Environmental advocates urged Asheville City Council to adopt a series of proposals to strengthen protections for Asheville’s urban forests.

Environmental advocates urged Asheville City Council to adopt a series of proposals to strengthen protections for Asheville’s urban forests.
Climate Change and Asheville’s Urban Forest, a symposium organized by Asheville GreenWorks for Thursday, Nov. 14, 5-7:30 p.m., brings together a broad coalition around the results of the city’s recently released canopy study. Urban forest advocates emphasize that trees are critical to help Asheville avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
The Council of Independent Business Owners has been called a lot of things over the years.
Few could argue that the nonprofit — whose members serve on such powerful public bodies as Asheville’s City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission, the Western North Carolina Regional Air Quality Agency’s board and the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners — lacks influence. But how far does it reach? And does the group still have the kind of impact that it did in the past?
Last week, development activist Steve Rasmussen released a report blasting the proposed Downtown Master Plan. Now Goody Clancy, the consultants behind the master plan, have fired back with their own report, asserting that the plan provides more public input, promotes smarter, greener growth and has substantial “teeth” to control development.
Asheville activist Steve Rasmussen has released a report critiquing the Downtown Master Plan draft, asserting that its enforcement powers on development issues are weak and that much control would be turned over to unelected boards to the benefit of developers.
Asheville’s Downtown Commission approved the demolition of the Hayes & Hopson Building by developer Stewart Coleman in a 7-2 vote on Dec. 12. The commission also recommended that any work at the site be postponed until an appeal resolves the legal status of an adjacent piece of parkland, which Coleman agreed to. Coleman’s controversial Parkside […]
Asheville’s Downtown Commission will vote Friday morning on the proposed demolition of the Hayes & Hopson building by developer Stewart Coleman. Activists are opposing the move, asserting that it would destroy the nearby magnolia tree as well as a historic building.
No one seems to know exactly how long the magnolia tree has graced City/County Plaza, a stone’s throw from the Asheville City Building. Based on old photos, most interested parties have guesstimated it to be more than 100 years old. Steve Rasmussen, Dixie Deerman And Clare Hanrahan Predicting the date of the magnolia’s demise entails […]