ASHEVILLE — The fight over a proposed 185-room Embassy Suites hotel downtown now has a date with the state's highest court.

In a docket brief filed May 10, the North Carolina Supreme Court said it has agreed to review the case between the city and Parks Hospitality Group of Raleigh over a hotel and parking deck proposal at 192 Haywood St. It follows a November decision by the state's second-highest court in favor of PHG. In that ruling, the three-judge Court of Appeals said PHG was entitled to a conditional use permit to build the hotel at the site of the former Buncombe County Sheriff's Office. Mayor Esther Manheimer announced the city's intention to appeal the ruling in a late November email.

The conflict began in January 2017 when the City Council unanimously voted down the project after a nearly three-hour quasi-judicial hearing.

They cited concerns about parking, traffic and a high concentration of hotels in that portion of downtown, which at the time would have been the third hotel within about 500 feet and the second owned by PHG. The vote came against the recommendations of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and former Vice Mayor Jan Davis, who spoke in favor of developing gateways into the city's downtown corridor.

PHG took the matter to Buncombe County Superior Court in October 2017, where Judge William Coward sided with the developers.

The city tried to get the ruling overturned by the Court of Appeals. But Judge John Tyson wrote in his decision that PHG is not seeking a rezoning, but a conditional use permit "to conduct a use that is expressly permitted" in the city's Central Business District. Tyson's ruling was affirmed by Judge Lucy Inman and Judge Phil Berger Jr.

PHG President Shaunak Patel did not immediately respond to a reporter's request for comment. Patel told the Citizen Times last year his team was scheduled to begin demolition on the former sheriff's office Nov. 28, a process he expected would take about 60 days. He argued the city was causing "more damages to us" by appealing the court's decision but said he was "as confident as ever" the hotel still would be constructed.

In a statement, the city acknowledged the court's decision to hear the case, saying both parties "will now be entitled to submit written briefs in support of their positions."

"The Supreme Court will render a decision on the matter at a later date," the city said.

MORE:

► City will appeal downtown Asheville hotel plan to N.C. Supreme Court

► NC Court of Appeals rules in favor of developer's downtown Asheville Embassy Suites plan

► Asheville hires Charlotte senior asst. city attorney to take on legal battles

No date has yet been scheduled for the review. The state's judicial branch does not comment on cases that could come before the courts, pending cases or investigations, its website shows.