Eureka City Council Looks at Possible Hotel Moratorium

Eureka, Ca. (KIEM) — After nearly 2 hours of public comment, the Eureka City Council chose to not make a decision on whether or not to enact a moratorium on new hotels in the city limits.

Roughly a dozen hotel owners and workers came out to show their support for a moratorium. They say that despite it being peak tourist season, they have seen lower occupancy rates. They believe that adding new hotels in the area will further hurt their businesses.

If an initial moratorium was put into place, it would only be for 45 days. Despite seeing a drop in city revenue from hotels in the last fiscal year, Eureka’s director of development services believes that a new hotel would not jeopardize existing hotels.

Moving forward, the council will discuss other options such as putting a cap on the number of rooms a new hotel can have, and working with local hotel owners to find ways to draw in more guests.