Developers of the Silver Cloud Inn will need to do more to prove the proposed hotel would be used by the industrial community before the city will approve land use permits.

The six-story, 175-room hotel with ground-floor retail is planned for along Shilshole Avenue Northwest in the Ballard Interbay Northend Manufacturing and Industrial Center, one of two industry-preservation areas in Seattle.

Hotels are permitted on industrial land as long as the developers can demonstrate it will primarily serve users in that area. It also must be designed to mitigate noise and lighting from nearby businesses.

The city isn't satisfied with a marketing survey that showed only about 25 percent of the hotels' customer base would come from industrial businesses, said Alan Justad, a spokesperson for Seattle's Department of Planning and Development.

The 16 businesses that were surveyed aren't enough to show need, according the city, though it's unclear what would be an adequate amount.

"We're still assessing what that will mean," said Justad.

Most of the demand came from Trident Seafoods, a seafood processing company located in the Salmon Bay Center just east of the potential hotel property. The city has requested a letter of proof from the company.

There are also noise, light and traffic concerns.

Nearby businesses like Pacific Fisherman, a ship and yacht repair yard several yards to the west of the hotel site, make noise during the day, nights and sometimes weekends. Lights on industrial dockside facilities and vessels can be on for up to 24-hours a day.

There's continuous oil tanker and cement truck traffic to and from local shipyards near where the entry to the hotel would be.

But Doug Dixon, general manager of Pacific Fisherman, said any concerns he had about conflicts between hotel guests and his business have been alleviated by the developers pledge to add triple-paned glass and blackout curtains to windows facing his shipyard.

The developers even redrew the original designs to move the hotel's main entrance from 24th Avenue Northwest, directly across from Pacific Fishermen's entrance, to Shilshole. Dixon was concerned there could be conflicts between the shipyards' large trucks and hotel traffic.

Now he just wishes the city would stop meddling.

"They made more than good on their comments that they were going to work with us," Dixon said of the developers. "We don't know what they heck the city is talking about. The city has got to stop impeding progress in this world."

The hotel would be built on property adjoining the site of the old Yankee Grill restaurant, which closed last spring. Silver Cloud Inns purchased the land from Panos Properties; a Mill Creek based company that also owns the restaurant property.

Chris Weymouth, whose family owns several Silver Cloud hotels, said the company has gone "over and above" what would normally be done for a community, adding to the project's budget more than $30,000 worth of structural and aesthetic improvements. There are plans to build a cul-de-sac with sidewalks and landscaping at the end of 24th Avenue Northwest where the road meets the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

"It's been a mission," Weymouth said of the process, which has taken more than two years. "I've gone to a lot of meetings and really bent over backwards to accommodate a lot of stuff."

The hotel company has agreed to let Pacific Fishermen employees park in the lot where the hotel would be built, something they've done for the past 30 years, said Dixon. Back in, angle parking spaces along 24th will also be built for shipyard workers.

That may be part of the reason reception from the industrial community has changed since the development was first announced.

"At first it was 'get out of our face' and now it's like 'how soon can you open up?'" said Ed Linardic, chief architect for the project. "They recognize that we want to be good neighbors and not impede their operations in any way."

Still, the city has requested a noise study to test whether sound levels can be reduced within the hotel rooms to 35 decibels, the level recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency for sleeping.

Ballard Terminal Railroad freight trains operate a daily round trip at the north boundary of the hotel property and train whistles will be louder than 90 decibels at the hotel. Noise and vibrations from the trains could cause guests to complain.

Linardic said it's in the company's best interest to do everything they can to mitigate potential problems between guests and industry.

"So much of the hotel business depends on first impressions," he said. "I know I wouldn't stay in a hotel if I couldn't get any sleep."

Warren Aakervik Jr, owner of Ballard Oil, said he doesn't have a problem with the development as long as it doesn't threaten business vital to Ballard's economy.

Like many in the industrial community, Aakervik would rather see industry businesses moving in, not hotels. But as real estate prices increase, commercial developers with deep pockets are snatching up land preserved for industry.

It's a severe threat to Seattle's maritime industry, which directly generates $2.1 billion a year in revenue and supports more than 22,000 jobs, said Aakervik.

"There's an inherent major conflict with anything that could cause the closure of (industrial businesses)," he said.

The hotel would mark the ninth location for the Silver Cloud Inn chain in the Seattle area and would be Ballard's first hotel. The project calls for more than 4,000-square feet of ground-floor retail and parking for 200 above and below ground.

Construction could start early next year if permits are approved.

Rebekah Schilperoort may be reached at rebekahs@robinsonnews.com or 783.1244.