Editor’s note: at 3:48 p.m. on April 24, Asheville City Clerk Maggie Burleson wrote in an email: “Please note: The ‘consideration of initiation of text amendment for expanding the definition of homestays in the Unified Development Ordinance to include Accessory Dwelling Units under the same roof as the main residence’ has been withdrawn from the agenda.”
They’re back: Discussions on whether and how Asheville should regulate short-term lodging in residential neighborhoods will return to City Council on Tuesday, April 25. The contentious issue has been largely absent from Council Chambers since elected officials accepted the recommendation of a citizen task force to leave the city’s rules governing homestays, a type of short-term rental, unchanged on Dec. 13.
But on Feb. 28, Mayor Esther Manheimer re-introduced the topic, saying she’d like to look at expanding the homestay program to include attached accessory dwelling units, which are also known as ADUs. Currently, the city allows long-term residents to apply for a homestay permit that allows them to rent out no more than two bedrooms to short-term visitors. Homestays aren’t allowed in separate living units, whether they are attached to the main residence (such as a basement apartment) or are located in a separate structure.
Council’s Planning and Economic Development Committee considered a staff report on the issue at its April 19 meeting and recommended bringing the topic to the full Council for additional discussion. The questions Council seems likely to consider range from the sweeping (for example, the impact of allowing more short-term rentals on the availability of long-term housing, especially affordable housing) to the specific (for example, exactly what constitutes an attached versus a detached accessory structure, and could existing structures be retrofitted to establish a qualifying connection to a main residence?).
Along with the perennial hot-button issue of short-term rentals, Council will take on a packed agenda that promises to cover a lot of territory.
Proclamations
Council will proclaim the following:
- April 2017 “Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month”
- April 25 “Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day”
- April 25 “National Day of Prayer”
- April 27-30 “Stand Against Racism Weekend”
- May 2017 “Building Safety Month”
- May 7-13 “National Drinking Water Week”
Consent agenda
In its consent agenda, Council will vote on matters including:
- Clarifications regarding the role of Council liaisons to volunteer citizen committees: Each city board or commission is assigned a Council member as a liaison. The proposed policy change provides new wording explaining the liaison’s role and specifying that liaisons “shall not play an active role in deliberation of the board or commission.”
- An ordinance amendment that would prohibit parking in designated bicycle lanes.
- Awarding an installation contract for replacing artificial turf at the John B. Lewis Soccer Complex: Sports Construction Management, Inc. of Lexington, N.C. was the low bidder for the $942,565 contract. The total cost of the turf replacement, including purchasing the turf material, will be $2 million. The Asheville Buncombe Youth Soccer Association will contribute $1,456,960 (which includes a $1.1 million Tourism Product Development Fund grant from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority). The city will contribute $600,000, which is earmarked in the Capital Improvement Program for the Parks and Recreation Department over a five-year period.
- A “Resolution supporting raising the age of juvenile jurisdiction from 16 to 18 in North Carolina for misdemeanants and non-violent felons.”
Presentations and reports
Council will hear a report on “racial demographics of traffic stops and searches in Asheville.” No background material is attached to this agenda item on the city’s website.
Council will also receive a written annual update on the subdivision review process. According to the report, the city has considered eight subdivision proposals under the revised review process, which was implemented a year ago.
Public hearings
Council will hold public hearings on three zoning applications that were heard by the Planning & Zoning Commission on April 5:
- A requested increase in the number of units previously approved as a conditional zoning application for the redevelopment of the Lee Walker Heights public housing neighborhood. The developers, the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville and Mountain Housing Opportunities, request an increase from 199 to 212 units. A new main access road from Biltmore Avenue through the former Matthews Ford property at 319 Biltmore Ave. into the development is also proposed. P&Z unanimously recommended approval.
- Rezoning the waste transfer station at 190 Hominy Creek Road from Institutional District to Institutional District/Conditional Zoning to allow an expansion of the facility. P&Z voted 5-2 to recommend approval of the request.
- An amendment to Chapter 7 of the zoning code that regulates cottage developments. The changes would allow developers greater flexibility in siting clustered, higher-density neighborhoods by removing prohibitions against any site with a 15 percent or greater finished grade. (Cottage developments would still be prohibited on sites where steep site provisions apply.) The changes would also remove a requirement for a 1,000-foot separation between cottage developments. P&Z unanimously recommended approval.
Unfinished business
Council will pick up its discussion on district elections from its April 11 meeting, when the elected officials directed City Attorney Robin Currin and City Manager Gary Jackson to draft a plan for appointing a commission to develop a districting methodology and map for the city in preparation for holding a referendum on the issue.
Council’s consideration of its next steps on possible changes to the city’s homestay ordinance for attached accessory dwelling units (described above) will also take place during the unfinished business portion of its agenda.
Council is soliciting applications for the following vacancies on city boards and commissions:
- Civil Service Board
- Homeless Initiative Advisory Committee (individual in Veteran’s Administration)
- Housing Authority of the City of Asheville
- Multimodal Transportation Commission
The deadline to apply for these openings is Wednesday, May 3, at 5 p.m. Call 828-259-5839 for an application form.
Asheville City Council meets at 5 p.m. in Council chambers on the second floor of City Hall at 70 Court Plaza, Asheville. The full meeting agenda and supporting documents can be found here.
For more of the latest city and county news check out Xpress’ Buncombe Beat.
Somebody pointed this relevant detail out to me but I haven’t searched further to find out what the law actually says. And I haven’t seen it mentioned in Asheville media.
When (Brevard) council was ready to vote on a final draft in 2016, the state law passed preventing local governments from regulating short-term rentals, so the planning board had to make more changes, said Cobb. http://www.transylvaniatimes.com/story/2017/03/23/news/city-council-oks-short-term-rentals-brevard-nc/31836.html
Do we now have state law that limits restrictions local governments can place on short-term homestays?
Thanks, The Real World, for your comment. Another reader had also shared that link with me. My understanding is that some cities in North Carolina are currently evaluating the statute Brevard cited as central to its decision on STRs. Other portions of N.C. zoning law might support a broader interpretation of cities’ ability to regulate STRs as a land use.
It will be interesting to see whether Brevard’s decision is mentioned at Council’s discussion on April 25.
Does the HB2 Repeal Limit Zoning Authority? – Coates’ Canons
“House Bill 142—the HB2 repeal—includes a provision that prevents local governments from adopting or amending ordinances “regulating public accommodations” until December 2020. Does that mean a local government in North Carolina cannot amend a zoning ordinance relating to restaurants, hotels, or other places of public accommodation? Are property owners required to wait until December 2020 to request and obtain a commercial rezoning?
Very likely no. The language of House Bill 142 and common rules of statutory interpretation indicate that House Bill 142 is limited to matters of bathroom access, private employment practices, and nondiscrimination ordinances. As outlined below, it appears that House Bill 142 does not prevent conventional zoning ordinances or rezoning requests. ”
https://canons.sog.unc.edu/hb2-repeal-limit-zoning-authority/
STR’s are a conspiratorial diversion. Homelessness is cause by UNIT DENSITY LIMITS AND SINGLE FAMILY ZONING!!!!
There are lots of homes in Asheville where rooms are rented. Whether the homes are in single family zoned neighborhoods is irrelevant. They are being rented to individuals, room by room. Look for them Alan. They are all over the place.