The proposed regulations would ban future short-term rentals, both whole-house and rentals within the owner’s primary residence, in unincorporated parts of Buncombe County unless they were located within commercial zones or in an open-use district, among other changes. Existing short-term rentals would not be impacted by the changes.
If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to learn more about local government and how you can help steer the ship, both the City of Asheville and Buncombe County applaud, encourage and welcome your interest.
Inside several specialty shops along the mile-and-a-half stretch from UNC Asheville to Beaver Lake, hawkers of shoes, homebrew equipment, crystals and haircuts continue to sell their wares and services, building community amid the slower traffic, and their opinions — like their specialties — vary widely.
“If you are weary of the high taxes, roads filled with potholes, cracked or absent sidewalks, having a skeleton police force and subpar schools, I hope you will be inspired to run for City Council.”
“City of Asheville, please give our pedestrian crosswalks a new paint job.”
“The City of Asheville should buy the garage and surrounding land, probably for pennies on the dollar if it is not already in bankruptcy court, and build a new Thomas Wolfe complex on the site, a parking garage already built.”
In her first move as facilitator, Vernisha Crawford implemented a more rigid meeting process designed to allow more commission members an opportunity to speak while keeping meetings on schedule, things the 25-member commission had struggled to do at times.
After 18 months of meetings and nearly $500,000 spent, Asheville’s reparations commission — tasked with making recommendations for restitution for generations of racial injustice — has now lost its second project manager in a year. Additionally, the commission is asking for more time to draft its final recommendations.
“I hope that the new urban forester and city arborist can work together to ensure that existing trees are maintained with quality of work in mind and that future trees are planted in a way that does not guarantee their demise.”
“I am in favor of a ‘Broadway-ready’ revamp, as you put it, and am willing to pay more in taxes for this to occur.”
“The Thomas Wolfe Auditorium is a huge asset to Asheville and deserves to be completely renovated.”
“I believe the same effect could be done in Asheville, and fees to ride the wheel would provide new jobs and funds for other civic improvements.”
“The TWA wasn’t, isn’t and will never be a first-class and deserving facility for ASO performances, no matter the extent of dollars and renovation.”
“The city must fill this position promptly for transparency and financial stewardship.”
“The drop in tourism should not alarm anyone.”
“The project motto has become: ‘The community builds a park; the park builds a community.'”
Compass Point Village, a renovated Days Inn motel on Tunnel Road, will provide one-room apartments and supportive services to 85 people, many of them considered to be chronically homeless.
“Congratulations! To the City of Asheville and all the others involved in deciding and implementing the changes that have turned Merrimon Avenue into a parking lot!”
“The public toilets and drinking water access points are exactly what our tax dollars should support. No excuses, Mayor Esther Manheimer!”
“Why not buy the finished ghost garage on the South Slope from troubled developers for pennies on the dollar and use the balance of the land for a new Thomas Wolfe?”
As part of an interlocal agreement, the City of Asheville will administer $875,000 in county funds, as well as an equal city match, to three area shelter providers for extra beds.
