City Council to take steps on expanding Homestays, planning for park

In its first full meeting since three newly-elected Council members were seated, City Council moved in new directions on a public space for a city-owned lot on Haywood Street and on including some accessory dwelling units in the city’s homestay ordinance for short-term rentals. Council also considered downtown development review standards and passed a resolution on the I-26 connector project.

City Council to take fresh look at downtown developmen­t

With four cranes silhouetted against the skyline, construction fencing blocking sidewalks and hundreds of construction workers on the job every day, downtown Asheville is buzzing with development activity. Despite the blazing pace of new construction, City Council has reviewed only four downtown projects since 2010. At its Dec. 8 meeting, City Council will reconsider the thresholds that trigger Council review.

A plan for everything

Late last month, Asheville City Council passed the Haywood Road Vision Plan, a years-long effort by community members and city staff to outline the future of the corridor. It’s not a one-time event either: Such plans for different areas of the city are a main way city leaders hope to shape the Asheville of tomorrow, and it’s a plan they want to extend to more neighborhoods. Sometimes, however, these plans can also prove controversial.

Asheville City Council

Council still not ready for tethering ban Mumpower pitches his own solution to water stalemate Going into the Asheville City Council’s May 26 meeting, the big question was what sort of reception Council would give the long-awaited Downtown Master Plan. The team from consulting firm Goody Clancy had presented its work to Council members on […]

Taking care of BIDness

When the draft Downtown Master Plan lands on Asheville City Council members’ desks sometime this spring, it will include at least one controversial recommendation by consultants Goody Clancy: that the city form an independent management entity to oversee certain public services traditionally provided by city government. Both the management entity and the services rendered would […]

Try this on for size

Several high-profile downtown buildings and proposed projects wouldn’t meet the standards spelled out in the draft Downtown Master Plan, a city planner told members of the Downtown Commission and the Downtown Master Plan Advisory Committee. In a Feb. 5 presentation, Urban Planner Alan Glines reviewed a short list of downtown structures’ level of conformity to […]

Asheville Downtown Master Plan

This draft of Asheville’s Downtown Master Plan will be officially unveiled at a Jan. 12, 2009, meeting of the Downtown Master Plan Advisory Committee. Drawn up by Massachusetts-based consulting firm Goody Clancy at a cost of $170,000 in taxpayers’ money, the plan and the process of developing it have at times been controversial. The roll-out […]