Apparently, cable-TV technology still flabbergasts Asheville City Council members. On March 2, they had no less than three cable-related topics to wrangle with, and even the seemingly noncontroversial ones brought a few surprises and a touch of techno-babble that had Council members’ eyes glazing over: • Creating a commission to oversee the city’s new education […]

Toss 100 coins in the air and, half the time, they’ll land heads up; the other half, they’ll come up tails. Until recently, however, that law of averages didn’t seem to apply to the Asheville Board of Adjustment. Charged with granting or withholding permission to deviate from city ordinances regulating signs and development, the board […]

Asheville’s newest zoning classification became a reality on Feb. 23, but not without debate. Three areas in the city were the first to be rezoned Office II — a new classification that’s lower density than Office Business, which had been the only office category under the city’s zoning laws. In two of the cases, residents […]

If three candidates leave the train station at 6 p.m., and three more leave at 7 p.m., which one will make it to City Hall on election day? That depends on how you do the math — and whether Asheville holds a primary followed by a general election (the current system), or a general election […]

This is the second and final installment of our report on Asheville City Council’s annual retreat, held Jan. 29-31 at Highland Lake Inn, near Flat Rock. What matters most to Asheville City Council members? Sure, they all agreed to a set of five sweeping goals for 1999. Those priorities include “Preserve the environment” and “Expand […]

Lawyers didn’t get an ounce of respect during Council’s Feb. 9 debate on proposed changes to Asheville’s personnel policy. City Human Resources Director Jeff Richardson brought nine amendments to the policy before Council members — such as allowing department heads to grant vacation time to probationary employees (under the old policy, new employees had to […]

[This is part one of a two-part series on this year’s City Council retreat.] You could call Asheville City Council’s annual weekend retreat a bonding ritual, of sorts: Council members and city staff sit through 15 hours of reports, charts (and more charts), oft-tangled discussions, and decision-making (or, sometimes, not). Between the meetings, they eat, […]

Asheville’s continuing drought is costing us more than just the privilege of watering our lawns: The Water Authority needs $160,000 to buy water from Hendersonville, Asheville Water Resources Director Tom Frederick told City Council members during their Feb. 2 work session. That’s in addition to $174,750 worth of other drought-related expenses: buying extra chemicals to […]

Last year, Asheville City Council members didn’t have enough money to award the New Hope Community Health Center a portion of the federal Community Development Block Grant funds the city parcels out annually. Now they do. Asheville Community Development Director Charlotte Caplan told City Council members on Jan. 26 that New Hope representatives had been […]

Twenty-five people died in a fire in a North Carolina factory in 1991, because they couldn’t get out. Their escape was blocked by chained, locked doors at the Hamlet, N.C., chicken-processing plant where they worked. That’s the cold fact driving the state’s revised fire-safety code, says Jennifer Gullette of the North Carolina Department of Insurance. […]

One man’s version of hell might be to end up serving, forever and ever, on a big committee. Disappointed by the mixed results achieved by a “Church Committee” directed to resolve zoning-classification issues for churches in the city, Asheville Council members asked the group to meet again and report to the Planning and Zoning Commission […]

The magic number is 100 feet. That’s the new cap Asheville City Council set for the height of telecommunications towers — half of what the old ordinance allowed. Council members voted unanimously to revise the city’s tower ordinance on Jan. 12, despite pleas from industry representatives that they compromise on several issues — particularly the […]

Just below the surface of west Asheville’s worn exterior lies a rich vein of history that a group of determined community leaders wants to revive. Stroll down Haywood Road and you’ll see turn-of-the-century architecture, like the whimsical white arches and big white circles set in red brick at the old west Asheville fire station (which […]

The experts took one look at Pritchard Park, and saw more than a triangular, quarter-acre park locked between busy downtown streets. They saw a town square — an old-fashioned, people-oriented kind of place for meeting, dining, relaxing and attending city-sponsored events. That’s how Genesis Group consultants replied when Asheville Mayor Leni Sitnick took one look […]

How does Asheville’s first female mayor see things, after nearly a year in office? “Call me anytime,” Mayor Leni Sitnick told Mountain Xpress when she first took the reins in 1997. And, 12 months and 3,000 phone calls later, she’s still pretty likely to return your call or take a few minutes to chat, if […]

Council adopts parking plan Before Asheville City Council OKs the construction of a new parking deck near the Grove Arcade, they might do well to consider the parking shortages in and around Pack Place. “Our problem exists now: It’s not three years away,” said Asheville Art Museum Director Pam Myers. The Grove Arcade has yet […]

Who says Asheville City Council isn’t more open than it’s ever been? On Dec. 8, Council members dealt with three issues that, in the past, would probably have been shuffled quietly to the side and resolved without any public debate. The first two made it onto Council’s agenda, specifically at the request of Mayor Leni […]

Members of the Western North Carolina Air Pollution Control Agency board had a busy night at their Nov. 30 meeting. They upheld a $7,500 fine levied against Kenan Oil, promised to consider tougher fines for polluters, and directed staff to try to work out a compromise with the U.S. Forest Service on open fires. “They’re […]

Tax credits and jobs — that’s what Asheville hopes to get by having most of the city designated a State Development Zone. Asheville Community Development Director Charlotte Caplan asked for City Council’s permission on Dec. 1 to apply for the designation, which would take affect Jan. 1, 1999, if granted. The program would mean thousands […]

It’s only a small step toward cleaner air, but Asheville City Council members took it. They unanimously passed a resolution urging North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt to sign an agreement with Tennessee that defines a process for reviewing — and allowing public comment on — air-quality permits for new industries whose emissions might affect national […]

By the time the next Bele Chere rolls around, this little downtown park might just be the prettiest old hog wallow in town. In December or January, Asheville City Council members will take their first look at the latest proposal for redesigning the 66-year-old Pritchard Park, which, most recently, was used as a transfer station […]