With nine people present in the echoing City Hall chamber, Council members on March 24 unanimously approved a consent agenda that granted Mayor Esther Manheimer broad emergency powers.
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With nine people present in the echoing City Hall chamber, Council members on March 24 unanimously approved a consent agenda that granted Mayor Esther Manheimer broad emergency powers.
One ordinance to be approved by Asheville City Council would grant Mayor Esther Manheimer the authority to proclaim any new regulations deemed “reasonably necessary to maintain order and protect lives or property during a state of emergency.”
Asheville City Council member Vijay Kapoor announced that he will resign his post to move to Pennsylvania this summer. Kapoor’s term was to have run through 2022.
Sixth time’s a charm? Asheville City Council approved new affordability conditions for the RAD Lofts mixed-used development slated for the city’s River Arts District, the latest in a string of conditional zoning amendments approved by Council since 2013.
During their meeting of Tuesday, March 10, Asheville City Council members will consider a $473,000 contract for emergency repairs at the North Fork Water Plant, the largest of the city’s three water treatment plants.
More Buncombe County voters — 81,887, or 41.79% of all eligible residents — took part in the primary elections that wrapped up March 3 than in any previous primary in the county’s history. Xpress outlines the winners and losers for levels of elected office from president to Asheville City Council.
Watch this space for the latest 2020 primary election results for Western North Carolina and commentary from the Mountain Xpress news team. The post will be updated regularly throughout the evening.
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
If Asheville City Council approves the annexation agreement, Fletcher officials will promise not to claim a 2-acre piece of unincorporated Buncombe County for 20 years, clearing the way for Asheville’s newest addition. The property’s current owner is seeking voluntary annexation by the city.
“I want to see her work and years of experience with building cooperatives, expanding access to affordable housing and supporting locally owned businesses gain more traction.”
In preparation for the March primary, Xpress sent questions to all candidates in contested races for their party’s nomination to various local and national offices. Responses from candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, N.C. General Assembly, Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and Asheville City Council are all collected here.
Asheville City Council will urge Congress to pass the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, which is aimed at reducing fossil fuel use by imposing a tax that would increase over time. Before the 6-1 vote approving the board’s resolution, with Council member Brian Haynes opposed, members of the public weighed in on whether imposing such a tax is the right step.
Asheville City Council will consider a number of items on its consent agenda for Tuesday, Feb. 11, including managing parking at the airport and setting a hotel development work session.
“The loss of life and damage caused by current global warming demonstrates that the Earth is already too hot for safety,” states the document approved by a 6-0 vote of Asheville City Council on Jan. 28. “Restoring a safe and stable climate requires an emergency climate mobilization on a scale not seen since World War II.”
Representatives from the Urban Land Institute shared their recommendations during a Jan. 30 community meeting to aim to help city officials manage hotel development in wake of the one-year hotel moratorium.
All nine Asheville City Council candidates shared their thoughts and ideas on everything from climate change to raising employee wages at the Asheville City Council Candidate Forum hosted by Mountain Xpress.
“I know him to be a man of integrity, honesty and candor. He neither spouts BS nor tolerates it from others.”
Candidates for Asheville City Council share their responses to the Mountain Xpress voter questionnaire in advance of the March 3 primary.
Some Council members were ready to put the peddle to the metal in the search for new transit system funding on Jan. 28. Not so Council member Vijay Kapoor, who convinced his peers to set the throttle to idle until the board’s next meeting, when the issue will be part of the formal agenda.
After months of disagreement, Asheville City Council is set to hear an updated climate emergency resolution produced jointly by the Sunrise Movement and the city’s Sustainability Advisory Committee on Energy and Environment during its Jan. 28 meeting.
Jessica Morriss, Asheville’s assistant director of transportation, explained that the higher costs were primarily driven by federally mandated door-to-door paratransit service for residents with disabilities. The remaining transit budget gap, she said, was due to higher-than-expected prices for fuel and electricity to power city buses.