MARTINSBURG, W.Va. The West Virginia Senate voted 21-12 on Tuesday to pass a bill that would allow the state to help facilitate the completion of the longstanding Hill Top House Hotel project proposed in Harpers Ferry.

A committee substitute for Senate Bill 657 to allow for the designation of tourism-development districts was ordered to the House of Delegates for further consideration.

Voting for the measure were the bill's lead sponsor, state Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson/Berkeley, and fellow Republican Eastern Panhandle Sens. Craig Blair and Charles Trump, who also signed on as bill sponsors.

State Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley/Jefferson, who voted against the legislation, said he supports the hotel project, but voiced concerns in floor debate about the loss of local control and transfer of power to the state.

He also wondered what might happen to four other communities.

"What are we starting right now with this piece of legislation, with these other municipalities, and what's going to happen to them?" Unger asked.

The Senate vote came hours after the Harpers Ferry Town Council on Monday night voted 4-3 to adopt a resolution opposing the bill as originally introduced and a similar House bill, citing local control issues.

Voting for the resolution were Mayor Wayne Bishop and council members Barbara Humes, Hardy Johnson and Charlotte Thompson. Voting against the measure were council members Christian Pechuekonis and Jay Premack, and Town Recorder Kevin Carden.

In response to Unger and other Democratic senators who voiced opposition to the bill, Rucker noted that the bill merely creates a tool for the West Virginia Department of Commerce and the state's smallest communities to use, if needed, and only if certain criteria are met.

The bill, as passed out of the Senate on Tuesday, allows for a total of five tourism-development districts across the state in towns of 2,000 residents or fewer.

Only tourism-development-expansion projects of $25 million or more would be considered, according to the bill.

Leesburg, Va.-based SWaN Hill Top LLC has proposed the creation of a 129-room hotel overlooking the Potomac River at the site of the historic Hill Top House property and the restoration of neighboring armory houses as part of a more than $138 million investment.

"I am a supporter of local control, and I have fought for local control it absolutely caused me to pause and to think very deeply when considering this legislation," Rucker said in response to Unger's remarks.

Rucker also asserted that local control includes individuals' self-control.

She also cited an email she received from a former president of the town's Board of Zoning Appeals who "reluctantly" asked her to support the legislation.

"I no longer believe that the current mayor and town council can effectively represent the town of Harpers Ferry in negotiations with the developer of the Hill Top hotel," said Rucker, who didn't name the individual.

On the House floor Monday, Del. Jason Barrett, D-Berkeley, said that a special meeting of the Harpers Ferry Town Council on Saturday provided "clear evidence that the current mayor and town council are not equipped to handle a project of this magnitude."

"With no structure, no order, it turned into an embarrassing free-for-all and a shouting match, full of false claims," Barrett said in recounting his observation of the meeting.

Barrett specifically noted that a claim that the SWaN project could turn into a casino is "absolutely false" because state and federal laws prevent such a scenario from unfolding in Harpers Ferry.

"If we do not pass Senate Bill 657, the Hill Top House and a piece of West Virginia history will be left to rot," he said.

Built in the 1880s, the now-blighted hotel property's guests included Mark Twain, Alexander Graham Bell and U.S. presidents, Barrett said in his floor speech.

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W.Va. Senate passes bill aimed at spurring progress of Harpers Ferry hotel project - Herald-Mail Media