The Oakland Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board (LPAB) is being asked to render an opinion to the Oakland Planning Commission on the historical significance and value of the Claremont Hotel and its surrounding property. Hotel owners would like to undermine landmark and historical resource protection to ease the construction of a large condominium complex adjacent to the hotel.
In October 2001, the LPAB issued a clear opinion on the historical significance of the property, Resolution 2001-01, which reads in part:
RESOLVED: That the Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board hereby initiates, under the provisions of Section 17.144.030D of the Planning Code, action to recommend to the Planning Commission and the City Council as a Landmark the following building and grounds: Claremont Hotel, 41 Tunnel Road, Oakland, CA; and be it...
FURTHER RESOLVED: The LPAB recommends that the landmark site shall include the entire property. While the site, including specific landscape areas or features, will evolve and change, the open, landscaped character of the site as a setting for the original historic building is a character-defining element that should be preserved.
In signing below, I urge the LPAB to reaffirm their 2001 resolution to protect the entire grounds of the landmark Claremont Hotel.