Council gives Occupy Asheville camp Feb. 17 deadline, supports keeping water system

In a Valentine’s Day meeting, Asheville City Council voted to evict the Occupy Asheville encampment in front of City Hall, one of the last remaining in the country, on Feb. 17. Council also unanimously backed a resolution supporting the city retaining control of the water system in the face of a state study. (Photo by Bill Rhodes)

Impasse over Occupy Asheville camp continues

Last night, Occupy Asheville’s coordinating council agreed on a letter asserting its camp in front of City Hall is “a representation of the people’s natural rights.” While not explicitly rejecting a proposal by Asheville City Council to voluntarily decamp, the letter didn’t accept it either, leaving an impasse over the fate of the camp heading into Council’s Feb. 14 meeting.

A deal between the city and Occupy Asheville? Maybe.

At the longest Asheville City Council meeting in recent years, the debate over the Occupy Asheville encampment was front and center. Motions both to create a permitting process for the camp and to ban it outright failed narrowly. In the end, Council agreed to put a resolution opposing corporate personhood on the Feb. 14 agenda, alongside a motion to give campers a deadline to leave. But, there will be porta-johns.
(Photo by Bill Rhodes)