Asheville City Council ousts chair, vice chair of housing authority board

After extensive comment from the public, Asheville City Council on Feb. 11 voted 7-0 to trim the size of the Asheville Housing Authority Board of Commissioners from 11 members to nine, specifically ousting Chair Tilman Jackson and Vice Chair Reginald Robinson.

Previously, Council had voted to change the board size from seven to 11 at its Jan. 14 meeting. 

The moves are part of what Mayor Esther Manheimer described as “turmoil” at the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville (HACA) that included the Nov. 7 firing of its president and CEO, Monique Pierre. Just days before on Nov. 4, Pierre wrote an email to the housing community saying that the mayor had asked all commissioners to reapply for their posts and canceled the November and December board meetings.

Jackson and Robinson were among the 13 people who addressed the Council at the Feb. 11 meeting.

“No one should be accused of something or eliminated from something without cause,” Jackson said. “Putting my name on it made it personal. I don’t understand that.” 

In a statement to Xpress before the meeting, Manheimer wrote, “I have been working to reorganize the HACA board to better serve the residents of the Housing Authority and to hire a director that can effectively lead staff to provide safe and affordable housing for those in the community who both live in public housing neighborhoods and in privately owned voucher-based housing.”

HACA oversees 10 public housing developments with 1,534 units and administers housing vouchers for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to the HACA website.

Jackson said after the meeting he felt that Council sidestepped due process whereby he could have responded to any inefficiencies. 

“We cannot omit the process that causes people to at least have a resemblance of justice and fairness toward them,” Jackson said. 

Robinson, a Hillcrest resident, held the sole seat reserved for a Housing Authority resident. 

“How are you going to appoint a resident on the board when you just eliminated that seat and all the other seats are filled?” Robinson asked after the meeting.

Manheimer said during the meeting Council would appoint a resident to the board. 

“There’s always more to a story, and sometimes that more is better left unsaid so as to not tarnish legacies and reputations,” said Kimberly Collins, one of five new members Manheimer appointed to the board on Jan. 20.

Zoning changes postponed

Two zoning amendments sought by Barry Bialik, CEO of Compact Cottages and former chair of the Asheville Affordable Housing Committee, were initially denied and subsequently postponed over concerns about the timing of a requested legacy neighborhood overlay.

One requested change would allow smaller, single-unit dwellings to be clustered around common open space under the city’s cottage development zoning. The other regards flag lots, which allow two homes to be situated along the same street frontage, with one home behind the other. The lot for the rear home is accessed via a narrow corridor extending to the street — the flag “pole” — which doubles as a shared driveway. The change would allow narrower “poles,” which would make flag lots possible on deep and narrow lots.

Bialik said during public comment he first applied for the change two years ago when brainstorming ways to create more housing.

“This is kind of the balance of mixing zoning and infrastructure and simple paths that make it more approachable,” Bialik said. “The whole idea is how do we make building more houses approachable to many people, to the individual property owner, to the small builder, so it doesn’t take developers to create housing for us in town.”

Members of legacy neighborhoods, however, have been requesting overlays protecting their neighborhoods from new zoning practices.

“I’m coming to say this to you: We have continuously asked to be at the table, to sit down and have conversations about these issues, and everytime we turn around there’s a lot of planning going on and when it gets to our neighborhood,” said Renee White, president of the The East End/Valley Street Neighborhood Association.

Council initially approved a motion to deny the changes, 4-3, with Manheimer, and members Maggie Ullman and Sage Turner opposed.

After a break, Council member Bo Hess moved to revisit the zoning change at the Council’s March 11 meeting. That motion was approved 4-3 with Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley and Council members Sheneika Smith and Kim Roney opposed.

“My vote to continue the discussion on flag lots and cottage lots was based on my belief that we need a balanced approach, one that allows for more housing along urban corridors while also safeguarding historically underinvested communities,” Hess said.

In other news: 

• City staff and the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) gave an update to the Interstate 26 Connector project that is back on track post-Helene. NCDOT and Archer-Wright Joint Venture, which will build two sections of the project, recently completed a revision of the project that will save $124 million and an updated cost estimate of $1.023 billion. The team saved more than $63 million by reducing the number and width of bridges crossing the French Broad River. The project is expected to be completed in 2031.
• City of Asheville Water Department employees Justin Rice, Jud Bledsoe, Oliver Burns and Levi Soulsby were recognized for their outstanding public service during Tropical Storm Helene. Rice and Bledsoe evacuated Burns and Soulsby from the DeBruhl water treatment plant. After that, the four helped evacuate several Bee Tree residents. Rice provided the first description of damage to the water system and was instrumental in restoring water service. Also recognized at the meeting was the city’s director of finance, Tony McDowell, who won the Jack Vogt Award for longstanding commitment to local government budgeting and evaluation.
• Haw Creek sidewalk project construction will begin in spring. Council approved a contract with TranSystems Corp. for $299,752 for construction engineering and inspection services, plus $30,000 to cover changes that may arise, bringing the project total to $329,752.

This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Reporting and Editing.