At tonight’s Asheville City Council meeting, two extremely controversial topics — a vote on a Business Improvement District and breaking a budget deadlock — are before the city’s elected leaders. If that wasn’t enough, there are also votes on incentives for a south Asheville housing development and New Belgium’s brewery.
Tag: Affordable housing
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Educated, high rent, low pay: an economic snapshot of Buncombe
The NC Justice Center has released economic “snapshots” of North Carolina’s 100 counties. The data for Buncombe Count reveals an area with an educated populace and low unemployment, but struggling with affordability and low wages.
Food and shelter
Asheville City Council Jan. 10, 2012 meeting Charlotte Diocese offers $2 million for downtown property City considers permits for Occupy Asheville campers In a short but busy Jan. 10 session, Asheville City Council members approved a number of changes to the Unified Development Ordinance. One took center stage: allowing fresh-food markets in residential areas. The […]
Council signs off on more fresh food markets, affordable housing loans
In a shorter-than-usual Asheville City Council meeting, fresh food markets in residential neighborhoods got the go-ahead, as did over $400,000 in affordable housing trust fund loans to two projects. (Photo by Bill Rhodes)
Asheville City Council — And the kitchen sink…
It’s a particularly eclectic meeting tonight for Asheville City Council, with matters including a proclamation recognizing LGBT History Month, an update on the re-opened Hillcrest Bridge, expanding the power of the planning commission, establishing an Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and transferring housing investigations to the NC Human Rights Commission. For live coverage, follow @DavidForbes on Twitter with #avlgov.
“Ashemart” rules deny citizens’ right to be heard
Bill Branyon’s [Jan. 5] commentary, “Welcome to Ashemart” thrashes on a denial of citizen rights that is not new to Asheville. Asheville City Council seems to be embarked on a systematic policy to deny redress to the people who elected it. Last fall, City Council voted to adopt the “Sustainable Development” amendment to the Unified […]
Buncombe County Commissioners: Crumbling walls, affordable housing, new parks and more
Here’s a summary of this evening’s Jan. 4 meeting of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners.
The life you save has to be your own
I am writing regarding the letter "’Workforce Housing’ Leaves Most Workers in the Cold" [Dec. 8 Xpress]. Josh Mallernee mentioned that he is a city worker making less than $30,000 a year and that at that rate it is harder to find affordable housing to match. If you can't afford your rent, either find a […]
“Workforce housing” leaves most workers in the cold
An article in the Nov. 24 Mountain Xpress [“Not Ready for Prime Time”] mentioned affordable housing as “workforce” housing and described such jobs as police officers, nurses, teachers and other workers. According to the article, affordable housing was based on 30 percent of the workers’ annual household income. There were examples of pricing at the […]
To comply with zoning rules, three residents will leave Montford home
To avoid fines, Bernard Carman, a Montford landowner involved in a dispute over city zoning rules that prohibit more than five unrelated tenants from living in his eight-bedroom house, says three tenants are leaving in order to comply with the rules.
Photo by Jonathan Welch
Stealthy green
From the outside, it’s not obvious what’s so special about 372 Depot, a new mixed-use development in Asheville’s River Arts District. Sited on a former brownfield, the 90,000-square-foot brick structure seems like just another new building with street-level retail space and apartments above. In fact, this innovative project represents a number of significant firsts for […]
Asheville City Council Meeting: Live Twitter Coverage
Asheville City Council meets tonight at 5 p.m. on the second floor of City Hall — and our senior reporter, David Forbes, will be there in the front row bringing it to you live as it happens on the Twitter. Get all the latest goings-on by following @DavidForbes, by using the hashtag #avlgov, or by clicking through to the next page where you’ll see a live Twitter feed.
Asheville City Council preview: Deja vu edition
One might be forgiven for feeling like they’ve been here before when looking at the agenda for Asheville City Council’s Oct. 26 meeting. The major items — new rules for cellphone towers, an annexation, incentives for Montford Commons and incentives for sustainable and affordable housing — have all been before Council during the last few months.
Asheville City Council preview: housing, security and annexation
At its meeting tomorrow, Aug. 10, Asheville City Council will take up the sale of city property to Habitat for Humanity, a security contract for its parks and proceeding with the annexation of over 700 people.
Proposed ordinance triggers fight over a sustainable Asheville
A proposed ordinance that would allow considerably more density — and faster approval — for green, affordable development saw a reversal last week when the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted it down 3-2 and recommended a scaled-down version instead. The rules triggered a debate about exactly how Asheville will pursue the oft-touted goal of sustainability.
Asheville City Council preview: Larchmont and URTV
At its meeting tomorrow, Asheville City Council is set to vote on the controversial Larchmont affordable-housing development and on renewing URTV’s agreement for one year. The city’s budget woes are (again) another topic that Council will tackle.
Asheville Planning and Zoning Commission approves Larchmont Project
Planning and Zoning met March 3 and heard from numerous community members before voting to approve the Larchmont Project off Merrimon Avenue, at the site of the former U.S. Navy Reserve office.
Buncombe Commissioners
Commissioners approve $1.8 million for conservation easements Affordable-housing development wins initial approval At the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Oct. 7 meeting, the news wasn’t just what happened but what didn’t. The commissioners chose to delay action on three major items: the long-overdue appointment of new members to the powerful county Planning Board, a controversial […]
Buncombe Commissioners
Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Oct. 7 meeting
Asheville City Council
Quiet zones for trains not ready for prime time Glen Rock afforable-housing complex gets more loans Mentoring program seeks budget love It was branded both a last resort and a first step, but the Asheville City Council’s condemnation of Buncombe County’s sale of public parkland adjacent to City Hall nonetheless got the votes of all […]
Buncombe County Commissioners
After hearing pleas from representatives of local manufacturers, Mission Hospitals and the school system, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a work-force housing plan at their April 15 meeting that could provide up to $5,000 per unit in county-backed loans to developers. Developers who build 100 or more apartment or condo units or […]