Don’t let Parkside happen

How can public land be sold to a private developer without any citizen input of any kind? This land is part of the George Pack legacy that clearly stipulated that this space would be held in the public trust as a park in perpetuity.

I urge City Council to reject the Parkside condo proposal. It is the wrong building in the wrong location. How can we, in good conscience, create what would become a huge barrier between the public, civic center and our African-American community? The rear of this proposed condo would be directly across the street from the historic Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, fully exposed to service vehicles including regular garbage pickup. In addition to this racial divide, this high-rise would powerfully encroach upon our exquisite City Hall, the crown jewel of our civic-center area.

I feel that this land sale by the county to Stewart Coleman was not only a gross error in judgment, but was also done as a backroom deal, behind the backs of county voters and residents who were denied a voice in deciding this action.

— Max Poppers
Asheville

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Webmaster
Mountain Xpress Webmaster Follow me @MXWebTeam

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

One thought on “Don’t let Parkside happen

  1. lokel

    Mr Poppers,

    Have you, or anyone else gone down to that street and looked at what is there, across from the Church,
    now?

    A series of run down buildings that used to be part of the police station, and now house the probation department of the Buncombe County Court system.

    But, wait, even that is not DIRECTLY across the street from the Church. If one goes to Google Maps and does a search, it reveals that in fact, there is a City/County parking lot across the street form the location, and in no rendering I’ve seen does it illustrate that the new Parkside Building will abut to the street opposite this Church.

    So what is the reality here?

    Again Express, lets do some reporting on the exact lay of the land in this issue.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.