ADC unveils Burton Street Community Plan

The Asheville Design Center has put the Burton Street Community Plan up on their website. The plan calls for a stable community association, an outdoor gathering space and pedestrian improvements.

“The Burton Street Community Plan is a collaborative effort among the Burton Street community, the Western North Carolina Alliance, and the Asheville Design Center,” an announcement on the ADC’s homepage reads. “In an effort to sustain revitalization efforts currently underway in the Burton Street community, neighborhood members approached the Asheville Design Center with a desire to secure a plan for future neighborhood progress.”

Burton Street, a historically African-American community in West Asheville, has revived in recent years while facing possible damage from the proposed Interstate 26 interchange (chronicled in Xpress’ We Are Burton Street project).

The plan calls for a variety of steps aimed at continuing the area’s revitalization, including insuring the long-term health of the community center, creating a community newsletter, communicating with absent landlords, more sidewalks and parking lots, better lighting and mass transit as well as the completion of the Smith Mill Creek greenway, among other steps.

The plan notes potential partners the community and the ADC might collaborate with to implement these steps, including UNCA, the city of Asheville, Asheville on Bikes and Mountain Housing Opportunities.

— David Forbes, senior news reporter