Some Asheville residents will now have an easier time setting up new housing on their property. In a unanimous Tuesday vote, Asheville City Council relaxed regulations on certain “accessory dwelling units,” independent housing units located on the same lot as single-family homes.
As presented by Stephanie Monson Dahl, the city’s planning and urban design director, the change only applies to creating ADUs in existing structures, like garages or sheds, that had been built before Asheville adopted its current zoning standards. Previously, if those structures weren’t far enough back from other lots, owners had to seek approval from the city Board of Adjustment before converting them into ADUs.
The new rule, Dahl explained, gives owners that right automatically, reducing the time, cost and uncertainty of the conversion process. She emphasized that any new ADUs must still meet city requirements for parking, height and size: no more than 800 square feet on a lot of less than an acre, or 1,200 square feet on lots of 1-3 acres. Short-term vacation rentals and homestays would not be allowed in ADUs created under the rule.
Although the rule is likely to have relatively minor impacts — per a staff report, the Board of Adjustment has heard just 16 variance requests for ADUs since 2023, all of which were granted — Dahl noted that discussions about the change had reflected ongoing community anxieties over gentrification and displacement.
“There is a concern, especially that, perhaps in legacy neighborhoods, some more, perhaps, senior neighbors may feel more vulnerable to predatory investors, who see this as an opportunity to gain rental income by having an accessory structure in their portfolio,” said Dahl about input the city had received.
The Legacy Neighborhoods Coalition, which represents historically Black and Latino communities such as Burton Street, Emma and Shiloh, did not oppose the rule change but has asked the city to work more closely on anti-displacement strategies. At a Jan. 20 meeting of Council’s Housing and Community Development Committee, coalition coordinator Sekou Coleman floated the creation of “legacy neighborhood preservation districts.” Those new zoning areas, he said, would establish “place-based standards to prevent displacement and protect community character.”
Asheville’s federal interactions
In addition to tweaking Asheville’s local zoning rules, Council members spent time engaging with federal-level programs and concerns. The body allocated grant funds, requested more money for Hurricane Helene recovery and addressed community worries over immigration enforcement.
- The city directed $15.5 million in federal recovery funds to support Asheville’s local economy. Mountain BizWorks, Venture Asheville, Arts AVL, and Eagle Market Streets Development Corporation will each administer grant programs for small businesses on behalf of the city. The money is part of a $225 million allocation from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development that Asheville received approval to spend in May.
- Council approved $904,000 in grants for affordable housing, as supported by HUD’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program. Funds went to six groups across Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, Transylvania counties — the area covered by the Asheville Regional Housing Consortium, of which the city is the grant administrator. Some of the recipients include Henderson County Habitat for Humanity and the Asheville Housing Authority.
- Council authorized city staff to send two formal requests for additional Helene recovery funds to federal officials. The first seeks $87 million for water system improvements, with Asheville contributing $21.75 million of its own funds toward the work. The second asks for over $1.3 billion in grants to address unmet infrastructure, housing and economic recovery needs. The move follows up on Mayor Esther Manheimer’s recent lobbying trip to Washington, where she joined Gov. Josh Stein and state Sen. Kevin Corbin in seeking more disaster aid for North Carolina.
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- At a Jan. 22 briefing, Council members Kim Roney and Bo Hess suggested the city adopt a “Fourth Amendment resolution,” as approved by other North Carolina municipalities such as Boone, Carrboro, and Durham. Such resolutions uphold a local government’s commitment to the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which protects residents “against unreasonable searches and seizures.” These resolutions have been passed in response to increasing statewide activity by federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. “There’s always a fine line of balancing protecting our community with drawing unnecessary attention to our community like we’re seeing in Minneapolis,” Manheimer said, referencing that city’s recent conflicts between ICE agents and protesters. Council is tentatively slated to discuss the resolution at a 3 p.m. policy work session Tuesday, Feb. 24.
Other tidbits
- Hayden Plemmons, executive director of the Asheville Downtown Association, presented on the Asheville Downtown Improvement District and its first months of operation. Funded through a special tax on downtown property, the ADID conducts cleaning, community outreach, and small business support work. From June through December, Plemmons said, ADID’s paid “ambassadors” addressed nearly 3,000 instances of graffiti, completed over 19,400 sweeping tasks, and cleaned close to 400 “Code Brown” instances of public defecation.
- Council members sparred over whether and how to enact raises for Asheville’s firefighters, who have filed a grievance over pay for recent recruits. During discussion of Council’s consent agenda, meant to cover noncontroversial items, Hess introduced a budget amendment that would have increased pay for those employees; Roney seconded his motion. Manheimer and Council member Maggie Ullman pushed back, saying their colleagues hadn’t given city staff time to consider the budget impacts. City Attorney Brad Branham ultimately determined that Hess’s motion was out of order, and Council took no vote on the matter. Hess agreed to hold off on further action until the city’s grievance process played out.
- Asheville plans to submit formal comment on Duke Energy’s new power generation strategy with the N.C. Utilities Commission. Released in October, the utility’s Carolinas Resource Plan delays the retirement of coal plants and slows the building of zero-emission resources like wind farms and pumped hydropower storage. At a Jan. 22 briefing, Roney said those moves were in conflict with the city’s carbon reduction and renewable energy goals.
- Asheville officials have been called to speak before the N.C. House Select Committee on Government Efficiency in Raleigh on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Kyle Evans, a staff attorney for the legislature, asked the city to respond to allegations that it had improperly favored racial minorities in some government programs. Evans also invited Asheville leaders to explain the city’s projected $30 million budget gap. “They haven’t made any kind of threats or anything like that, but they want to understand exactly what’s driving the shortfall for this coming year,” Manheimer said at a Jan. 22 briefing.
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. However, the next meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 10, has been moved to 10 a.m. The move allows Council and city staff to participate in the annual Point-in-Time Count of the area’s homeless population, which was rescheduled from Jan. 27 due to winter storm impacts. See the full recording and documents from the Jan. 27 meeting.
