FAIRHOPE — The building permit for a Hampton Inn hotel to be located in downtown Fairhope could be issued soon, the project’s developer said Thursday.

“I have gotten (the Memorandum of Understanding) to where my attorney has said I can sign it,” said Charlie Bassett, representing Fairhope Hospitality Group LLC, which owns the property where the four-story hotel on Section Street near Magnolia Avenue is planned. “Then we can move forward.”

The project was delayed recently when issues surfaced about the impact of the hotel construction on a large live oak on the property.

The city’s Tree Committee met Oct. 12 to discuss the issues with local officials, the developer, his attorney, the contractor, two tree experts and two adjacent business owners.

The meeting was called by Jennifer Fidler, city horticulturist, whose approval of building site plans is required in certain situations before a building permit can be obtained, according to the city tree ordinance, which provides enhanced protections to trees greater than 24 inches in diameter.

The live oak in question is more than twice that size, according to reports prepared by two tree experts before the meeting.

One issue the group discussed was how site approval had already been received for the project without prior approval by the city horticulturist. Another was whether the tree would survive the hotel’s construction, and if it did not, what impact the death of the tree would have on adjacent businesses.

“I was all for saving it until I realized how much would be cut,” said Edwin Skinner, who owns an antique store on Section Street in front of where one wing of the hotel would be built.

A large part of the tree’s canopy hangs over his business.

“It looks like a recipe for disaster,” he said, referring to plans on how to cut the tree’s branches and limbs to accommodate construction of the hotel building. “I’m still holding out hope that the tree can be removed.”

By the end of the Oct. 12 meeting, the city horticulturist was asked to draft a Memorandum of Understanding based on the discussion and points raised and agreed to between the city and the developer.

Before the meeting adjourned, the two adjacent business owners were also invited to participate and asked to sign the document after it was circulated. They agreed to having their names put on the document and their signatures included.

Fidler prepared the document, signed it Oct. 17 and sent it to Bassett, Skinner and Susan Davis, who owns Fairhope Newsstand on Section Street.

At a meeting of the Tree Committee Oct. 25, Fidler said that none of the other parties had signed the document.

She said that it was her opinion that “the permit is contingent on (the MOU) being signed.”

Bassett said he met Thursday with Gregg Mims, director of planning for the city, to discuss the project.

He said he told Mims he would be reviewing the document with his attorney.

“I could be returning it to them as early as today,” Bassett said Friday morning.

He said he hoped to have the matter resolved by next week and that the permit would be issued.

Basset said he did not think the two adjacent business owners’ signatures are necessary on the document before a permit would be issued.

Skinner said only one of the items on the document applies to him and Davis. He said that he is consulting an attorney and has not decided whether he will be signing it.

“It has virtually nothing to do with Mrs. Davis and me,” Skinner said of the remainder of the document.