Communicat­ion breakdown: city staff called to account for edible park miscues

City staff were called to account for a communication failure that led to the removal of mature fruit trees at George Washington Carver Edible Park last month. City Council approved a land use incentive grant for affordable housing on Simpson Street, amended the process for requesting a variance from the city’s signage ordinance and approved modest changes to the rules that govern downtown street performances.

New busker regulation­s up for Council’s considerat­ion at Oct. 25 meeting

On Tuesday, Oct. 25, Asheville City Council will consider new rules that would limit acoustic performances in two of the city’s most popular busking areas, the sidewalk on Haywood Street in front of Woolworth Walk and the Flat Iron at Battery Park Avenue and Wall Street. Also: a grant to support affordable housing development on Simpson Street and a change to the city’s signage ordinance.

Man with a plan: Okolichany takes the helm as Asheville’­s planning director

“There are no one-size-fits-all solutions in planning: Each place is very different,” says Todd Okolichany, who began work as Asheville’s new planning director Sept. 8. “That’s a key value for me as a planner: recognizing the differences and uniqueness of each place.” Okolichany, 36, comes to Asheville from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where he was principal […]

Don’t throw buskers under the bus

As the city considers different ideas for the proposed “enhancement” of downtown (see the 2014 Downtown Enhancement Plan at avl.mx/0gw), please don’t throw buskers under the bus. Many of Asheville’s creative community — not only musicians but artists of all kinds — depend on street performance as part of their livelihood. Visitors and locals experience the street […]

Local documentar­y “Buskin’ Blues” premieres

by Paul Clark The biggest challenge to making a movie about the busking scene in downtown Asheville, says Erin Derham, was knowing when to stop. New buskers cycled through town all summer, giving the filmmaker endless possibilities to flesh out her story on the subculture these musicians inhabit. Super-organized and deadline-oriented, Derham gave herself six months […]