There is still a slim chance to save The King George Inn from the wrecking ball!

The current owner of the King George has an agreement to sell the inn to New Jersey developer Atul Patel, who plans to tear it down and build a motel, bank and chain drug store.

In it’s place (the King George Inn as well as the former Burger King and Carvel locations) is scheduled to be a 100 room 26,000 sq. ft. motel(?), a 14,000+ sq. ft. drug store and, on the inn’s footprint, a 4,000 sq. ft. bank.

At last Wednesday, July 24th’s township  zoning board meeting there was a question whether one of the structures to be built was a motel…or was it considered a hotel?  This question is critical since township prohibits hotels in the district where the 3-building project is proposed.

The law does allows motels that is defined as a  place where 10 percent or less of guests stay more than seven days.The current and potential owners of the Inn, along with their representatives, originally came in to the zoning board seeking relief on zoning rules involving building height requirements, parking lot setbacks and other routine matters, all of which the sale  of the inn to Patel is dependent upon,  but the hotel or motel question came as a complete surprise.

The plans indicated that a Residence Inn, which is described as an extended stay hotel on their website, was one of the possibilities that could be built on the site.

If the South Whitehall zoning board approves the plan on Aug. 28, it’s next scheduled meeting, the inn may very well have a meeting with the bulldozer.