Asheville City Council will consider writing a check for an additional $6 million to get some elements of the River Arts District infrastructure project up and running. Construction bids came in over 50 percent higher than expected, forcing the city to cut elements from the planned improvements and dig deep into its pocketbook. Council meets at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27 at City Hall.
Buncombe County will pledge $4.2 million toward the redevelopment of Lee Walker Heights and consider trying to completely run on renewable energy by 2027.
Taxes are going up as the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners signed off on a budget that includes a 2.6-cent property tax hike while lowering funding for some area nonprofits.
Asheville, NC
The Buncombe County Board of Adjustment approved all the projects on its agenda during its meeting on Wednesday, June 15. A proposed 221-unit apartment complex on Overlook Road was also officially postponed to next month’s meeting.
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.
Asheville, NC
Press release from Buncombe County Government: Asheville, NC At their June 9 special meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners named current Assistant County Manager/Health & Human Services Director Mandy Stone as the new County Manager to be effective July 1. Ms. Stone succeeds Wanda Greene who announced her intent to retire after 20 years […]
Several senior Asheville city staffers are serving in interim roles as the city scrambles to fill vacancies and get its $74 million bond referendum program projects off the ground.
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.
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.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners did not take any official action on the proposed budget during its meeting on Tuesday, June 6. But discussions revealed that a revenue-neutral property tax rate is not likely to happen.
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.
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.
Asheville, NC
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.