450 Hotel Rooms OKd for Former Marineland Site : Development: Approval by Rancho Palos Verdes planning commissioners has angered environmentalists.

More than four years after Marineland closed its doors to the public, Rancho Palos Verdes planning commissioners Wednesday approved the construction of 450 hotel rooms on the site it used to occupy.

By a 4-1 vote, commissioners gave Arizona developer James Monaghan approval to build a 390-room hotel and an additional 50 rooms, or suites, in smaller buildings where the landmark saltwater aquarium once operated.

The plan approved by commissioners also allows Monaghan to take an existing motel on the oceanfront land and expand it from five to 10 rooms. A nine-hole golf course was also approved for the property.

The commission’s vote, which occurred shortly after midnight, almost certainly will be appealed to the City Council by Palos Verdes Peninsula environmentalists and others who have fought to prevent the construction of a hotel on the land.

Any appeals must be filed with the city within 15 days.

Also, a grass-roots group calling itself Save Our Coastline 2000 has vowed to take legal action if necessary to stop a hotel from being built. The group contends that the construction of a hotel along the coastline violates city planning laws.

“The hotel is so huge it just sits there like a dead rhinoceros on the horizon,” group spokesman Gar Goodson said Wednesday.

Bob Spence, a principal in International Asset Group, an investment advisory firm that recently formed a partnership with Monaghan to develop the property, called the commission’s action an important first step toward developing the 102-acre site. He said he and Monaghan will now work to secure financing and a hotel operator.

“If the City Council approves (the project), we’ll be happy campers,” Spence said.

Planning Commission Chairman Peter Von Hagen said he is concerned that plans for the golf course do not call for 18 holes. An 18-hole course is needed to lure people to the hotel and turn it into a popular resort, he said.

He said he was satisfied with the size of the project, however, and believes that the commission, by approving it, is “in tune with the council.” Planning commissioners and council members have previously held joint public workshops on the project.

“I think a hotel development of that size is totally appropriate for that piece of property,” Von Hagen said.

Monaghan had sought permission for a 450- to 500-room hotel, arguing that anything smaller would not be economically viable. City planners had recommended that any rooms over 363 in number be placed in separate, smaller buildings.

“We thought the core building looked to be a fairly large, bulky structure, and one way to break it up was to reduce the number of rooms,” said Bob Benard, the city’s director of environmental services.

Under the plan approved by commissioners, a 30,000-square-foot conference center, a 20,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, and a market and cafe can be built, and a restaurant that once operated on the site can be restored.

The project would cover about 20 to 25 acres of the site. Parking, picnic areas, vista points and trails would have to be built for the general public.

Charles Hotchkiss, the only commissioner to vote against the project, said he did so because it is still unknown who will ultimately operate the hotel.

“I don’t think it is in the city’s best interest without knowing who the main player is,” Hotchkiss said.

Spence said he has spoken to several potential operators and has appointments to talk with more in coming days. He declined to divulge the names of the operators.