Extend Meeting Past 10 pm (Item 1 Presentations)

Awesome, excellent.

Hello, I'm calling in today against this proposal for a few reasons. Firstly, every dollar a hotel developer spends on a hotel is money that won't be spent on rental housing, especially affordable rental housing. They're competing for construction crews and supplies. And most of all, I'm against bundling the rental home and hotel vote together. This is undemocratic and not transparent. These two issues are not the same. Lack of affordable rental housing is an incredibly serious problem. It affects everyone that lives in the city, but also anyone who wants to live in the city but can't afford to. To put these two issues side by side does not do justice to all the people who can't afford to live here. It does not respect the struggles of the people working to survive in this city. It shows that the city itself does not have the solutions to the affordability crisis.

Aside from that, up to 150 rooms to me is a sizable hotel, and the communities affected should be notified. That's really a money-making machine, especially in the summer. Residents in nearby communities should know that a couple hundred guests a night, and really, now that more and more people are staying in hotel rooms, maybe three or four hundred guests a night could be staying on their block. That's a lot of people. The community deserves a proper understanding of what that means and the safety and security concerns and policing concerns that can come along with that. But at 150 rooms, I don't even understand how that won't suck money away from rentals. That's a very profitable hotel. I urge Council to vote against this and focus on the affordability crisis at hand. Separate these two issues and show affordable housing the respect it deserves. Thank you for your time. Have a great night.