Asheville City Council

“I can’t move without this [money]. I will end up in a shelter.”

– McCormick Heights resident Julie Brown

Asheville hasn’t pulled the trigger yet on buying the troubled McCormick Heights housing project, but on Jan. 23, City Council voted 5-1 to allocate up to $120,000 to help displaced residents find new homes.

In December, the Asheville Housing Authority—which manages McCormick Heights for the property owner, a subsidiary of Progress Energy—announced that the project had sunk into severe debt, with only 40 of the 100 units occupied, and that the owners planned to sell it.

Council members then voted 6-1 to buy the complex (which sits above McCormick Field), add it to adjacent city-owned property, and develop a mixed-income community there. The city said it would tear down the existing structures and provide money to help residents relocate.

But that vote didn’t actually commit the funding the city said it wanted to set aside for relocation assistance. Staff had initially estimated the cost at about $85,000, but updated numbers suggest it will be closer to $120,000, reported Community Development Director Charlotte Caplan.

Staff had also asked that the vote on both the purchase and the relocation funding be delayed, but growing concern on the part of both McCormick Heights residents and Council members overrode that request.

With the $2.5 million purchase not nailed down yet and rumors flying in the wake of meetings with the Housing Authority, residents were getting nervous about the status of the relocation funds.

McCormick Heights resident Julie Brown told Council that she would be unable to get into another apartment without the financial help. “I can’t move without this,” she said. “I will end up in a shelter.”

Mayor Terry Bellamy voiced support for the funding, but she challenged the idea that the city is to blame for the situation at McCormick Heights, noting that Progress Energy is selling the complex in an attempt to avoid foreclosure, regardless of what the city decides. If the city buys the property, residents will have to be out six months after the purchase is finalized. If the city decides to pass on it and no other buyer steps up, the property will probably be handed over to the bank, David Nash, the Housing Authority’s deputy director, told Xpress.

But several Council members wanted more information and asked for a delay.

Caplan told Council that staff had recommended approving the relocation money on the assumption that the city was going to buy the property, but they haven’t had a chance to complete the title search and other work needed to complete the purchase.

Vice Mayor Holly Jones, however, wanted the relocation issue settled that night. “The message that I want sent tonight to the residents is that the city will keep its word,” she said. “I’m worried that walking away would create the wrong picture.”

Council member Carl Mumpower, who voted against the purchase in December, said committing money before the deal is finalized is putting the cart before the horse.

“I would question if we know enough to create a plan for moving these folks,” said Mumpower. “We acted too urgently last month, and we are about to do it again.”

Caplan said the amount allocated per family would depend on individual needs. The Affordable Housing Coalition, she said, would conduct door-to-door interviews to determine who needs what and coordinate the moves.

Each family’s allotment would cover:
• $500 for physical moving expenses
• Two months’ security deposit on a new rental
• The first month’s rent in the new unit
• Utility connection-and-transfer fees
• $400 per person to the Affordable Housing Coalition for administrative costs
• Other costs such as application fees or pet deposits.

The total cost, not to exceed $120,000, was added as an amendment to a $326,000 agenda item allocating federal Community Development Block Grant money to other projects, as follows:
• $200,000 to Neighborhood Housing Services to assist with affordable-housing initiatives;
• $86,000 to Buncombe County for a mental-health center;
• $40,000 for bus-stop benches.

Bellamy recused herself from the vote because her employer, Mountain Housing Opportunities, partners with Neighborhood Housing Services. The proposal passed 5-1 with Mumpower opposed.

In other business, Council unanimously approved several conditional rezonings including: property on Fairview Road for a proposed office building and parking adjacent to the city-owned Murphy-Oakley Recreation Center; property in the main Enka Village area from multifamily high density to single-family high density; property on Depot Street from residential multifamily high density to commercial-industrial district to support a multi-use building there.

A staff request that Council create a new zoning designation passed 6-1 with Bellamy opposed. The adaptive-reuse overlay district will be used to rezone buildings that don’t match the use and zoning of their immediate neighbors.