Safeguarding Paris Mountain from reckless and environmentally destructive development remains a top priority for Greenville County residents.

As we learn more about the Inn at Altamont project that soon is expected to be submitted to the city of Travelers Rest, one talking point from developer Krut Patel of the Divine Group and other hotel supporters is this: If plans to construct a hotel fall through, they might instead build nearly 800 apartments on the site.

This has many anxiously wondering which of the two choices — a new hotel or apartments — would be worse.

This is an age-old tactic used by developers who want nothing more than to maximize their own profit. When the public mobilizes to oppose harmful development projects, the developer often then presents another, even more destructive idea and then asks the public to pick between them. The developer’s goal is to make the public consider an option worse than the first so that the public gravitates toward the original plan.