Monday. The contents of Ishwar’s application are still publicly unknown, but it will lead to the demolition, restoration, or a combination of both.
Sangiacomo and Deputy Manager Shannon Riley insisted Wednesday night that city staff needs more time to study the Ishwar application because the staff’s “regular workload” over the past two days has prevented a thorough review.
Whatever Ishwar is seeking does not currently need public review by the City Council.
If Ishwar has chosen demolition, the only thing standing in the way is authorization from Matt Keiser, the city’s chief building official.
Ishwar has been in escrow with the Guidiville Rancheria and a group of local investors who attempted to secure $6.6 million in public money to tear down the Palace under the guise of ground contamination studies, clearing of the site, and preparing it for new development.
Since then, however, a state oversight agency nixed the need to demolish the Palace for any contamination studies. In addition, Gov. Newsom’s administration recently announced that because of budgetary issues, it was trimming the millions of dollars earmarked for tribes, nonprofits, and poor municipalities under the unique state program the Guidiville group had sought funding from.
Sangiacomo acknowledged Wednesday night the keen public interest in what Ishwar is seeking under the pressure of a city of Ukiah public safety order. City officials quietly waived a demand for Ishwar to produce a structural analysis before meeting a permit deadline set for this past Monday.
The city manager, however, shut down a brief exchange of questions and answers among council members Mari Rodin and Doug Crane, and Tom Carter, a contractor interested in buying and saving the Palace.
Sangiacomo contended that publicly discussing the contents of the Ishwar permit application Wednesday night would violate the state’s anti-secrecy law because the Palace was not officially listed on the agenda. The application, however, is public business and not subject to the secrecy typically surrounding private property transactions.
Rodin questioned Carter after he stepped up to the podium and attempted to explain that he believed the Palace could still be shored up and converted into new commercial uses, including a boutique hotel and retail complex.
Carter, who recently inspected the Palace interior, said the public safety issue stems from the deterioration of the interior of the oldest 1891 section. If the roof collapses along with interior support, the old brick walls could come tumbling down, said Carter.
“It is not the big, scary job that it has been presented to be,” said Carter. He has restored old buildings in Sonoma County, Berkeley, and San Francisco.
Council member Crane suggested that the permit application be brought to the City Council for a public discussion at its next meeting, as Carter and other preservation advocates had urged.
Whether that will happen is unclear after Sangiacomo’s intervention, however.
“We need more time to review the application,” said Sangiacomo before ending the discussion.
Carter, a noted contractor with experience restoring the acclaimed Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon in Lake County, among other Northern California projects, has been attempting to strike a Palace purchase deal with Ishwar for more than two years.
Ishwar rejected his offers, and another from Ukiah investor Minal Shankar, in favor of striking a deal last year with the Guidiville group, which includes downtown restaurant owner Matt Talbert and three local cannabis entrepreneurs. They promised, said Talbert, to make Ishwar “whole” for his investment in the Palace five years ago.
When Ishwar purchased the Palace and property, the city approved plans for retrofitting the historic building to meet current seismic standards. The plans lapsed, however, and nothing has been done to stop the building’s decline under Ishwar’s ownership.
The Guidiville group’s push for demolition reignited a local controversy about the Palace’s fate, drawing the attention of national preservation advocates who see Ukiah’s handling of the contentious issue as an example of what happens when property owners are allowed to let buildings collapse before action is taken. They see Ishwar’s permit application as an opportunity to bring the local debate to a head.
Preservation advocate Pinky Kushner said Wednesday night the City Council needs to review the permit application and make the decision instead of relying on staff.
So the money from PG&E how much was it and how much of it was supposed to go to redwood and potter valleys after all it was our homes that burned