On the agenda for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Tuesday, June 24 meeting: Parkside, Parkside and more Parkside. New storm-water rules too.
That’s the lion’s share of what the county will consider at tomorrow’s meeting, as the board votes on a resolution encouraging the city of Asheville to do a land swap with developer Stewart Coleman to get back park land that the board controversially sold in 2006, without a public hearing or consultation with the city.
Coleman’s plans to put the nine-story Parkside condominium project on the site next to City Hall have attracted considerable public outcry. Coleman has modified the project twice, once reducing the height to avoid needing direct approval from City Council, and the second time changing the location of construction equipment, avoiding the need for commissioners to approve an affidavit.
The board will also consider new storm-water rules. After some members objected at the June 3 meeting to the penalties homeowners might have to pay under the rules, the vote was delayed to give county staff more time to answer their concerns.
The commissioners will also consider a resolution encouraging the county’s Environmental Advisory Board to investigate “green” options for the county, including improving the recycling program and developing green-building guidelines for county facilities.
The meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24, in room 204 of the Buncombe County Courthouse. A pre-meeting, including public comment, begins at 4 p.m.
— David Forbes, staff writer
Yes, it ought to be a Parkside-y good time.
The County is trying to get the City to enter into a “swap” with Mr. Coleman. The funny thing is that Mr. Coleman was seeking a swap before he ever purchased the properties. He was in meetings with Scott Shuford to swap his purchases-to-be for Marjorie St. property. The City Council urged him to file an RFP regarding the City owned land, but Mr. Coleman was unwilling to follow the process that’s in place for such things. He was asking for special treatment, and now the County is on board with his sense of entitlement, to work outside the process.
Anyhoo – Part 3 of the resolution gives City Council an easy escape hatch, and the Commissioners will find this issue in their chamber again before too long. It all seems like an exercise in trying to get the City to have to take some of the blame.
The County sold Stewart Coleman public park land and have called that move a “mistake”.
Stewart Coleman is asking for over $4.5 million for the properties that cost him about a third of that. He’s trying to profit of his failed speculation at the expense of every taxpayer in Buncombe County.
They’re both in the wrong, and they’re married to having to figure out how to resolve it. It’s either a reasonable buyback, an unending bureaucratic obstruction model, or reacquisition through eminent domain. I wonder which they’ll choose?
And, by the way, Coleman can cut that Magnolia tree down whenever he wants.
Love it. The County gives away public parkland to a connected developer, then expects the City, which the County has already screwed repeatedly on the water deal, double taxation with no benefits, etc, to donate City land to clean up the County’s mess. The County Commissioners are thieves and have been robbing Asheville blind for decades. Apparently having a brain or a soul is not necessary to work for the County. What a bunch of hicks.