Listed on Council’s agenda for Tuesday, March 22, is a presentation about Asheville’s “community cleanliness strategy.” The discussion comes two weeks after the Asheville Downtown Association released its annual survey, in which respondents gave the city’s core a 2.2 out of 5 in terms of cleanliness.
“Allowing elected board members to hear about staff work in advance of presentations at public meetings can help staff in many ways.”
“We the people need to be informed, but it is hard when they are having meetings by Zoom all the time.”
“Do we really believe that reducing open space in order to build more units per development will actually produce more affordable housing?”
A conditional zoning request for The Avery, a 187-unit housing development slated for 363 Hilliard Ave. in Asheville’s downtown, was denied by Asheville City Council in a Feb. 22 meeting. Two weeks later, Council approved the request after employing a rarely-used rule to rescind its prior decision.
Council will vote on whether to reconsider a previous vote denying a conditional zoning for the project. If approved, Council members will have the opportunity to vote again on an updated proposal.
In February, Asheville unveiled a plan to reduce the number of advisory groups from 20 to four. Each of those boards would be capped at 11 members, meaning the number of residents who serve in a regular advisory role would be cut by roughly 80%.
The project, located at 343 and 357 West Haywood St., will consist of affordable one-, two- and three-bedroom units available for residents of mixed income levels.
Members of the public wishing to speak live will be required to attend in-person and sign up at the meeting.
The bike taxi would be allowed to operate daily from 7 a.m.-3 a.m., serving streets with speed limits of 35 miles per hour or less.
Despite near-freezing temperatures and gusty winds the night of Jan. 25, Asheville city staff and volunteers trudged throughout Buncombe County with the goal of counting every homeless resident. Emily Ball, the city’s homeless services lead, will present an update on that effort, known as the Point in Time Count, to members of Asheville City Council Tuesday, Feb. 8.
“There are a lot of conversations that could have been had around this conversation that were limited — they were hindered, they were gaslit, they were triggered and electrified — just because bad information was released to the public,” said Vice Mayor Sheneika Smith.
“I feel that the City Council just dropped these people off in East Asheville to continue their downward spirals out of sight of downtown or the Montford area.”
The work was launched in response to Asheville’s passage of a climate emergency resolution in January 2020, which committed the city to “an equitable and just citywide mobilization effort to reverse global warming” and set 2030 as a target for eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions within city limits.
The lawsuit was brought by WNC Citizens for Equality, led by former Council member and Buncombe County Republican Party Chair Carl Mumpower, and charged that the scholarships excluded otherwise eligible applicants on the basis of race.
During a presentation, Capt. Mike Lamb of the Asheville Police Department cited data showing that 10% of overall crime in Asheville from Jan. 1, 2020 to Jan. 9, 2022 — including 14% of violent crime and 8.5% of property crime — occurred within 500 feet of an encampment.
“There is so much wrong with this reduction in green space that I am in horror that it is even being entertained here in Asheville.”
Asheville City Council will consider rezoning roughly 128 acres of property along South Tunnel Road, including the sites of the Asheville Mall and a Whole Foods, to Urban Place zoning.
“What a totally moronic waste of tax dollars and what an amazing example of bureaucratic stupidity.”
