Road issue delays Miramar

BY NICK DURNHOFFER
DAILY SOUND CORRESPONDENT
Miramar Beach Resort and Bungalows developers hit their first major delay this week after some Montecito residents said they feared the relocation of a road might bring floods to the area.
Caruso Affiliated CEO Rick Caruso stated yesterday that his development crew will now engage in a redesign phase that may significantly delay the project. Early last month, some residents near Miramar claimed the relocation of one of the community’s entrance roads to the resort’s eastern edge might create flooding from the nearby Oak Creek. Caruso said he wanted to move the road so that it would no longer cut through the resort’s center.

In a press release yesterday, Caruso stated he hired Penfield-Smith to study possible impacts to Oak Creek caused by the unnamed road’s relocation. The study, which also received approval from County Flood Control, determined the creek would not flood following the road’s location change.
Caruso said in the statement that he offered residents a package that included a $1 million donation, free installation of drains on neighbors’ properties, free hotel accommodations in the event of a flood and flood warnings from the resort’s security guards.
In a phone interview, Caruso said he was still confident in the resort’s future success, but that he believed the community’s denial of his plan had other factors.
“I think it’s a bit unfortunate, but the plan will still work and the hotel will still be great,” Caruso said. “I think [the denial] had very little to with the road … I think they were hoping to get more money than we offered with their existing problem with the creek.”
However, Montecito Association Board Member Bob Collector said Miramar neighborhood residents near the road’s new location did not want to leave anything to chance on what he called a “coin flip.”
“The issue is that it’s by a flood plain,” Collector said. “It may stop the drainage from going downhill and back up onto the homes.”
Miramar neighborhood resident Lorenzo Dall’Armi said that flooding has created problems for the community in the past. However, he said he did not wish to comment on the resort project itself.
“We always worry about flooding with what we’ve experienced,” Dall’Armi said. “Generally flooding is always a possiblity.”
Caruso Affiliated’s Government Relations Vice President Matt Middlebrook said the hotel’s redesign may take several months.
“Our next step in the next few weeks of redesign is to leave the road as it is,” Middlebrook said. “It will still work great as it is.”
He also said Caruso Affiliated wanted to move the road so that hotel guests would not have to cross the road to get to opposite ends of the resort.
Despite this issue, Collector said the Board and many residents still support the resort’s construction.
“Caruso had the best of intentions and he is trying to work with the residents,” Collector said.
Bryan Smithson, who lives on Danielson Road near the resort, said he would like to see the hotel reopen.
“It was a great location,” Smithson said. “It’s just so pretty. I’d like to see something go on with it.”
Miramar Beach Resort and Bungalows, located at 1555 S. Jameson Lane in Montecito, will contain 209 rooms with a staff of over 200 people. The resort has remained closed since September 10, 2000.
Over the past few years, a handful of developers including Ian Schrager and Ty Warner have attempted to reopen the resort, only to resell the property each time after reaching development snags with local residents. The resort originally started as a small set of cottages in 1889 when it was called Ocean View Farm.