It’s been a long road for short-term rental regulation (STR) in Buncombe County.
For months, the county’s planning board attempted to make sense of how to address local properties rented on sites like Airbnb and VRBO. In April, the group postponed a vote on the matter. At last night’s Buncombe County Board of Commission meeting, commissioners tapped a new group of residents to find a solution.
The 11-member committee, dubbed the Ad Hoc Short-Term Rental Committee, will work through November to provide recommendations to county commissioners.
As in many places across the country, public opinion is split. Some folks contend that STRs have brought about affordability issues, while others maintain their right to use their properties as an income stream.
County commissioners defined the roles of the 11-person group: four real estate professionals, one short-term rental owner/operator, one ancillary business owner, one community member at-large, two housing advocates and two planning board members.
Around 110 people applied to sit on the committee, according to the county’s list of applicants. At a county commission meeting earlier this month, members whittled the list down to 15 applicants who interviewed with board members last week. None of the selected committee members identified as renters on the application form.
“I just want to really express how much I appreciate the detail and thought people put into their applications,” Newman said at last night’s meeting. “Obviously many people in our community have thought a lot about this really important topic and there's a lot of different perspectives. And I think a lot of folks recognize that, you know, it's not a simple issue, but it's one that's important to the future of our community.”
The committee will kick off its work in September and October, presenting its recommendations to the county’s planning board in November. In December, the Planning Board will then present its recommendation to the county commission.
The community members selected for the committee, along with the expertise they represent, include:
- Matt Allen - Real estate professional; Director of Professional Development and Government Affairs at the Local Board of Realtors
- M.E. Gray - Real estate agent for 23 years
- Matt Lutz - Broker and realtor with Greybeard Realty, affordable housing developer, mid-term rental owner
- Jay Gerlach - Former Political Science and Public Affairs professor at Western Carolina University, current realtor with Dwell Realty Group
- Kit Molina-Nauert - Short-term rental owner/operator
- Angelica Cote - Business owner, former city employee, has rented property as a former Airbnb host and Section 8 landlord
- Chris Joyell - Director of MountainTrue’s Healthy Communities program, affordable housing advocate, land use attorney, former Buncombe County Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee member
- Andrea Golden - Affordable housing advocate, resident of Emma community who helped write the Emma Community Plan
- Candice Matelski-Brady - Community member-at-large, homeowner, public administration doctoral student
- Nancy Waldrop - Planning board chair, former realtor
- Kenneth Kahn - Planning board vice chair, Woodfin Town Council Member
Commissioners Brownie Newman and Parker Sloan will also sit on the committee as non-voting members.
Have more questions about the state of short-term rentals in Buncombe? See our full guide, which answers frequently asked questions on the topic.
ABCCM gets $1 million for Transformation Village
A local nonprofit is getting a $1 million grant to create housing for women and mothers in recovery from substance abuse. Commissioners voted unanimously to accept state funding on behalf of Asheville-Buncombe Community Christian Ministries (ABCCM). Earlier this year, ABCCM announced plans to expand its Transformation Village, a transitional housing facility that serves single women and children.
The money, part of a Community Development Block Grant, will support the construction of a four-story, 64-unit building with 32-units dedicated to women and mothers with children in recovery from substance use. ABCCM held a groundbreaking for the project this July, Mountain Xpress reported.
Other tidbits
- Buncombe is expanding its compost game. As part of a four-item consent agenda, commissioners approved $146,880 to build a compost facility at the county landfill. The money comes from unused funding from the county’s Solid Waste department. The facility will be used for a compost processing pilot.
- Commissioners held a public hearing for then and unanimously approved the 2025 Schedule of Values. This document lays out the county’s tax rates, value ranges and guidelines for appraising property at market value in Buncombe County.
- Vic Isley of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority gave a presentation that included the latest tourism economic impact numbers. According to the presentation, visitor contributions added $2.97 billion to the local economy in 2023, including $901 million in lodging, $787 million in food and beverage and $541 million in retail, among other spending categories.
Every first and third Tuesday, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meets at 200 College Street, Room 326 in downtown Asheville beginning at 5 p.m. See the full recording and agenda of the August 20 meeting.
