We’re not gonna take it: UNCA student activists (from left) Charla Schlueter, Kati Ketz and Kinsey LeGrand spoke out at a press conference about perceived threats. photo by Jonathan Welch Offensive messages spray-painted on a UNCA protest wall and posted on the Internet have sparked investigations of a campus police officer and a senator in […]

“We owe it to the people to fix our pipes and fix our plants and not be paralyzed by a process that is out of our hands.” Vice Mayor Holly Jones The capital-improvements fee — an extra charge on city water bills to fund infrastructure repairs — has surfaced repeatedly in recent weeks. In July, […]

“Money doesn’t come from a magic bucket. It comes from people’s pockets.” — Council member Carl Mumpower The consent agenda is supposed to be a list of noncontroversial items that can be dispensed with via a single vote at the beginning of an Asheville City Council meeting. But on Oct. 10, discussion of the consent […]

The Asheville City Council narrowly shot down a proposed revision to the Unified Development Ordinance that would have allowed cell towers in high-density residential areas. The new language, said Urban Planner Shannon Tuch, included provisions that the towers be disguised and not be too close to residential buildings. But affordable-housing advocates on Council maintained that […]

“I sunk to my shins in places where I used to walk on hard ground.” — Council member Robin Cape After a long and heated debate, the Asheville City Council dramatically scaled back the controversial plans for Richmond Hill Park in the wake of a state citation for failure to adequately control erosion. Approved in […]

Any one of these issues could be expected to grab front-page headlines and spawn debate all over town. But in one fell swoop — albeit a six-hour one — the Asheville City Council dealt with three such high-profile subjects at its Aug. 22 formal session. The main event After months of research, community commotion and […]

“It appears to me that the Higginses have tried to make something better that was rundown.” — Council member Jan Davis. A long-running fight over a parking lot on Arlington Street was finally resolved at the Asheville City Council’s July 25 formal session. It was yet another case pitting a small business against the surrounding […]

photo by Roxanne Turpen Journalists depend on many sources to do their work; a few are so essential that it would be hard to function without them. Maggie Burleson is one of those. As Asheville’s city clerk for the past 11 years, she has helped guide a long line of Mountain Xpress reporters through the […]

“Back-door dealings sicken me and must stop.” – Asheville Vice Mayor Holly Jones A surprise last-minute statement by Vice Mayor Holly Jones at the July 25 City Council meeting exposed rifts and alleged dysfunction on the Asheville Regional Airport Authority’s board of directors. “I don’t feel good about this board and probably never will, knowing […]

“They are getting noise complaints and that’s real. But the drum circle is real too.” — Drummer Gregg Levoy Odd as it may seem, when drummers gathered in Asheville last Friday night — just one week after being dispersed by the police — some did so hoping to get noise complaints. photo by Jonathan Welch […]

“We look forward to the next step, whatever that is.” — CAN Board Member Joe Minicozzi. It has been a few weeks since a third-party report on deficiencies in Asheville’s Unified Development Ordinance and its enforcement was submitted to the city, and some are ready for Council to take action. During the public comment period […]

In a kind of financial dress rehearsal, Asheville City Council members had one last work session to fine-tune the budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. Judging by the discussion on June 20, the $115 million 2006-07 budget was almost put to bed, but a few sticking points threatened to delay formal […]

“The gap between what people can afford and what it costs to get into housing is getting wider and wider.” — Kelly Nossiter, Neighborhood Housing Services Everybody likes the idea of affordable housing when they’re looking for a place to live. But once the focus shifts to things like taxes and public-policy concerns, the consensus […]

The Saturday breakfasts for the homeless are gone from Pritchard Park, but public sentiment has been simmering at low boil since Asheville’s Parks and Recreation Department evicted the do-gooders in early May. “This is what you have done. You haven’t brought this community together; you have divided us.” — Mayor Terry Bellamy to Adam Ripley, […]

“There’s no way I can look the community in the eye and and say that 180 [thousand] is truly affordable.” — Mayor Terry Bellamy on affordable housing Proposed changes to the city’s Housing Trust Fund guidelines — a source of no- or low-interest loans to developers building low-cost housing — stirred a Council debate on […]

“Wal-Mart is terminating this project and will no longer be pursuing this site.” — April 11 memo to the city from Wal-Mart’s attorneys The word went out just before noon on Tuesday as neighborhood activists, Council members and staff, and the media were all steeling themselves for a long night: Wal-Mart had backed out. The […]