At its June 13 meeting, Asheville City Council adopted its 2017-18 fiscal year budget, which sets a property tax rate of 42.89 cents per $100 of taxable property value and includes funding for 15 new police officers to create a dedicated downtown police unit, as well as $630,000 for expanding the city’s transit system.
Asheville City Council will vote on the city’s 2017-18 budget for the fiscal year that will begin July 1. New pedestrian safety measures for Fairview Road, an affordable housing development on city-owned land and a strategy aimed at allowing Asheville residents to control the method used for electing representatives to City Council are also on the agenda for the Tuesday, June 13 meeting.
A conditional use permit hearing for a South Asheville apartment development originally set for next week has been pushed until July at the request of the developer.
A proposed form-based zoning code for the River Arts District passed its final hurdle before moving on to Asheville City Council for consideration. At a well-attended meeting of Asheville’s Planning & Zoning Commission on June 7, a 133-unit apartment complex on Lyman Street, a self-storage building on Gerber Road and a zoning change on Forsythe Street also got the commission’s nod.
Various tax credits and preservation easements offer financial benefits to owners of historic properties; advocates also tout broader benefits, such as job creation, the reduced environmental impacts of restoration versus demolition, and the intangible value of connecting the present with the past.
State Attorney General Josh Stein visited Asheville on June 6 to discuss the region’s efforts to combat the far-reaching effects of the opioid crisis. While not alone among North Carolina counties in dealing with drug abuse, overdoses and drug-related deaths, Buncombe County’s problem is significant, local representatives and Stein said.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners heard development frustrations from Ridgecrest and South Asheville residents ahead of approving measures to shift a sales tax and backtrack on a deal with Duke Energy.
Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget, consider diverting the A-B Tech sales tax fund and discuss backing out of a deal with Duke Energy to conduct a solar farm feasibility study.
As a steady rain falls outside, Philip Caruso stands in the bedroom of his new apartment. “I don’t care [that it’s raining],” he says. “For the first time in decades, I’m not outside under a pine tree somewhere.” Caruso is a U.S. Marine veteran who saw combat in Beirut during the 1980s. His life was […]
A changing climate, aging infrastructure and rapid rates of development are contributing to a rising tide of stormwater problems in Asheville. But responsibility for stormwater infrastructure often rests with private property owners, complicating the process of planning and paying for fixes.
The Buncombe County Extension Master Gardener Volunteers offer up a chance to visit six private gardens via their biennial tour, the Hidden Gardens of Asheville. And the selection of secret gardens couldn’t be more varied, organizers share — all offering much more to see than just pretty perennials. The tour takes place on June 3 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
As commissioners considering funding projects with community grants, Xpress looks at the performance contracts used to monitor the process and finds commissioners aren’t adhering to suggested guidelines.
Buncombe County Manager Wanda Greene will retire from her position on July 1. She cites “times are changing and interests have shifted” as one reason why she is stepping down.
Despite gray skies and sporadic rain showers, a crowd of more than 200 gathered in Pack Square Park on May 29 to pay tribute to fallen veterans and local emergency responders. Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Chair Brownie Newman and representatives from different branches of the military, as well as local police and fire departments, presented a wreath to honor the fallen.
When the DOT finally decided on a design for Section B of the Connector project in 2015, many stakeholders thought they saw light at the end of a very long tunnel. Other residents, however, see serious flaws in Alternative 4B, questioning whether the project’s long-term benefits will justify the sacrifices their neighborhoods must make to see it completed.
The Mountain Sports Fest, which will be held May 26-28, enters its 17th year with a new director, several fresh events and a three-year grant from the City of Asheville worth $5,400 per year.
At a May 19 workshop, the greenway advocacy organization Friends of Connect Buncombe hosted a national expert, along with several local bright lights, to discuss strategies for supercharging greenway development.
The 2017 Garden Jubilee in downtown Hendersonville May 27 and 28 will feature more than 250 regional vendors along Main Street, offering their gardening tips and tricks along with their plants. Expect to see thousands of annuals, perennials, vegetables and herbs, including rare selections, along with outdoor furniture and decor.
Activists dominated the May 23 public hearing on Asheville’s proposed 2017-18 fiscal year budget. The group $1 Million for the People opposes Asheville Police Chief Tammy Hooper’s request for $1 million in additional funding to hire 15 new officers for a new downtown policing unit.
It’s been just over a year since the locally developed Muddy Water Watch app was launched, enlisting citizen watchdogs to help protect their communities’ waterways. Conceived by the environmental nonprofit MountainTrue as an enhancement of its existing Muddy Water Watch program, the app makes it easy for residents to report potential problems with sedimentation in streams as well as other water quality issues.
Supported by local churches and the Asheville-based MANNA FoodBank, the Leicester Community Welcome Table served almost 10,000 meals last year, delivered about 80 meals a week to shut-ins and generated more than 4,500 hours of volunteer labor.