A court hearing in the appeal of a special exception denial for a proposed extended-stay hotel on McFarland Boulevard is set to occur in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court next week.
Emish Patel, the developer behind the proposed Towneplace Suites by Marriot, filed the appeal shortly after the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment denied his petition for a special exception to allow the construction of the extended-stay facility in November.
The ZBA’s denial came on a 3-2 vote. While there were three votes in favor or Patel’s petition, board rules dictate that a minimum of four votes are needed for approval.
Patel is seeking to erect a five-story, 92-room hotel on the former site of Advance Auto Parts between Buffalo Wild Wings and the Springbrook neighborhood off McFarland Boulevard.
This site has been vacant for more than a decade. Buffalo Wild Wings now uses portions of it for overflow parking.
If constructed, the average room rate is expected to be between $130 and $150 a night for the 80 studio — 50 single king and 30 double queen rooms — and 12 one-bedroom suites.
Each room is expected to have a small kitchen with cooking facilities and basic kitchen equipment. The hotel itself will have fitness and business centers, a guest laundry facility and an indoor pool.
Cam Parsons, Patel’s attorney, is seeking a summary judgment — in essence, a non-jury trial, by which the judge serves as the final arbiter — before Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Allen W. “Will” May Jr.
The summary judgment date is set for Tuesday.
Parsons is arguing that because there is no prohibition of extended-stay hotels in the neighborhood commercial, or BN, zoning that now governs the property, the ZBA had no right to deny Patel’s petition for a special exception because the plans for the proposed hotel meet a series of primary conditions.
Specifically, the rooms will have small kitchens, each room will have an area of no less than 250 square feet and there will be at least one off-street parking space for each room plus three spaces for staff.
Based on these conditions, the hotel must have at least 95 spaces. A total of 130 parking spaces are featured in the current site plan.
“Upon the petitioning party’s showing that it meets the primary conditions for the special exception, the board is then compelled by statute to grant the special exception,” Parsons said in his motion to the court. “It is clear that ... the ZBA failed to apply the law by rejecting the request with a 3 for and 2 against vote.”
The city’s response does not deny that Patel’s site plan meets the primary conditions for a special exception to allow an extended-stay hotel.
But Oto Tuamokumo, the associate city attorney who serves as the legal representative for the ZBA, said in his response that the discretionary aspects of the ZBA’s decision is just that — discretionary — and the city cannot say whether those standards have been met because of how the board exercised that discretion.
“Three members of the board voted to approve the petition and two members voted against approval, with no members stating the specific reasons as to why they voted ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ This is why the city cannot ascertain if the petitioner meets the discretionary considerations,” Tuamokumo said. “Ultimately, the court would have to apply the facts of the case to the applicable law, to decide if the petition should be approved.”
Reach Jason Morton at jason.morton@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0200.