Mayor Esther Manheimer pointed to the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority’s recent commitment to long-term planning around hotel occupancy taxes as a key factor in her support for the project. “That is the kind of change that I needed to see personally before I would move forward with considering another hotel,” she said, joining Council members Vijay Kapoor, Julie Mayfield and Sheneika Smith in the approval vote.
![Biltmore Avenue Residence Inn](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BEAT1_Biltmore-hotel-330x203.png)