City Council voted unanimously to deny the zoning request for a 185-room hotel at 192 Haywood St. at its Jan. 24 meeting. Police Chief Tammy Hooper gave an update on policing in the city in 2016.
Tag: Bob Oast
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Ending gun shows on city property faces legal complications
An assertion by Asheville City Council member Cecil Bothwell that the city’s ordinance banning firearms on city property should mean an end to gun shows here is unlikely to hinder this weekend’s show at the WNC Agricultural Center. State law restricts localities’ ability to regulate or prohibit gun shows, and city staff are currently looking into the implications of those rules.
City Attorney’s request for APD audit recommendations
In this July 26 letter, City Attorney Bob Oast requests that Buncombe County District Attorney Ron Moore release part of the undisclosed Asheville Police Department evidence room audit containing recommendations for improving the facility’s practices.
Asheville city attorney asks for more time to decide on clear-cutting lawsuit
In a letter to an attorney representing Scenic NC in their lawsuit against the state for new rules allowing more clear-cutting around billboards, City Attorney Bob Oast says he’s concerned about the rules, but asks for more time to decide if the city should join the case.
City Attorney responds to billboard clear-cutting lawsuit
In this letter, City Attorney Bob Oast responds to a request that the city of Asheville join a lawsuit against new rules allowing increased clear-cutting around billboards
Council will vote on camping ban, aimed at Occupy Asheville
On Dec. 13, Asheville City Council will vote on an ordinance banning camping, storage and enclosed structures on city property. Occupy Asheville protesters are currently encamped in front of City Hall.
Emails shine light on city’s reaction to Occupy Asheville
Xpress has obtained 270 emails from city of Asheville staff concerning Occupy Asheville. The emails reveal law enforcement considering their approach to (and surveillance of) the protests as well as city staff and Occupy representatives debating freedom of assembly, among other things. These emails are available to the public in a searchable database.
photo by Bill Rhodes
Asheville city ordinance doesn’t prohibit handing out political fliers
Earlier this month, the Asheville Police Department arrested Helen Roberts for passing out fliers as part of Occupy Asheville, claiming it violated a city ordinance. The charges against Roberts have since been dropped, and City Attorney Bob Oast tells Xpress that the ordinance she was arrested under only deals with commercial activity — not handing out political fliers in public spaces.
City Attorney: ordinance generally allows personal megaphones
Street preachers using personal amplification are a regular sight at Bele Chere, but an Occupy Asheville protester was told by an Asheville Police Department officer that city ordinance requires them to put away their megaphone. However, according to City Attorney Bob Oast, the city generally allows the use of personal amplification in public space.
City looks into regulating street preachers
The presence of street preachers (and people opposing or arguing with them) is an annual fixture at the Bele Chere festival. Now, after complaints, the city of Asheville is looking into ways to regulate or curb the activity.
Goldsboro-based street preacher Tony Denson, speaking during Bele Chere 2010. Asheville resident Jeremy Carter, in the background, brandished a rainbow flag in protest of Denson’s remarks. Photo by Michael Muller
Bill for seizure of Asheville’s water system drastically revised, now calls for study
A controversial bill proposed by state Rep. Tim Moffitt that would originally have seized Asheville’s water system and transferred it to the Metropolitan Sewerage District has been drastically revised. The current version of the bill calls for studying the efficiency of moving the water systems of large cities to a MSD.
Asheville City Council
Free speech at the Transit Center $60 million in water improvements needed to keep pace with growth Parking on downtown Asheville’s south side could become much easier in the near future. While the Buncombe County commissioners were considering funding a large parking deck on Coxe Avenue at their Sept. 16 meeting (see county commissioners’ report […]