SALISBURY — City Council will consider a request from a hotel developer to build a Holiday Inn Express next to the new Courtyard Marriott.
The council meets at 4 p.m. Tuesday in City Hall, 217 S. Main St.
Bhupen Patel and his hotel development company, BPR Properties, own the Courtyard Marriott just off East Innes Street at Interstate 85 exit 76 and want to develop the Holiday Inn Express. Salisbury Planning Board last month recommended that City Council rezone about 2 acres by establishing a Conditional District Overlay to allow for the development of a 90-room hotel.
City Council will hold a public hearing.
If council members give the final nod, Patel said he would begin construction by the end of the year and open the hotel in late 2015 or early 2016.
Salisbury last year lost its longstanding Holiday Inn on Jake Alexander Boulevard when the Wallace family dropped their franchise and renamed their property Hotel Salisbury & Conference Center. The family closed Hotel Salisbury earlier this month and said they are selling the facility to a new business that is not a hotel, taking 181 rooms off the market in Rowan County.
The Courtyard Marriott and proposed Holiday Express together would have about 180 rooms.
Also on Tuesday’s agenda:
• City Council will hear a presentation about a proposed partnership with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte College of Computing and Informatics.
College staff will make the presentation “regarding a proposed partnership that leverages the assets of both Salisbury and UNCC.”
Any potential cost to the city is unknown at this time, according to the City Council agenda.
• Dixonville-Lincoln Memorial Project Task Force Chairman Fred Evans and Lynn Raker, a city planner, will update the council on the latest plans to design and develop a significant memorial at the cemetery site.
Dixonville Cemetery was the first city-owned African American cemetery in Salisbury. There are 489 individuals identified who were laid to rest there, but many more are believed to have been buried in the cemetery.
Several grave markers have been restored, and a historical sign has been placed at the site, as well as some architectural elements to define the boundaries of the property. In 2010, a task force began working to develop the design for a memorial.
The group adopted a master plan for the memorial and is asking for continued public and private support for the project. For the first time, City Council this year designated $4,500 for the project. The task force is moving forward with a full-fledged fund-raising strategy, as well as a feasibility study for productive use of the former Lincoln School.
• The Rowan County Convention and Visitors Bureau will make a presentation about proposed wayfinding signage, which the bureau would pay for.
• City Council will meet new Knox Middle School principals Dr. Latoya Dixon and Dr. Michael Waiksnis.
• Mayor Paul Woodson will proclaim Aug. 21 as Senior Citizens Day.
• City Council will set Feb. 12-13, 2015 as the dates for the 30th Annual Future Directions and Goal Setting Retreat.
• City Council will amend the budget by $8,740 to appropriate Police Department asset forfeiture funds and donations to the department. The money will be used to partially pay for a complete department uniform style conversion.
• City Council will consider a request for a sidewalk encroachment in the 200 block of West Innes Street.
• City staff will make a presentation about the 40th anniversary of Housing and Urban Development CDBG and HOME grants.
• City Council will consider authorizing the interim city manager and city clerk to execute an agreement with N.C. Department of Transportation for reimbursement by Salisbury-Rowan Utilities for a project estimated to cost $13,730.
N.C. DOT has plans to make improvements at the intersection of Gold Knob Road, Crescent Road and Anthony Road in Rowan County. N.C. DOT has requested that Salisbury-Rowan Utilities reimburse the state for the cost of relocating public water utilities that will be in conflict with proposed changes that are currently located within state’s right-of-way.
• City Council will take public comment on any subject.
• Interim City Manager John Sofley’s comments.
Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.