Commissioners ponder $317 million budget Residents decry proposed land-disturbance rules Buncombe County’s economy remains in better shape than those of many other areas, County Manager Wanda Greene reported at the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners at their May 20 meeting. But rising costs, unemployment, foreclosures and a contracting housing market will create some challenges—about $6.9 […]
Tag: development
Showing 274-294 of 295 results
The writing on the wall
The man came to me, explaining with unassailable logic why, in the face of a tax revaluation that threatened to tear the communities of Jackson County apart, his quiet community by the river would be safe from the proposed 4,000-acre development of golf courses and mountain mansions. “Two percent of the people in this country […]
Asheville City Council
Asheville City Council member Robin Cape says she wasn’t trying to pour gasoline on the fire when she asked for a Council discussion on the idea of a moratorium on downtown development. She just wanted to hear options from the city attorney and perhaps gauge where her fellow Council members stood on the matter. But […]
Buncombe County Commissioners
The item wasn’t even on the agenda, but at their March 25 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners got an earful from residents of the Mills Gap Road area, adjacent to the contaminated CTS industrial site. The residents had come out in force to oppose a proposed rezoning of land near the site, but […]
Shock ‘n’ awful
According to Asheville’s Building Safety Department, City Council last year authorized almost double—double—the already astronomical dollar value of development that occurred in 2006! Our progressive Council has left a carbon footprint on our beautiful mountains that would make Halliburton blush with environmental embarrassment. How many oxygen-making trees have been permanently displaced by inert impermeables? Thousands? […]
Clean clear through
When elected officials conduct their business in the sunshine of public scrutiny, their constituents can have full faith and trust that the decisions made are aboveboard, well-considered and in the best interest of the general public. At the local level, maximizing the public’s access to government empowers communities and builds leaders. Over the last couple […]
What if they had a conference and no speakers came?
Ah, Asheville. Add another feather to her urban-mecca cap: a two-day national convocation on Urban Environmental Design for Community Sustainability, coming to the Asheville Civic Center on March 19 and 20. The conference will be carried out using the nontraditional “Open Space Technology” method of individual participation, with self-organizing groups and fast-paced, consensus-based solutions—doing away […]
Asheville wants to pick your brain
Asheville City Council has invited residents to a public information open house on Thursday, Sept. 6, from 5 to 7 p.m., at the City Public Works Building. On the agenda: a chance to provide input about the sites listed in the city-owned property initiative, including desired outcomes for each site.
Ellington gets thumbs up from P&Z
The Ellington Hotel, a 23-story “boutique” hotel proposed for a site fronting on Biltmore Avenue, Aston Place and South Lexington Avenue, received unanimous approval from the city of Asheville’s Planning and Zoning Commission at its meeting Wednesday night.
Vibrant city or “bumpy Charlotte?”
Predictions: • A larger, denser downtown with taller buildings • Outlying urban “clusters” in Woodfin, Biltmore Park, Waynesville and other areas • Viable mass transit—or huge traffic problems It’s hard to live in Asheville without confronting development. In one form or another, it seems to be a concern to folks across the political spectrum as […]
“Village of Penland” real-estate scheme examined by Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal has highlighted the ill fate of a plan by a Spruce Pine real-estate developer.
Deal Buick property plans reviewed, debated
The third in a series of community meetings called by developers concerning the eight-acre parcel on Merrimon Avenue formerly occupied by Deal Buick property was held July 12. Despite a prior pledge to go back to the drawing board, new drawings presented at the gathering appeared to include no changes to previous plans.
Two high-rise buildings slated for Deal Buick property
Developer Chris Peterson has revealed architect’s plans for two 12-to-13-story buildings on the property formerly occupied by Deal Buick on Merrimon Avenue in Asheville.
Biltmore Lake developer buys Haywood Park Hotel
Tony Fraga, developer of Main Street at Biltmore Lake, has purchased the Haywood Park Hotel, the Starnes Building, the Haywood Atrium and the associated parking deck from Joe Kimmel for $18.5 million. Fraga said that the Haywood Park properties would be the geographic and figurative centerpiece of his development efforts in Asheville.
Jackson County moves forward with development regulations
In the fourth month of its five-month subdivision moratorium, Jackson County has begun public hearings on its newly drafted proposals for subdivision regulation.
An airport runs through it
Robert Branberg, of Anderson, S.C., recently discovered that he is part-owner of a jetport in Madison County, or rather, he owns part of a jetport. Specifically, he appears to hold title to a hundred feet or so of the middle of a runway.
Weaverville trailer owners helped by developer
Weaverville First, an activist group formed in response to development plans that will displace residents in the Mountain Terrace trailer park, announced this week that they have secured substantial funding from Harris, Murr and Vermillion, developers of the project. The trailer park is located on part of an 85-acre parcel slated for North Ridge Common which will include a Wal-Mart and a Lowes building-materials store.
CIBO TV ad sparks more development debate
Local development debates are drawing creative responses from several quarters. A Council of Independent Business Owners TV ad is one of the latest salvos.
Public hearing set on development moratorium for Jackson County
Hearing groans from both citizens and the county’s infrastructure, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners is holding a public hearing Feb. 27 on a proposed, six-month subdivision moratorium.
Mountain Voices Alliance looks at Fairview development
Mountain Voices Alliance will offer a community forum on development issues in southeast Buncombe County at the Fairview Community Center on Saturday, Feb. 10, from 10 a.m. to noon.
A road less trammeled
With a laugh, Shuford feigned surprise that the Staples office-supply building swept the voting among bad examples. The good, the good-or-bad and the ugly: The Atlanta Bread Company and the Medicine Shoppe topped a recent poll of Merrimon-area residents for best design, while CVS Pharmacy and the Medicine Shoppe finished first and second in the […]