13-year tempest over historic hotel prompts legislation that could limit other small W.Va. towns' say on such projects

The Hilltop House Hotel today. (Washington Post photo by Robb Hill)

A bitter, years-long battle over a historic hotel in a small West Virginia town had prompted state legislation that would strip towns with under 2,000 residents of their ability to regulate development of large tourism projects, Peter Jamison reports for The Washington Post.

At the heart of the matter is the Hilltop House Hotel in Harpers Ferry, pop. 281, at the eastern tip of the state. The 130-year-old hotel, which sits atop a bluff overlooking the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, once hosted guests such as Mark Twain, W.E.B. Du Bois and President Woodrow Wilson. But it has been closed because of unsafe conditions for many years, Jamison reports.

In 2007, Northern Virginia investors Fred and Karen Schaufeld bought the hotel for $10 million and promised to turn it into a $139 million resort. But for the past 13 years, "The town has been riven by disputes over the new hotel’s size and its design; its parking and sewage needs; and the effects of an influx of clientele for its $500-a-night rooms, underground golf simulator and restaurant overseen by celebrity chef José Andrés," Jamison reports.

Harpers Ferry, in Jefferson County,
West Virginia (Wikipedia map)

"Matt Ward, an independent consultant hired to shepherd the project’s regulatory review, resigned in 2010," Jamison reports. Ward wrote to the mayor and council at the time: "I have seldom seen such a dysfunctional local process as the one that is present here, which has resulted from the shenanigans of a few and the apparent unwillingness of the community to reject those tactics."

In 2013, some locals became particularly upset when the Schaufelds sought to buy a few pieces of land that run through the hotel property; the city meant to turn the land into roads in the 1800s but never got around to it; today those patches of land are public rights of way that guarantee townspeople access to river views. The Schaufelds said they need to own a "fully intact property" to secure financing, but some townspeople worried they'd lose access to the hotel's famous views, even though the Schaufelds promised that wouldn't happen, Jamison reports.

When the town council refused to sell the small patches of land, the 2019 election became a referendum on the hotel. After the election, the faction that opposed the hotel held a four-seat majority on the seven-member council, but by only a handful of votes, Jamison reports. A losing pro-hotel candidate contested the election because the council refused to open four provisional ballots that could have tied the votes for the seat. The votes were not tallied because of technical errors involving the voters' addresses. Two losing pro-hotel candidates sued to force the town to open the ballots, and the case is pending in the West Virginia Supreme Court. The secretary of state is also examining voting irregularities in the election.

"For the Schaufelds, the electoral antics in Harpers Ferry were the last straw. Working with a lobbyist in Charleston, they approached state officials to seek a way to build the hotel. Last month, a group of state senators introduced SB 657, which would limit the power of municipalities of 2,000 or fewer residents to regulate the development of tourism-industry projects worth at least $25 million. Such projects would instead be overseen by the state development office. Up to five such 'tourism development districts' would be allowed statewide," Jamison reports. "The state Senate approved the measure Feb. 11, and the House is expected to take it up in the coming days. Last week, the Harpers Ferry Town Council voted 4-3 to pass a resolution opposing the bill, which critics say will give developers too much power."