Asheville – Cohen-Esrey received approval to construct 141 units of senior housing at 157 New Leicester Highway. To do so, they applied for Land Use Incentive Grants (LUIG) from the City of Asheville. Having scored 80 points for rent-controlling 20% of the units for 30 years, accepting housing vouchers for at least 15% of the units, housing one person from the Homeless by Name list, superior locational efficiency, energy efficiency, green building certification, and handicap accessibility, the developers will now enjoy 16 years without paying increased property taxes. This amounts to about $1,688,299,
The concessions, however, were not enough for Councilwoman Kim Roney, who first stayed true to her commitment to ask all developers coming before council about redesigning their projects to accommodate more renewable energy features. Secondly, she wanted a bus stop and sidewalk access. The developer doesn’t have to build a sidewalk into the hill in front of the property because the city committed long ago to doing that, but he will pay a fee-in-lieu instead. Thirdly, she wanted all developers receiving LUIGs to accept vouchers for 100% of their units in perpetuity.
“You’re talking about changing policy,” said Mayor Esther Manheimer. “Inclusionary zoning is not allowed, yet, in North Carolina, but we can incentivize it.” She reviewed how LUIGs were, for years and many iterations, so financially infeasible, developers refused to touch them. Manheimer said now the question was what was more conducive to building affordable housing: paying a developer $1,688,299 to create 29 units or just letting him build market-rate units, collecting the property tax, and using that money to, for example, leverage tax credits.
During Public Comment
A man named simply Rowe (sp?) complained about the UDO and a disconnect between city leadership and members of the public. He said he is a city planner who has worked in 22 countries. He lives in Asheville and Hong Kong. He would have constructed 11 housing units in Asheville by now, but about 400 emails sent to the city proved unproductive. He said councilmembers had just discussed “big, billion-dollar ideas” for highway upgrades, but they are not giving enough consideration to what those roads are supposed to connect—namely, the fabric of the community and how people are supposed to make their living.
Next, developer David Moritz asked the council how many apartment buildings had been constructed in north Asheville in the last decade. The answer was one. He said apartments would be a great fit in north Asheville, close to businesses and resources, but they weren’t being constructed because of zoning. Lots are now mostly zoned for either small businesses the size of Chick-fil-A or single-family residences. Currently, multifamily housing cannot be constructed without going through the gamble of trying to get a rezoning. Moritz said the Larchmont was built over a decade ago by Mountain Housing Opportunities, a nonprofit that builds affordable housing funded by patching together grants. The risks, said Moritz, were too great for any private developer. He closed by saying north Asheville was just one example of where this is playing out.
Another person with zoning issues was Queenie Mcleod, owner of the food truck Queens Island Cuisine. She complained about zoning laws keeping food trucks out of the central business district. She said she understood incumbent brick-and-mortar restaurant owners’ concerns about market share, but she would not be competing, per se, as she serves people leaving bars between 11 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Following her remarks, there was some conversation among councilmembers about the need to revisit pertinent ordinances in light of new generators that plug into household AC circuits and do not make so much noise.
Speaking of quality of life, Dr. Kay Loveland complained about the loud concerts that Plugged-In sponsored at the Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre. The theater had traditionally been the home of Shakespeare productions, which fit well with the Montford neighborhood. The concerts, however, attract inebriated people who rudely rearrange neighbors’ front yards and lewdly express and relieve themselves in the children’s park after the show. Seven times in 2022, 1,500 people blocked driveways, threw trash, and made noise that couldn’t be sealed out of homes.
Dr. Louisa Branscomb echoed the complaint. She aired frustrations about not knowing how to deal with the problem because attendees remove signs and boulders placed to prevent them from parking on people’s lawns and shout down neighbors who try to talk to them; venue security claims it is only responsible for activity up to the venue’s gate; and nobody wants to call the Asheville Police Department because they’re understaffed and overworked.
During public comment on the consent agenda, Jonathan Wainscott returned with photographs of emaciated people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who work for $2 a day to mine, without power tools, the cobalt that goes into the batteries that fuel today’s green technology. This, he indicated, is pathetically incongruous with modern slogans about equity and inclusion, thinking globally and acting locally, and paying reparations for human rights violations.
Wainscott reappeared during general public comment with a dozen roses and candies. His public comment persona has a crush on City Clerk Maggie Burleson, so there was one for each person on the dais and an extra for Maggie. He then told City Manager Brad Branham that if his gifts ran afoul of state statutes, they could all go to the clerk’s office instead.
Self-proclaimed urban Cherokee Jared Wheatley said Wainscott stole his thunder. He wanted help for his mural project, but he drowned his message with expressions of love for those on council, as he also gifted roses.