The city of Durango Planning Commission voted 5-0 Monday night to approve a conceptual development plan for the proposed La Quinta Inn & Suites at Mercury Village.
The three-story, 96-room motel would be located at East Turner Drive and Translux Drive, near Mercury and Durango Mall.
Attorney Denny Ehlers, representing Durango Mall, said the mall would have no objections to the proposed motel if improvements can be made to a neighboring intersection. Ehlers had previously raised numerous objections to the project in a Nov. 3 letter to city planning officials.
“Most all of the mall’s comments were eliminated by the revised (motel) proposal,” he told the Planning Commission on Monday.
The motel is being proposed by LaPlata Lodging, a limited-liability company led by developer Michael Carnel of Colorado Springs.
The intersection improvements would largely be on the mall’s land and be paid for by the mall, Ehlers said.
Carnel said he had not studied the mall’s proposed intersection improvements.
“I’d certainly be for whatever’s beneficial for everybody in the neighborhood,” Carnel said after the meeting.
The motel developers dropped plans to build a second building on the lot. Under the original proposal, the second building would have had a pizza restaurant and two residential apartments.
Carnel said dropping the second building would streamline the planning process and ease objections from neighbors.
“As we weighed everything, it became pretty apparent that we’d be better off doing what we do best, and that’s the hotel business,” Carnel said.
City planner Craig Roser said planning staff had no issues with the proposed site or architectural design.
The motel would employ about 20 workers, ranging from entry-level jobs that would pay about $15 an hour to a manager who would earn about $75,000 a year, project manager Doug Wright said.
The City Council will consider a request for a public hearing Dec. 16. The public hearing would likely follow in January.
Wright said the developers want to begin construction in April or May.
cslothower@durangoherald.com
