In their first meeting of the new year, on Tuesday, Jan. 14, Asheville City Council turns its attention to the River Arts District: Council members will vote on the first step of an ambitious infrastructure-improvement project and an overhaul of the way development in the area is reviewed.
One of those items is the $2.2 million RADTIP project, which “will construct roadway improvements, sidewalks, bike lanes and greenways along Lyman Street and part of Riverside Drive adjacent to the French Broad River.” This was part of Council members’ list of “aspirational projects,” for which they passed a tax increase last year to fund, and these funds will go to “detailed surveying, soil testing, streetscape plans, bridge and culvert design, utility relocation plans, and additional public involvement,” according to a staff report accompanying the agenda.
Also on the RAD front is a major change in how development in the area is reviewed, merging the riverfront design committee into the redevelopment commission and assigning that group the ability to review all projects in a set area around the district.
Council will also vote on creating a joint City-County African American Heritage Commission and rezoning properties in Kenilworth to allow for residential development.
Asheville City Council meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14, on the second floor of City Hall. A 3:30 p.m. work session on the upcoming state legislative agenda has been cancelled.
$2.2M on plans. The eventual implementation of RADTIP will be over $30Mfrom federal grants (NC is really popopular in DC), state funding (Asheville is really popular in Raleigh) and borrowing. This of course will pass without a dissenting vote.
Silly to be adding sidewalks in the RAD, when downtown doesn’t have adequate sidewalks. Try to navigate downtown in a wheel chair—bad curbs, cracked/crumbling sidewalks, power poles in the middle of the sidewalk, etc. What a disgrace.
The Council obviously in love with the RAD. Why? Who is getting paid back/off?