Developers of Blue Ridge Mall extended stay hotel awaiting recommendations from Tree Board

HENDERSONVILLE - With temperatures in the 30s on the morning of March 18, a couple of members of the Hendersonville Tree Board surveyed the property behind the Blue Ridge Mall, where developers are planning to build a four-story, extended stay hotel.

Residents who are against the project were also on hand to ask questions to the Tree Board's Glenn Lange and Mary Davis, who were going over the site plans to determine what they would recommend to the developers from Mitch Cox Companies in Johnson City, Tennessee at the board's March 19 meeting.

"Since we're interested in natural resources and improving our tree canopy, we're going to recommend to have as wide a buffer that can be put in, so the residents have some buffer against the development," Lange said. "Of course, that will improve the tree canopy eventually."

Lange said according to the site plans, the developers will plant several trees and also a lot of shrubs, which would benefit the environment. Further down the property, Lange and Davis noticed a large batch of bamboo.

"That's an invasive plant," Lange said of the bamboo. "I was going to recommend they leave (the bamboo) alone ... but now I think we are going to recommend they take out the bamboo and replant something else there."

Philip Cox of Mitch Cox Companies submitted an application in January to the city of Hendersonville for a conditional zoning district for the 1.4 acre piece of property, which might be developed into an ECHO Suites hotel by Wyndham. The proposed hotel is 51,463 square feet with 124 rooms, and the parking lot site plan shows 76 parking spaces.

In a previous Times-News article, Cox said he and his staff took interest in the site after they got a call about a year ago from the Blue Ridge Mall Development Group, which is based out of Augusta, Georgia. The mall and the site for the proposed hotel is owned by James Hull Jr.

The applicant, Philip Cox of Mitch Cox Companies in Johnson City, Tennessee, said his company already has a footprint in the area with Universal at Lakewood apartments in Hendersonville.

Following the March 19 Tree Board meeting, developers will take the board's recommendations and decide on how to move forward, since their plans could change again, Lange said, based on those recommendations. After the Tree Board meeting, developers will turn their attention to the April 11 Planning Board meeting at the City Operations Center.

More: Developers' plans for extended-stay hotel behind Blue Ridge Mall delayed but will continue

The decision on whether the rezoning request is approved, and construction can begin will be made at the May 2 Hendersonville City Council meeting at the City Operations Center, according to Hendersonville City Planner Tyler Morrow.

"City Council will review the project and the recommendations from the Tree Board and Planning Board and will give consideration to public comments before ultimately making the decision on rezoning," Morrow said in a previous Times-News article.

Residents are still hoping they can prevent the project from happening. Many believe the hotel will add traffic and noise, and several told Lange and Davis that they wouldn't be allowed to have a short walk to the mall like they used to.

"We're hoping to have a big presence at the Planning Board's meeting," Leah Ryel, who lives directly behind the mall said. "We're going to reach out to as many as we can to make our voices heard."

Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Tree Board to give recommendations to developers of mall hotel project