ASHEVILLE — The city plans to appeal the decision of the state's second-highest court, which ruled this month in favor of developers who want to build a 185-room Embassy Suites downtown despite opposition from city government.

In an email Wednesday, Mayor Esther Manheimer said the city will appeal the ruling of the three-judge N.C. Court of Appeals to the state Supreme Court. The lower court ruled Nov. 6 that Parks Hospitality Group of Raleigh is entitled to a conditional use permit for its planned hotel project at 192 Haywood St., the site of the former Buncombe County Sheriff's Office.

City Council voted down project

The City Council voted down the project in January 2017, citing concerns related to parking, traffic and a high concentration of hotels near the proposed site. That includes another PHG hotel, the $14 million Hyatt Place completed in March 2016.

Developer Shaunak Patel said PHG began demolition on the former sheriff's office Wednesday, a process he expects will take about 60 days. He said the city is causing "more damages to us" by again appealing the court's ruling, but that the development group is "100 percent confident" the case will not make it to the state's Supreme Court

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"We continue to be as confident as ever and remain confident in being able to construct the building," he said in a phone interview Wednesday. "It’s just that we’ve really been tied up in court really with an appeal with no basis – two appeals with no basis. We’ve won twice and I think the city is just doing this out of spite."

Patel took the council's 2017 denial to Buncombe County Superior Court, which ruled in the project's favor. The city then went to the N.C. Court of Appeals, where Judge John Tyson wrote this month PHG is not seeking a rezoning, but "rather 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.

Asheville hotels remain a hot topic

The decision comes as the council continues to debate the validity of hotels in the community amid concerns about development and infrastructure needs from residents. Several members indicated they would have voted against a seven-story, 103-room Extended Stay Hotel project by hoteliers Pratik Bhakta and Monark Patel during an Oct. 23 meeting, until it was pulled from the agenda.

Councilman Brian Haynes said there's effectively a moratorium on hotels, asking hoteliers to "come back to us with other things."

Shaunak Patel said he understands that thinking, and fully supports the city banning future hotels. On this one, however, he said City Council "took it upon themselves to curb growth without using the proper process."

Patel said PHG bought the site to build a hotel there, and that's still what the company intends to do.

"We’ve invested real dollars," he said. "This is not Hilton investing in Asheville; this is our family investing in Asheville. We’ve invested millions of dollars and we don’t intend to back down from the city when the right to build is there."

Citizen Times reporter Joel Burgess contributed to this report.