A conditional zoning amendment request for a housing proposal in Haw Creek was denied by Asheville City Council at Tuesday night’s meeting.
As previously reported by BPR, developers want to build 49 new single-family homes and 35 townhomes on New Haw Creek Road. The plan includes a bridge crossing Haw Creek and running through a floodplain.
The new proposal would have included a new entrance from New Haw Creek Road for the development and a bridge crossing Haw Creek and running through a floodplain. The documents state that the bridge crest would match or exceed the 100 year floodplain base flood.
The development’s originally approved entrance was along Sleepy Hollow Drive in the Happy Valley neighborhood. Residents of Happy Valley raised legal questions over whether their neighborhood covenants allowed the entrance road, according to the Citizen Times.
The development has faced significant community pushback and legal questions, according to the Citizen Times. Community skepticism continued to echo in City Hall Tuesday evening with residents mostly opposing the new plan, including the addition of the bridge.
The bridge had been included in the original proposal in January 2024. It would’ve gone directly through the southern portion of the property near Charlie Bullman Park, which includes some wetlands.
Mindy Mahar, science teacher and resident of Haw Creek, said adding a bridge directly conflicts with evidence-based best practices for flood resilient communities.
“ The Haw Creek flood plain and wetlands are functioning exactly as they should,” Mahar said. “(It’s) slowing water, reducing flood peaks and capturing pollutants before they move downstream.”
She added that raising roadways, embankments, or bridge structures inside an active floodplain could increase downstream flooding, accelerate runoff, and disrupt the natural storage and filtration services that wetlands provide.
Joel Schuman is also a resident of Haw Creek and a member of Asheville for All, a grassroots organization that advocates about issues of housing scarcity and affordability.
Schuman said the new proposal would help tackle an important issue, housing.
“ This delay worsens Asheville's affordability crisis,” Schuman said. “I don't think there's anyone to blame for the delay yet. The systems we have created are such that it can take years to break ground on a new project.”
Council members acknowledged the need for more housing but felt that the community’s needs were being pushed for the project's goals. They denied permission to go ahead with the development. The amendment contradicts city staff’s support for the new bridge plan as well as a unanimous recommendation from the planning and zoning commission.
Mayor Esther Manheimer said the developers can explore other avenues but may face a difficult path to approval.
“ This is a really challenging one (decision) because there's not a clear path to bring a complete consensus to some result that obviously works for everybody,” Manheimer said.
Other tidbits:
- Prior to addressing the consent agenda at Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Esther Manheimer read a joint statement by County Commissioners and City Council members addressing possible federal immigration enforcement in the city. In the statement, she reiterated that local law enforcement agencies do not participate in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement or Border Patrol operations. She called on residents to stand together and know their rights.
- Council member S. Antanette Mosley addressed a resolution, proposed by Council member Kim Roney on Monday that would prevent federal immigration officers from using city property. Mosley said she met with Latino community members, as well as faith leaders prior to the Council meeting. It was decided that pausing talks of the resolution was in the best interest of everybody. Roney had significant community support for the amendment but did not have the council support needed for it to be added to the agenda. Five speakers called on the City Council to consider the resolution, including Marcia Castillo, a Mexican-American resident. “ [People are] afraid to exist in a brown body, afraid to speak with an accent, much less in any language other than English,” Castillo said.
- In a 5-2 vote, City Council approved a resolution removing Jared Wheatley from the city’s planning and zoning commission, stating that the move was “in the best interests of the commission.” Roney and Mosley were the two council members who voted against his removal. Resident David Morris said during public comment it was unjust and a stain on the city’s commitment to fairness, diversity, and Indigenous representation. (Wheatley, who manages a local construction firm, is also the founder of the Indigenous Walls Project and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.) Wheatley sounded more resigned, telling Council he was grateful to serve his community. A city memo obtained by BPR details additional reasons for his removal, such as Wheatley allegedly showing disrespect for fellow board members and failing to maintain decorum during public meetings.
- Council members voted to wait on discussion of a resolution that would relocate the West Asheville Police station to the Tanger Outlet Shopping Center. Concerns rose from Council at the agenda briefing over where that leaves the police’s Haywood Road presence, what it means for APD funding, and the lack of public engagement over moving. It will be heard by Council’s Public Safety Committee first on Thursday, Nov. 20, and could be voted upon at the next Council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
Asheville City Council regularly meets every second and fourth Tuesday at the Council Chamber on the second floor of City Hall, 70 Court Plaza, beginning at 5 p.m. The next meeting will take place Tuesday, Dec. 9. See the full recording and agenda of the Nov. 18 meeting.
