PERRY, Ga. — People continue to express their concerns about the demolition of the New Perry Hotel. In June, a city board gave builders the partial green light to tear it down.
One of the owners, Danny Rosales, plans to build a mixed-use development in the hotel's place. At this time, more than 900 people signed a petition against demolition, and neighbors have been asking more questions about the decision to tear it down.
Some people have expressed concerns about the process that the Main Street Advisory Board and the New Perry Hotel owners followed in approving the demolition.
So, we set out to Verify whether they followed the rules.
Our question:
Did Triple P Holdings LLC turn in all the proper documents to have a complete application? Opponents of the hotel demolition say they didn't.
Sources:
Triple P Holdings LLC certificate of appropriateness applications
Bryan Wood, Perry's community development director
The answer:
Yes, the company provided all the proper documents to have a complete application.
What we found:
We started by looking at the application. Item five on the application lists nine requirements to make an application complete depending on the proposal. It includes providing sample sketches, intended paint colors and building materials.
However, when the company turned in its application, it didn't have all these things.
"They submitted a narrative explaining he would not be able to make improvements to the property," Wood said.
He says this was approved as complete because they were asking only to demolish the building not rebuild. Typically these applications are filled out by people who are asking to make modifications to existing buildings or build them from the ground up.
"In the situation where a building is being demolished, there is no reason to put materials, and colors, and site plans and building plans, because at this point they aren't proposing anything," Wood said.
Wood and documents confirm that Triple P Holdings submitted their application within the appropriate timeline, which is at least 10 days before the meeting.
"It wasn't until we were looking at the design guidelines that we noticed that a site plan or some post-demolition plans were suggested," Woods says.
Wood says the office then had to ask the applicants to submit these plans. Wood says they got it in the day before the June meeting.
It detailed the plan for a three-story building with shopping on the bottom, office space on the second floor and living space on the third floor. It also has two other separate spaces for shopping in the back. The drawing also details plans for parking.
"In this case, it was submitted in time for the commission, or the board to review," he shared.
The board then moved forward with their vote on the application, with a unanimous decision to approve.
That allows us to VERIFY, yes, all the proper documents were submitted.
Some people are also questioning whether there is a potential conflict of interest.
Danny Rosales, one of the new owners of the hotel, sits on the Downtown Development Board. But that board has not made any decisions about the New Perry Hotel.
The DDA also has no authority over the Main Street Advisory Board which is calling the shots.
As for the next steps, the company still has to show its plans to remove asbestos and lead to the Community Development Office.
Plus, they need to finalize building designs, colors and final layout which will need approval by the Main Street Advisory Board.
There's no word on when this will happen, but their demolition application expires in December.
