Parking on downtown Asheville’s southside could become much easier in the near future. While County Commissioners were approving plans for a 650-space parking deck on county-owned land along Coxe Avenue at their Sept. 16 meeting, City Council members gave an informal OK to a proposed mixed-use development on Biltmore Avenue that would add an additional 437 hourly and monthly spaces.
Buses may get bigger ads City to partner with Chamber on tourist signs Sometimes you have to be content to go to Raleigh with the resolution you have, not the one you want. That’s what happened on Aug. 10, when Leicester residents came before the Asheville City Council for the third time, seeking its endorsement […]
City Council will get an update on a possible solution to parking woes on Biltmore Avenue at its Sept. 16 work session.
While Stewart Coleman‘s controversial Parkside condominium project remains in flux pending a court decision, City Council on Aug. 26 took action on another piece of property behind Coleman’s that could one day become the site for a mixed-use development, the centerpiece of which would be a long-sought state-of-the-art performing-arts center.
Highlights from the August 19 work session.
Council faces a jam-packed agenda with items ranging from the mundane to the much-debated, including two matters likely to capture special attention: a request to facilitate Parkside’s construction and preliminary plans for a performing-arts center just off City/County Plaza.
The extensive resistance to building right on top of the disputed magnolia tree in City/County Plaza proves there’s still plenty of vitality in Asheville’s old democratic bones. Many usually apolitical people have joined the fight, saying something like, “This is the last straw.” But the last straw in what? If the magnolia could speak, I […]
The city of Asheville lost another round Tuesday in its legal quest to gain control of the city water system’s rates and revenues.
Council will hears about the water supply, I-26 and the transit system.
A small group of people in the Swannanoa Valley are proposing to form an incorporated township. But after listening to their reasoning, I’ve heard nothing to justify this. I have a personal reason for opposing incorporation. I came to the Swannanoa Valley in 1958 to work at Kearfott in Black Mountain. In 1959, I bought […]
City green-lights Civic Center roof replacement Some gated communities can expand City to help fund water hookups for affordable/green housing Through snow and rain and heat and gloom of night … it leaked. Over the years, the Asheville Civic Center’s roof—probably the ailing facility’s No. 1 structural woe—has gotten less than glowing press. Celebrities have […]
Pack Square Park on track Horizons urban-village project delayed As protesters massed outside City Hall on July 15, developer Stewart Coleman told Asheville City Council members about his plans for the controversial Parkside condominium project. It was the first time Coleman had appeared before Council to discuss the project. Slated for the south side of […]
As protesters massed outside City Hall on July 15, developer Stewart Coleman told Asheville City Council members about his plans for the controversial Parkside condominium project.
At its Tuesday informal work session, Asheville City Council reiterated it would like to see the county buy back land at City/County Plaza it sold to developer Stewart Coleman for his controversial Parkside condominium project.
Early on in my life, someone told me that there was no problem that couldn’t be solved if you asked the right questions. That advice has come to mind when evaluating what to do about the Parkside condominium project. Anytime a subject so controversial and divisive faces the community, I think we are all torn […]
At its July 15 work session, City Council will discuss a host of controversial topics, including the Parkside development.
Council members debate scheduled raises City accepts parkland donation With its budget-writing chores nearly done, Asheville City Council members spent the bulk of their brief June 17 work session addressing odds and ends. Most of the conversation centered on how best to tackle the city’s youth gangs. Sign of the times: In this file photo, […]
Council members debate scheduled raises, City accepts parkland donation
Despite changing plans twice to avoid a vote before Asheville City Council or the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, the controversial Parkside project will still need city and county approval for road and emergency-services easements.
Council is heading into the budget-writing homestretch.
Developer Stewart Coleman apparently thinks to use a legal loophole to do an end run around public and City Council opposition to his proposed Parkside condos adjacent to City Hall. Here’s what’s wrong with this picture: Aside from the litany of serious problems with his plans, citizen scrutiny of Parkside this past year has exposed […]
