ASHEVILLE - The City Council has approved a 70-unit hotel for the River Arts District in what would be the first modern lodging facility for the burgeoning tourist area west of downtown.

The council voted 5-2 Tuesday to approve the project which is planned for the historic 1920s Kent building at 95 Roberts St. The building is five stories and backs up to a gravel lot and railroad tracks and is planned for 4,608 square feet of retail and a 60-seat restaurant.

The approval came with early voting underway in the Nov. 7 council elections and an undercurrent of dissatisfaction by many residents over the growth of hotels and the tourism industry in general.

The project, proponents said, would preserve a historic building, increase safety in the RAD and bring more potential clients to artists and businesses.

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"We really feel like there are challenges to the RAD in not making lodging available there," Pattiy Torno, a district resident and owner of Curve Studios since 1989, told council members. "It seems like there are a lot of people coming to Asheville, parking their cars and never leaving downtown."

But others said they would prefer housing and wanted developers to promise local businesses would get the retail space and employees would be paid living wages.

"It's a question of who we are going to be as a city," said Councilman Gordon Smith, saying the "formula for success" wasn't to "make it nice for people who don't live here. It's make it nice for people who live here."

Jay Levell, a member of the White Points Partners development firm out of Charlotte said efforts would be made in terms of living wages and retail.

"We want to keep everything as local as possible. We want to have local uses. Local retail."

But Levell said he couldn't make any promises. The group was partnering with a boutique hotel company out of the northeast, whose identity he said he couldn't share.

Making the motion for approval was Councilman Cecil Bothwell, seconded by Councilman Keith Young. Mayor Esther Manheimer and council members Brian Haynes and Julie Mayfield also voted yes.

Voting no were Smith and Vice Mayor Gwen Wisler. The vice mayor is the only council member in the running for re-election.

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Wisler raised questions about parking since the hotel would have to rely on remote lots, including 75 spaces to be leased in the railroad right-of-way behind the building. She asked what would be done if the hotel loses its ability to use those properties.

"How does the city enforce this 10 years from now?" she said, adding wryly, "Say there’s some argument — not that anybody in the city argues over parking."

Jesse Gardner, an executive member of Civil Design Concepts, an Asheville firm working with the project, said if possibilities included buying the right-of-way or even building a parking structure next to the building.

In the run-up to Tuesday's council meeting, the project got unanimous recommendations for approval from the Asheville Area Riverfront Redevelopment Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Bothwell, who is a member of the riverfront commission, noted the anti-hotel sentiment among residents but said the project could have positive effects for the building and the RAD. He pointed to the ongoing work on the city's tallest structure, the blocky BB&T building, which is being renovated into a hotel.

"Even those people are happy that the BB&T building is going to look like something," he said.

Young and Haynes, while supporting the project, said they had reservations.

Young said what needed to happen in the RAD is a "sophisticated balancing act" that supports redevelopment but also helps locals.

"I'm going to support it. I hope it won't turn into a cautionary tale," he said.

Haynes who lives on the same street as the project also wanted the wage and retail aspects codified in the deal.

"Everything else about this I like. I am hesitant just to take on someone’s word," he said.

Asked by Mayfield about the legality of making that part of the deal, City Attorney Robin Currin said conditional zoning allowed the council to make agreements with the developer for such things as wages and local retail, but if the council forced the matter, "it's probably subject to some kind of challenge. But that's up to you and the applicant."

Along with Torno, several members of the public spoke in favor of the project.

Manley Nelson said it was good to partner with companies that valued historic buildings and the character of the area.

Using the existing brick building could make the project "unique and pretty and not just some high-rise and glass and steel hotel."

A few said they were worried about the RAD turning into more homogenized area less welcoming to locals.

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Chris Fusting said he wanted development in the district, but he wanted assurances from developers about wages and that they wouldn't allow out-of-town chain stores.

"Because the market would love to put those stores in the River Arts District," Fusting said.

Developers said they were excited about being able to reuse the old building, originally owned by Fred Kent an official with the hot cereal maker Biltmore Wholehearts Company, which was one of the original tenants.

Levell said his company gets "excited about projects like these."

"It’s a great building" with "great bones," he said. "You can’t make them like they did and you can’t recreate them."

By following preservation guidelines, developers would be eligible for tax credits.

Asked by Mayfield about energy efficiency and green building plans, Levell said he believed they were limited by the historic building guidelines.

The councilwoman, who is also a co-director of the environmental nonprofit MountainTrue, said there were some guidelines developed in Georgia that could be used.