“This proposal to deregulate developers within city limits is dressed up with idealistic-sounding justifications like providing affordable housing, improving flooding and fighting sprawl.”
Tag: Asheville City Council
Showing 169-189 of 1662 results
WTF: Land use incentive grants
Better known as LUIG, the initiative aims to entice developers to include affordable units in their projects by offering property tax rebates. Asheville City Council is next slated to consider such a grant Tuesday, July 26, for a 186-unit development on Long Shoals Road.
Letter: Thumbs-down on monument ideas
“Notwithstanding the pontifications of the City Council and their attorney, the Vance Monument was a gift to the people of Asheville, largely paid for by Vance’s friend George Willis Pack, on property donated by Pack on the condition that it be retained forever.”
Letter: Open-space protections under threat
“This is effectively a giveaway to developers under the guise of providing affordable housing.”
WENOCA chapter endorsements are an environmental disgrace
“So I urge all voters to undertake the due diligence that will enable them to see through the environmentally destructive charade for which the Sierra Club is providing political cover.”
Council approves $217 million Asheville budget
The approved budget more than $30.1 million for the Asheville Police Department, $500,000 for the city’s reparations fund, $108,000 to create an urban forester position and $300,000 to increase full-time employee salaries, among other items.
Council to return to City Hall June 28
More than two years have passed since Asheville City Council last held a regular meeting at the downtown art deco building.
Letter: Put historic monument back up
“Put the historic monument back up and remove the Vance name and then install the names of people who made Asheville what it was.”
Letter: Rebuilding Jones Park Playground
“If the city can maintain a baseball field at an annual cost of $25,000, used almost exclusively by boys paying to play in organized sports leagues, I sincerely hope we can fund the maintenance of a rebuilt Jones Park Playground.”
Council approves grant for downtown microhousing
Of 80 microhousing units, 16 would be designated as affordable for people earning at or below 80% of the area median income. However, developer David Moritz confirmed that market-price rent for all of the project’s units would be about $1,000 including utilities, meaning that the city-subsidized units would not immediately be cheaper for their tenants.
Council considers grant for Hilliard microhousing development
According to planning documents submitted with the city, the units will be no larger than 250 square feet.
Letter: The ‘story’ Pack Square could tell
“The final piece in the ‘anywhere USA aesthetic’ has concluded with the dismantling of a time capsule dressed in ancient Egyptian fashion at Pack Square, done with such haste it’s partial and in legal limbo.”
Ten things to know about Asheville’s proposed budget
Asheville City Council will hold a hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2022-23 budget during its 5 p.m. regular meeting Tuesday, June 14. In anticipation of that hearing, Xpress has pulled 10 noteworthy takeaways from the 112-page document.
Five takeaways from Buncombe’s 2022 primaries
The Buncombe County Board of Elections won’t officially certify the results until Friday, May 27, and the N.C. Board of Elections will issue its own certification Thursday, June 9. But even with those steps still to come, there’s plenty to learn from the unofficial results.
Council to consider rezoning for Patton Avenue Ingles
During their meeting of Tuesday, May 24, members of Asheville City Council will consider a conditional zoning request that would allow Ingles Markets to construct a grocery store, gas station and other retail space on the 14.45-acre site of a former Kmart.
Letter: Council should demand revisions to open space rules
“I hope that the City Council will send this amendment back for revisions to remove the ‘giveaways,’ along with revisions to the fee-in-lieu amount to make it harder for developers to throw money as a solution to loss of a livable Asheville.”
Letter: Saving the city’s participatory democracy
“We believe that this extreme attempt at dismantling this worthwhile system … will result in a less inclusive, less transparent, top-down form of governance that’s not in the public’s best interest.”
City of Asheville development boards
Three governmental bodies are critical to the fate of large-scale development in the city: Asheville City Council, the Design Review Committee and the Planning and Zoning Commission. Find out more about what each group does and how to weigh in on its decisions.
City of Asheville development process
Learn more about the different types of development projects in the city of Asheville and how local government reviews each of them.
Letter: Ullman will bring people together
“Maggie’s campaign is focusing on the things that matter to everyone: affordable housing, a livable city and core city services.”
Letter: Tovish cares about transparency
“Her personal integrity is impeccable. This matters, after recent massive corruption and cover-up of corruption at the county level have reminded us that our area is not immune to such evils.”