Asheville’s new Business Improvement District, or BID, established last year, is taking shape in the downtown area.
Asheville City Council on Tuesday finalized the BID’s leadership team, which will oversee more than $1 million in annual property tax funds. The BID is expected to be fully operational by the end of June, but will begin dispatching “ambassadors” for cleaning projects starting May 1, according to Asheville Downtown Association President Hayden Plemmons.
City Council members appointed the 17-member Steering Committee, voting the list through in a 6-1 decision that included minimal discussion. Council member Kim Roney was the only member to vote no.
More than 50 residents applied for a board seat. The slate of candidates was whittled down by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Asheville Downtown Association, the two local nonprofits that were awarded a three-year contract to operate the BID in January.
They are part of a larger partnership that also includes the California based-contractor Nexstreet, which will manage staffing.
The new board includes business owners who represent places like Bear’s BBQ, La Zoom Tours and Lexington Glassworks, along with major hospitality operators like McKibbon Hospitality and The Foundry Hotel. The full board list includes:
- Four commercial property owners – Larry Crosby of The Foundry Hotel, Natalie Dierkes of DMG Property Management, JB McKibbon of McKibbon Hospitality, Cheryl Antoncic Suess of Bear’s BBQ
- Four business tenants – Joelle Gali of Dewey Property Advisors, Ashleigh Hardes of Lexington Glassworks, Kyle Samples of La Zoom Tours, Eva Michelle Spicer of Spicer Greene Jewelers
- Three residential property owners – Dane Barringer, Kevan Frazier, Susan Griffin
- Three residents who rent homes in the district – Meseret Aitken, Gurleen Kaur, Karmen Milham
- One Continuum of Care member – Melina Arrowood of HCA Health
- One member of The Block – Nex Millen
- One at-large member – Scott Fowler of Brucemont Communications
Council member Antanette Mosley, Assistant City Manager Ben Woody and Assistant County Manager Tim Love will also sit on the committee as non-voting members.
Before council voted the board appointments through, there was a brief public comment period. Patrick Conant, a longstanding critic of the city’s BID adoption process, accused council of “rubber stamping” the board selections.
“When council wrote this resolution, you gave yourselves a duty to participate in the appointment process,” he said. “Instead, this item is listed on the consent agenda with no presentation from staff or discussion by council members.”
He continued, “I find it odd the council is handling this process differently from the way you appoint residents to other boards. I've seen council put real thought into evaluating candidates for our advisory boards. Why are we putting less effort towards ensuring this steering committee adequately represents our city?”
The item was pulled from the consent agenda for a separate vote by council member Roney, who has remained a staunch opponent of the program.
“The nomination of the Asheville Downtown Association District Board was originally under unfinished business,” she said. “But after [Friday’s] agenda briefing, it was moved to the consent agenda. So that's why I asked to pull it, to be able to hear concerns and better inform myself.”
Before voting no on the item, she emphasized that she still does not believe a BID is “the right tool” for the serious issues that downtown faces, including behavioral health crises, homelessness substance use and overdose and a high number of bike and pedestrian crash accidents.
Plemmons, one of the original advocates behind the BID, told BPR that she is “really excited” about the BID soon becoming operational.
Ambassadors already have a list of action items waiting for them, including a deep clean of public trash cans, graffiti removal on private property and a pressure wash of city sidewalks. They will also clean up some storm debris, including brush and leaves stuck in gutters, Plemmons said.
Critics of the BID have expressed concern around the ambassador program, worrying that they will not be properly equipped to interact with or respond to issues involving people who are homeless, especially those in the throes of a mental health crisis.
In a resolution passed last year, council designated that the ambassador program would hire unarmed community stewards to “provide a highly visible presence; proactively engage with the public; provide directions and assistance; offer safety escorts on an on-call basis; and connect members of the unhoused community to resources like the Community Responders, Community Paramedics, homeless service providers, etc.”
The resolution outlined that the ambassadors would receive anti-racist training, equity training, mental health first aid training and de-escalation training.
When asked about the onboarding process for ambassadors, Plemmons was not able to provide a full itinerary of how they will be trained.
She said they will do a one-day “Welcoming Spaces” training with Blue Ridge Pride and a half-day cultural sensitivity training with UMOJA, a local nonprofit dedicated to “disrupting generational trauma and incarceration,” as well as other trainings with the city’s Public Works program, Asheville Police Department and the city’s Community Responder Program.
Other tidbits
- Council approved an action plan for a $225 million Community Development Block Grant, which will be submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for post-Helene projects. The final version of the plan includes $125 million for infrastructure, $52 million for economic revitalization, $31 million for housing, $3.8 million for planning, and $2 million for public services. The city also plans to set aside $11 million for the administrative cost of running the programs for six years. HUD will have 45 days to review, request changes and approve the action plan.
- The cost of water will increase for city residents and business owners. Council approved a water fee increase. Residential customers face a 7.5% rate increase, while commercial users will pay between 14.1% and 32.2% more, depending on water use. For the biggest commercial water users, this could result in a $100,000 annual increase in water bills.
- Council heard a report on the $105 million Carrier Bridge Pump Station Replacement Project. The project is adjacent to the French Broad River Park and includes replacement of the existing pump station, with the goal of increasing its capacity. The entire project is anticipated to be complete in 2029.
Every second and fourth Tuesday, Asheville City Council meets at the Council Chamber on the 2nd Floor of City Hall, 70 Court Plaza beginning at 5 p.m.
The next meeting on April 22 is canceled, and council will meet next on May 13. See the full recording of the April 8 meeting and the agenda.
