A few months ago, the planning commission approved a proposal tomake the Claremont Hotel, which has been a historic site in Oaklandfor nearly 90 years, a landmark. The preservation advisory boardwanted to make the entire hotel property a landmark, as well.However, before the proposal made its way to the city council, theitem was removed, and the planning commission barred the landmarkpreservation advisory board from having any authority in preventingnew development because of landmarks.

However, the commission has proposed regulating futuredevelopment on the Claremont property, which would only allowdevelopment projects that were complementary to the old hotel.

The hotel owner, KSL Corp., would benefit from this because itwould not have to follow guidelines for regulating new developmentat a historic site. However, any new development, including addingabout 140 rooms to the property, would have to enhance the beautyof the current hotel.