Mari Jansdotter
Pacaso is getting more and more backlash in the press and I think a major concern that has not been highlighted enough is the safety aspect of having a hotel/timeshare-like house in the middle of residential areas. There are good reasons why cities like St. Helena prohibit this.
These are my concerns and thoughts about the safety aspect of Pacaso, in addition to the noise, parking issues and the erosion of residential neighbourhoods.
To clarify, I don't mind the Pacaso timeshare concept -- just not in residential neighborhoods. Look at Four Seasons in Calistoga -- they built a timeshare outside town. No problem for residents or local neighborhoods and great for Calistoga business.
I'd like for the Pacaso owners to ask themselves if they and their families would want hundreds of transient people to come to their residence street to party week in and week out year around? Especially for us who live in Napa and Sonoma -- visitors are typically here to experience the wine country and drink wine. What happens if there's drunk driving resulting in a person/child's death; what happens if there is any other kind of child abuse by transient vacationers?
I think many other parents feel about safety and expectations the same as I do when you put your life savings into a carefully selected, safe residential-zoned neighborhood that is then invaded by Pacaso timeshare-type of ownerships.
Pacaso's action of suing the city of St. Helena when the city was trying to reinforce its zoning laws is IMHO nothing but bullying and intended to handcuff the city. In the meantime, Pacaso keeps rolling out more of their timeshare-like houses in our town with seemingly a "let's see what we can get away with" approach. What if the city of St. Helena wins the lawsuit? What happens to the then-illegal Pacaso houses?
I truly believe one of the strongest things we as residents can do is keep getting our voice heard through articles and protests, and to actively look for support from people in media, government, etc. to use their large microphones and platforms to help speak out against Pacaso in residential neighborhoods.