Opinion ID: 2107895
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Shufelt's Testimony

Text: When he testified before the board, Shufelt said that in July 2000, Cliff Walk developed plans to renovate the interior and exterior of the hotel. He testified that he wanted to improve the hotel by transforming it from a mid-scale facility to a luxury hotel. He aimed to make the hotel more tranquil and restore its look so that it would resemble a private mansion. To achieve this goal, he developed plans to decrease the number of rooms from twenty-two to twenty, move the parking lot away from the front of the building, replace that parking area with lawns and gardens, and reconfigure the entrance on Memorial Boulevard. He testified that the east wing of the hotel was designed to look like a cheap motel. He said the design was flawed because the existing wooden deck required guests to walk by the other guestroom windows to access their rooms. Therefore, he planned to build private entrances by creating walled courtyards and individual stairways to private decks. Shufelt testified that he showed Cohen some plans in January 2001. He also met with all the abutters to review his plans. He testified that at a meeting with about fifty or sixty neighbors in August 2001, he observed all but two of them applaud his plans. To achieve all the improvements he envisioned, Shufelt developed a budget of $6 million. The $6-million budget included labor and materials, mechanical systems, bathrooms with marble showers, fireplaces and wet bars, furnishings, a kitchen, windows and doors, a roof, grounds, operations, professional services, and other expenses. [10] Eventually, after numerous revisions, his plans were submitted to the building department. Shufelt acknowledged in his testimony before the board that the work Cliff Walk completed was much more extensive than what it says on that permit. With respect to work on the inside of the hotel, the building was gutted and refrained, and he replaced almost all the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and the sprinkler system. [11] With respect to exterior work, Shufelt demolished the old decking, reconfigured the decks, removed asphalt from the old parking lot, and cut down about ten trees, replacing them with about eighty new trees. Shufelt testified that the old decking was in great disrepair. While replacing it, he decided to reconfigure the design. He removed some decks and made others bigger. However, Shufelt testified that the new decks were about the same size as the old decks. He said that the courtyard walls were merely garden walls constructed to create privacy and that they varied in height from six to ten feet. Regarding the parking lot, Shufelt testified that the hotel continuously had used the southwest corner of the parcel for facility-related parking. This area, which he said was partly paved, also had been used for parking on a fee basis by beachgoers.