The hotel or condominium building -- the proposal calls for either -- would replace the surface parking lot outside the village's Weaver Street Market branch.

Developers D.R. Bryan and John Fugo say a hotel could become, after Weaver Street and the Lumina Theatre, a third anchor to their shopping center, bringing in outside visitors and giving existing businesses a boost.

The developers initially proposed a six-story building that drew community ire.

More than 80 people signed a petition opposing the project, which developers had taken to various public meetings since June 2007.

"We value the human, pedestrian-scale of our existing 'Village' and believe the mass and scale of a 75-foot building set diagonally from the United Methodist Church is incompatible in proportion to the neighborhood area," the petition said.

It called the hotel, as submitted to the design commission, "an enormous, undefined box."

On Thursday, Bryan and Fugo released new drawings calling for a four-story hotel on the homeowners association Web site, http://southernvillage.org/.

"They are preliminary," the developers said. "We expect to modify this design in response to the council's comments."

In addition to four stories, plans now call for closing Aberdeen Street along the project site to create a plaza that connects the hotel to the Village Green, a grassy area where the community holds events.

"We are still in the idea stage," project manager Rosemary Waldorf said Friday. "There are aspects that have been very much influenced by what people have said."

"It's very important for everyone to understand things are very much in flux."

As submitted, the plan calls for 146 parking spaces, 101 hotel rooms or 50 to 75 condominium units.

Waldorf says the developers are also proposing some retail storefronts on the side of the building facing Weaver Street Market.

Monday's meeting begins at 7 p.m. in Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

HOW THE REVIEW PROCESS WORKS

The town requires a special-use permit for projects with more than 20,000 square feet of floor space.

To get a permit, a developer must take a concept plan to the Community Design Commission and Town Council. They provide feedback for the developer to consider before making a formal application. This is the stage the Southern Village hotel is in.

After a formal application is made, the revised plan goes to various town boards and commissions for their recommendations to the council.

The Town Council then holds a public hearing.

The Town Council acts on the request. If approved, the project goes back to the design commission for a final review and to staff to make sure it complies with the council action.

The hotel proposal, if developed as proposed, will also likely require a rezoning.

Blogbits: In Chapel Hill, Waldorf vs. Waldorf

Submitted by Mark Schultz at 2:28 p.m. Nov. 14

Former Chapel Hill Mayor Rosemary Waldorf found an unlikely name on a petition opposing her latest project: her son's.

Waldorf says she hadn't talked with her son about the hotel she's trying to bring to Southern Village. She's working with SoVill developers D.R. Bryan and John Fugo as the project manager for the hotel, which goes before the Chapel Hill Town Council Monday night.

Ben Waldorf, her son, is a medical student who lives in SoVill. The hotel would rise on what's now a parking lot across from Weaver Street Market.

Many residents there say the hotel is too big, though Rosemary says they have made several changes to the project in response to neighbors' concerns.