East Ellijay City Council members approved a height variance for a Marriott hotel currently under construction near Highway 515 when meeting Tuesday, Sept. 27.
At the council’s August meeting, Mayor Mack West and the council heard a report from city engineer Stephen Swanberg that said the SpringHill Suites hotel is going to be taller than what’s allowed by the East Ellijay’s 40-foot building height ordinance. Plans for the hotel were expected to be reviewed by the state fire marshal’s office, Swanberg noted then.
At last week’s meeting, West said the city has reviewed a variance request for the hotel construction and sees no problem in increasing the allowed height by an additional 12 feet, and the additional height won’t create a problem for the fire department.
The state fire marshal’s office has also reviewed and approved the hotel plans, noted Mack Wood, city planner, told present councilmembers Linda Smith and Ed Forrester. Wood said parapet walls on the roof of the hotel account for much of the building’s height past 40 feet.
“It’s really a technicality. Our code says 40 feet, but, on the fourth floor, the height (is) 39 feet,” he said. “On the roof, the air conditioners sit on top, and they have a parapet that goes across there to block the view of the air conditioners. We want to make it 12 feet so we cover the top of (the parapet).”
Wood noted that the hotel is designed to withstand a fire for a limited amount of time. “The hallways are one hour fireproof if there’s a breakout. The stairwells are two hours. We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t think it was safe,” he said.
The location of the hotel, on Cinema Drive near Highway 515 and Highland Parkway, was another factor in granting the height variance, Wood noted.
“There’s a four-story (hotel) in Blue Ridge, and the people behind it do have an argument that it blocks their view. This one will sit down in the hill. If it was out on 515, I’m not sure we would give it to them,” he said.
The hotel construction should take around 10 months to complete, Wood said.
“They’re already working on it. They’re going to try to be open by Apple Festival next year,” he added.