Plans for a hotel at 176 S. Broadway were approved earlier this month by the Saratoga Springs Planning Board.
Situated at the intersection of South Broadway and Todd Street, the hotel will be four floors with 100 units and a total of 104,000 square feet, according to documents. The main entrance will be located on Todd Street and corner with Broadway will include a bike rack and some plaza-style bench and wall seating.
Larkin Hospitality of Shelburne, Vt., brought the application, and the LA Group represented them, according to documents.
It replaces the Turf and Spa Motel just south the Nuture Salon building, but the parking lot snakes behind that building and the Thirsty Owl to Lincoln Avenue. It’s there that the plans hit a small snag at the planning board meeting.
"I don't want to approve a problem," said board member Sara Boivin referring to the parking lot that wraps behind the salon and the Thirsty Owl. It connects to Gurtler Lane and Lincoln Avenue and creates an odd intersection with an unclear traffic pattern.
She said the board needs to know that the solution is coming down the road.
"We've been talking about this Gurtler Lane access for a long time, and I want to get to a place where we find the layout is safe,” planning chair Mark Torpey said earlier in the evening.
He agreed to a condition of approval that the driveway connection to Lincoln Avenue will be reviewed on a “periodic basis” until they find the best solution.
Board members agreed the plan was strong otherwise and approved it unanimously.