It’s been nearly four weeks since City Council last met. Five zoning requests dominate the agenda for Council’s Sept. 6 meeting. Notably absent from the proceedings will be a public hearing on proposed standards for screening electrical substations, a zoning ordinance amendment that has already been postponed many times. Council has been asked to advance the hearing date on that matter to Jan. 10.
The die is cast: a $74 million bond referendum will appear on Asheville voters’ General Election ballots in November. What uses has the city proposed for the money and, if the referendum passes, how will that spending affect different parts of the city?
The Housing Authority of the City of Asheville learned on Monday that it won’t get nearly $17 million of tax credit financing to support the planned redevelopment of the Lee Walker Heights public housing community — at least not this year.
Buncombe County Commissioners approved a rent restructuring for Eagle Market Place that will allow 30 of the 62 units to transition from affordable to work force housing. Developers say the move is necessary to secure funding needed to get the stalled project moving forward again.
Through two discussion sessions and a survey on its online public input platform, the city of Asheville is soliciting feedback on strategies to increase housing density and, it hopes, ease the city’s housing crisis.
Short-term rental issues returned to Council chambers as the city’s elected officials considered allowing the use of accessory units for homestays. While Council decided not to approve the proposed expansion of the homestay program, it will appoint a task force to study the issue and make recommendations.
At its April 26 meeting, City Council approved a rezoning request and committed $4.2 million in city funds to allow the Lee Walker Heights redevelopment project to move forward. Council also approved a Memorandum of Understanding with Duke Energy which gives the city the option to purchase the former Matthews Ford property adjacent to Lee Walker Heights at any time over the next eight years.
By Andrea Golden Dulce Lomita Mobile Home Cooperative began in June 2013 with the purchase of a six-unit mobile home park in the Emma neighborhood. Members of the cooperative, who had been renting mobile homes in and around the area, created the cooperative as an opportunity for our families for first-time homeownership. But we also […]
Prior to the Tuesday, Jan. 19 Buncombe County Commissioners’ retreat, staff in various departments sat down and took a good look at the county’s priorities, coming up with ideas and alternatives of how to accomplish these goals in 2016 (and beyond).
The agenda for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ Tuesday, Jan. 19 retreat reads like a year in review: affordable housing, zoning actions, greenway projects, waste reduction and encouraging employers to pay a living wage.
Although chronic homelessness has been curtailed substantially since 2005, the combination of a severe economic downturn, an acute shortage of affordable housing and the rising cost of living has hindered the overall progress in eradicating homelessness. Despite those setbacks, partners in the project are forging ahead with new initiatives to combat housing insecurity and ensure that those in need of shelter get it.
Members of the Be Loved Community, formerly homeless residents of Asheville and several city council members gathered outside of City Hall prior to City Council’s weekly meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 8, to listen to firsthand accounts of homelessness, voice support for the city’s affordable housing initiatives and encourage members of the Asheville community to stand […]
In its latest efforts to increase the availability of affordable housing, the nonprofit organization Mountain Housing Opportunities hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and gift registry drive Thursday evening at its brand new apartment complex, The Villas at Fallen Spruce Apartments, just off New Leicester Highway. MHO staff, partner organizations, sponsors, local and state government officials were […]
“This is a crisis of epic sadness that a city that supports tourism is not willing to support its residents!”
“Our teachers should make enough money to afford a decent place to live on their own and shouldn’t be charity cases reliant upon nonprofits to make ends meet. “
“If only 1 cent of every room tax was contributed to the Home Trust Fund, we would collect $1.8 million dollars per year! Think about what a difference that would make to our housing shortage!”
“There are no one-size-fits-all solutions in planning: Each place is very different,” says Todd Okolichany, who began work as Asheville’s new planning director Sept. 8. “That’s a key value for me as a planner: recognizing the differences and uniqueness of each place.” Okolichany, 36, comes to Asheville from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he was principal […]
