CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The full Senate could vote by the end of this week on a bill giving the state the authority over some tourism projects in very small towns.
The Senate Government Organization Committee voted Tuesday afternoon in favor of a bill that would establish Tourism Development Districts.
The mayor of Harpers Ferry, which is the town most obviously affected by the bill, spoke against it.
Mayor Wayne Bishop said the town has the authority, resources and desire to move ahead with a longstanding hotel redevelopment project without state intervention.
Advocates for Hill Top House hotel redevelopment project said the $139 million investment requires a reliable partner, and that has not worked out with the government of Harper’s Ferry over the years.
Questions before lawmakers include whether some tourism projects are so big that there should be direct state involvement beyond the boundaries of small towns.
Or, whether small towns should retain the latitude to guide their own regulations and processes for projects that will surely affect residents’ lives.
During the committee meeting and on MetroNews’ “Talkline,” Mayor Bishop said there is no need for state intervention.
“Everyone in Harpers Ferry wants this hotel. I’m here today and tomorrow and as long as it takes to address this issue,” Bishop said.
“Harpers Ferry has all the resources in place to usher this project into fruition.”
He instead proposed mediation to settle issues such as how town property, including roads surrounding the hotel development project and a portion of a scenic overlook at the site, could be used.
Harpers Ferry Mayor Wayne Bishop joins @HoppyKercheval at the Capitol to talk about the Hill Top House controversy. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIRZCB pic.twitter.com/T2pGOAUtPR
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) February 4, 2020
SWaN Development of Leesburg, Va., owns the property. Karen Schaufeld, the CEO from SWaN Hilltop, was among those in the audience at the Senate Government Organization Committee.
In a hallway interview after the meeting, Schaufeld said the investors need the certainty of partnering with the state Development Office.
“I’m happy that the vote was to give us a way to move forward,” Schaufeld said, adding that the project has been in discussion for so long that she doesn’t have much faith in the mediation offer.
Schaufeld said she would like to return for future milestones in the legislative process.
“We care very deeply about Harpers Ferry and this project and really, really want to see this happen,” she said.
Bills in the House and Senate would allow for five Tourism Development Districts. The act would enable the state Development Office to spearhead a project under certain conditions. The Department of Transportation is required to provide support, including acquiring and developing streets and roads.
The bill would apply to Class IV municipalities of fewer than 2,000 residents. And it would apply to projects with investments of more than $25 million, in historic districts and qualifying for state tourism tax credits, which have their own requirements.
The bill would preempt: “The right of certain municipalities to impose or enforce local laws and ordinances concerning the creation or regulation of any tourism development district and any tourism development project or tourism development expansion project therein.”
Lobbyist Jason Webb, speaking before senators on behalf of the Hill Top House developers, said the project is so big that the investors need assurances that the town of about 280 people hasn’t been able to provide.
“My client needs regulatory certainty that they haven’t received from this town in over a decade,” Webb said.
The issue generated nearly an hour of discussion among senators in the Government Organization Committee.
“It would allow a development project to proceed without the consent of a local government, is that correct?” asked Senator Richard Lindsay, D-Kanawha.
Senator Corey Palumbo, D-Kanawha, echoed that assessment.
“This just allows them to skip the local government entirely, is that correct?”
The Hill Top House project has been under discussion for years, and frustration has been coming to a head.
Hill Top House first opened in 1889, burned down twice and reopened twice and continued until 2007 when the current ownership group, SWaN Investors, bought it and closed it because of poor structural integrity.
In 2009, the SWaN investors announced intention of rebuilding and reopening the hotel.
Since then, the project has progressed only on paper.
In 2017, a new zoning overlay district was created by Harpers Ferry elected officials. The Promontory Overlay District Ordinance is the existing legal guide for how Hill Top House would exist within the residential neighborhoods of Harpers Ferry.
After that, SWaN provided more detailed plans for what would be required to make the development and its financing work. Those revised plans were presented in 2018 and remain the subject of debate.
They include matters like water rates, sewer rates, building permit fees, review fees and a number of other issues such as whether the town of Harpers Ferry would give up the right to stop work orders or noise ordinances.
The biggest issue right now is the streets around the hotel. The developers propose using not only the land where the hotel now sits but surrounding properties also under their ownership too. Doing so would make the development a cohesive hospitality destination.
But because Hill Top House is in a residential area, the streets surrounding it are public property.
Some, like a proposed realignment of Columbia Street, are actual roads used by pedestrians and vehicles. The others, like a portion of East Ridge Street, are “paper streets,” meaning they were mapped out on a town grid in the 1800s but have not been built.
The Hill Top House developers want to buy the streets, saying there is some precedent for doing so. Town leaders prefer long-term leasing, maybe 50 or 100 years.
“The entire issue is the conveyance of public land,” Mayor Bishop told senators. “We own perhaps an acre and a half of public land up there with view sheds of the iconic view of the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers.”
That property would not be conveyed directly to the developers, but it could wind up being acquired by the state for the use of the project.
“My first impression is we’re doing a reverse condemnation here,” said Senator Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell. “We’re taking public property for the use of private developers.”
Senator Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, asked if the potential economic and cultural effects of the Hill Top House project don’t extend far beyond the borders of Harpers Ferry.
“To me, this is much bigger than Harpers Ferry for that level of investment,” Tarr said.
Tarr went on to ask, “How many of our small towns in West Virginia have the capacity to go through the process?”
Senator Randy Smith, R-Tucker, said he comes from a small town and can’t figure out why Harpers Ferry isn’t doing everything possible to land this project.
“Most small towns would be jumping through hoops or doing whatever they had to to get development like this,” Smith said.
Harpers Ferry Mayor Bishop said he’s not backing down any time soon.
“I’ll live here in Charleston if I need to,” Bishop said.