“We trade an isolated E. coli spike into a polluted, imperiled stream for the destruction of a watershed.”
Tag: development
Showing 85-105 of 300 results
Letter: Asheville will need to remake itself
“Will Asheville, the city I fell in love with, recover in time to prevent irreparable damage?”
Readers shared views on development, politics, the environment and more in 2019
How did Xpress readers process all the local news and changes this year? Here’s a look at the topics that generated the most commentaries, letters to the editor and online comments in Xpress in 2019.
Elitism and scapegoating won’t solve Asheville’s congestion, affordable housing and sprawl
“Housing is in short supply and unaffordable. Rather than take an honest and comprehensive look at the issues, barriers and contributors to the problems, however, we in Asheville have smugly chosen the easy way out.”
Letter: Transplant counters ‘Dissatisfied’ view
“In fairy tales perhaps, evil outsiders raise their own rent, but in reality, rents are set by local property owners and local real estate developers.”
Letter: The dissatisfied move in
“The creativity of our small city enthralled the people from the North and South. But soon the starving artists had to move away themselves because they no longer could live here.”
Letter: Greed, corruption and the decline of Asheville
“Low wages, corporate landlords, lack of rent control, high prices, brutal traffic, the fake homeless, street crime and white collar crime have all combined to make Asheville an increasingly undesirable place in which to call home.”
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ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Letter: City should act to save urban trees
“Eight percent of our urban forest — all the trees in Asheville — were lost in the past 10 years.”
Giant sucking sound
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Letter: Info lacking in North Asheville development plans
” I would ask for plan transparency, some preservation of the environment and safety for pre-existing homeowners. So far we know nothing.”
UPDATED: Vegas developer asks for changes to county law for ridgetop resort
A Vegas-based developer wants to build a resort in the mountains outside Asheville. To do so, he would need commissioners to amend Buncombe County’s zoning ordinance. Staff in the county planning department have recommended that commissioners reject the changes.
Council selects Debra Campbell as new Asheville city manager
“Oh happy day,” proclaimed Council member Sheneika Smith after the unanimous appointment vote for the city’s most powerful unelected official. “As an organization, as a city, and even the county is rejoicing today.”
NIMBY Town: Conservative progressives hold Asheville back
“Asheville can become a gilded city, where locals drink from gold-plated reusable straws and feel good about themselves, or it can strive toward a more inclusive vision.”
Letter: Ahoj to Dobra Tea in Black Mountain
“The point is that all of the unique, lovely, authentic spaces in this town are rapidly being snatched up and turned into something ubiquitous, bland and elitist.”
Letter: Don’t negate Asheville’s mountain charm
“Before the project proposal goes to the City Council, I implore Asheville Planning and Zoning to decline the 104-foot height variation from the existing 80-foot code.”
Letter: Developers, breweries and hoteliers come first
“So in the name of progress, neighborhoods are being displaced, communities’ concerns are being ignored, and the people charged to serve the greater good have given over to the avarice of so-called ‘progress.'”
Letter: No rhyme or reason to development approvals
“I can’t help but wonder why they would say no to the East Asheville development but approve a another development that mirrors it in so many ways …”
Asheville City Council, Buncombe Commissioners discuss racial equity, development in joint meeting
2018’s annual joint meeting of Asheville City Council and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners highlighted issues of racial equity, police use-of-force and zoning conflicts affecting Buncombe residents.
Letter: More to the story of development approval
“While affordable housing is important, shoving developments through in a covert manner is not the way to present new housing solutions to the community at large.”
Letter: Apartment complex approval highlights need for land-use planning
“The ordinances, as they stand today, are written in such a way that any developer can easily take advantage and get approved with guidelines that are shortsighted for today’s standards and sustainability plan.”