Regarding the Parkside condos, City Council and the county commissioners should consider the following:
• Selling land donated to the public is bad precedent.
• The sale process and vote are both highly suspect.
• The folks who put the jail behind the Courthouse still rue that decision.
• The UDO process has been tweaked in such a way that it removes City Council review from all but big-box structures and conditional-use permits—which is why Staples on Merrimon Avenue had no Council accountability and no public input. With two less levels and a parking reduction, Parkside’s developer has further insulted the city and the public he so arrogantly dismisses by circumventing the intent of the process.
• The back of the Parkside building cuts off the connection to an historic church and the Eagle-Market Street Historic District, which the city has worked to help revive economically and culturally, and makes that wonderful neighborhood the backdrop for delivery trucks and parking for Parkside residents.
• The building would be fine elsewhere, but all wrong where proposed, as it would close in and overshadow our lovely park, which isn’t nearly as wide as Central Park.
Council and the commissioners should find it in their collective conscience to undo this mess and not have Parkside overshadow their individual legacies.
— Leni Sitnick
Asheville
Asheville needs the housing that desperatly. Parks, and highways, displace housing and raise rents.
Coleman should never compromise on height because such compromise causes sprawl and destroys the environment.
Hey alan,
How about you invite all the homeless people to your land?
I did. Too far from the soup kitchen.
We have a real need for more suburban and rural soup kitchens. Closer to woods in which homeless people can hide and camp.