Council appoints planning commission members; will reconvene on water issue Thursday

It was a lengthy session for Asheville City Council on Aug. 28, and it’s not technically over: Council will reconvene Thursday, Aug. 30, at 4 p.m. to discuss changing the language of the water system referendum. At Tuesday’s meeting, Council appointed Joe Minicozzi and Holly Shriner to the powerful Planning and Zoning commission, among many other matters.

City will go forward with referendum on water system transfer

At a worksession this afternoon, July 30, Asheville City Council directed staff to craft a referendum for November’s ballot asking voters to weigh in on a possible transfer of the Asheville water system to the Metropolitan Sewerage District. The city is also communicating with MSD, studying the financial impacts of a merger and trying to arrange a meeting with local legislators. (photo by Max Cooper)

Can the Basilica be trusted to build a park?

Over the past few months there have been several letters objecting to the proposed hotel on Haywood Street across from the Basilica. I wonder if anyone remembers the particularly awful building called the education annex that the church itself built right across the street in its direct sightline. When they tore it down, it did […]

Mind the crack!

Now that a crack has been discovered in the dome of St. Lawrence Basilica, we know that heavy construction in the area is likely to bring down the wonderful Guastavino tiles, and perhaps the dome with it. We don't need another hotel near one of Asheville's most famous attractions. City Council member Cecil Bothwell is […]

Don’t destroy what makes Asheville great

It seems the city of Asheville is determined to destroy what makes it great. By giving power to rich landowners in downtown to decide the fate of downtown instead of small-business owners who make Asheville a great destination. And now they would allow a large corporate hotel in our downtown right across the street from […]

Lots of vacation time?

The BID program proposes a staff of 14 employees to cover the downtown business district. What will these 14 employees be doing the three to four winter months when there are few visitors to Asheville downtown? In addition to the slack time in winter, during the rest of the year downtown is busy from Wednesday […]

Moving pictures

June 26 meeting Ingles sign variance voted down Tobacco sponsorships banned from future festivals Staff studies aren't usually particularly controversial. But a proposed traffic-engineering study for the Charlotte Street corridor got some pushback at the Asheville City Council’s June 26 meeting. Some area residents said the $50,000 study is an unnecessary expense — and the […]