Purpose and Intent

This proposed policy establishes a shared, enforceable framework for the City of Asheville and Buncombe County to anticipate, prevent, mitigate, and monitor displacement resulting from public land use decisions, capital investments, housing policies, and economic development actions.

Displacement is understood broadly to include:

• Residential displacement (eviction, rent increases, loss of affordable housing)
• Economic displacement (loss of small businesses, workforce exclusion)
• Cultural displacement (erosion of legacy communities and institutions)
• Spatial displacement (exclusion from public space, especially for unhoused residents)

The policy treats displacement as a predictable outcome of public action, not an unintended side effect, and embeds an equity lens by recognizing that Black and Brown residents, renters, low-income households, and people with disabilities experience disproportionate displacement risk.

Policy Summary

How the Policy Works

1. Displacement Risk Screening: All major City and County actions — zoning changes, rezonings, housing and infrastructure investments, economic development incentives, and public‑private partnerships — must include a brief displacement risk assessment.
2. Tiered Response Framework: Actions are categorized as low, moderate, or high displacement risk. Moderate- and high‑risk actions trigger required mitigation strategies.
3. Required Mitigation Tools: Depending on risk level, decision‑makers must apply one or more tools, such as:
   • Permanent affordability requirements
   • Right‑to‑return or tenant protections
   • Property tax relief for low‑income homeowners
   • Local hiring and community benefit agreements
   • Restrictions on speculative or short‑term rental use
4. Monitoring and Accountability: City and County will publish annual public reports on displacement indicators (race, income, tenure, geography) with authority to amend policies if harms emerge.

Where it Applies

This policy applies to all major actions by the City of Asheville and Buncombe County that may affect housing stability, land values, access, or community continuity, including but not limited to:

• Land use and zoning decisions
• Capital investments and infrastructure projects
• Housing programs and funding decisions
• Economic development incentives and public-private partnerships
• Public space management and service siting
• Joint City-County initiatives

The policy applies regardless of whether the City and/or County are exercising their authority independently or jointly, and regardless of whether impacts occur inside municipal limits or in unincorporated areas.

Why it is Necessary

In our recent GAP Reports, we have sought to highlight the fact that displacement impacts are frequently implicit, fragmented, or deferred, despite clear evidence in our communities of accelerating housing instability. Without a shared framework, local governments’ stated equity goals are undermined by cumulative impacts.

There is Precedent

Three other municipalities in North Carolina have adopted policies on which this proposed policy is modeled: Mecklenburg County / City of Charlotte, Wake County / City of Raleigh, and Durham County / City of Durham. You can read a summary of their policies here.

How it Improves Decision‑Making

The policy does not prohibit development or investment. Instead, it makes displacement impacts of these actions visible, aligns mitigation with risk, and ensures public actions do not unintentionally accelerate harm to communities and residents.

Anti-Displacement Policy Framework for Asheville and Buncombe County

1. Displacement Risk Screening

What it is: A brief, early-stage screening required for major City and County actions to identify whether displacement risk is present before decisions are finalized.

How it works:

• Completed by staff at initiation of project or policy
• Attached to staff reports for decision-makers
• Does not delay action; it informs it

Why this matters: Early screening prevents displacement and the need for later mitigation and normalizes equity analysis as part of standard practice.

Precedent in other NC Counties:

• Wake County: Uses displacement and affordability screening in growth, transit, and infrastructure planning to flag risks early and shape project design.
• Mecklenburg County: Requires equity and displacement considerations as part of capital improvement planning and rezoning analysis.
• Durham County: Embeds early equity and displacement assessment into land use and housing policy development.

2. Tiered Response Framework

What it is: A structured system that categorizes actions by displacement risk level and ties each level to clear expectations for mitigation.

Risk tiers:

• Low Risk: Neutral or stabilizing impact
• Moderate Risk: Indirect or cumulative displacement pressure
• High Risk: Direct loss of affordability, access, or community stability

Why this matters: This approach avoids one-size-fits-all mandates while ensuring that higher risk policies/projects trigger stronger safeguards — a key political and administrative advantage.

Precedent in other NC Counties:

• Durham County: Uses tiered requirements tied to development intensity, location, and impact.
• Mecklenburg County: Scales affordability and community benefit requirements based on project type and public investment level.
• Wake County: Applies stronger mitigation expectations in higher-risk growth and transit corridors.

3. Required Mitigation Tools

What it is: A standardized menu of mitigation strategies that must be applied for moderate- and high-risk actions, with staff required to explain tool selection.

Mitigation strategies are the core mechanism by which this policy prevents displacement (rather than merely documenting it). These tools are applied proportionally, based on demonstrated risk, and are tied to public actions that materially shape land value, development feasibility, or market demand.

This policy explicitly rejects the notion that mitigation “kills development.” Instead, it distinguishes between:

• Development that internalizes (proactively addresses) its public impacts, and
• Development that externalizes (passes on) displacement costs onto existing residents.

If a project cannot proceed without causing unmitigated displacement, this proposed policy identifies that outcome as a policy failure, not a market inevitability.

Mitigation tools include, but are not limited to:

1. Housing Stability Tools
   • Permanent affordability requirements. Require that some housing created or preserved through public action remain affordable long-term, so public investment does not lead to short-lived affordability or future displacement.
   • Right-to-return provisions tied to redevelopment. Ensure that residents displaced by redevelopment are given priority access to return to the new housing at affordable or comparable rents once construction is complete.
   • Tenant protections and relocation assistance. Provide notice, financial assistance, and protections to tenants when redevelopment or public action directly increases displacement risk.
2. Homeownership Protection Tools
   • Property tax relief or deferral. Limit sudden property tax increases for income-qualified homeowners so rising values do not force long-term residents to sell or lose their homes.
   • Anti-speculation measures. Discourage investor-driven turnover by limiting rapid resale, requiring owner-occupancy, or placing conditions on properties benefiting from public action.
3. Economic Stability Tools
   • Local hiring requirements. Ensure that publicly supported projects create jobs for local residents, especially those most vulnerable to displacement pressures.
   • Workforce housing contributions. Require projects that create new jobs or increase wages to contribute to housing solutions for the workers they attract.
4. Land Use Controls
   • Mixed-use or mixed-income requirements. Require a mix of housing types, incomes, or uses when rezonings increase development potential, helping growth to benefit a broader range of residents.
   • Short-term rental limits. Restrict the conversion of long-term housing into short-term rentals in areas where housing loss would increase displacement risk.
5. Community Benefit Tools
   • Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs). Require developers receiving public approvals or incentives to also commit to formal agreements to deliver specific, enforceable benefits to the surrounding community.

Mitigation requirements may be adjusted through subsidy layering, phased implementation, or alternative compliance pathways, but may not be waived solely on the basis of developer preference or generalized feasibility concerns.

Why this matters: The policy does not invent new tools — it organizes and standardizes tools already used successfully elsewhere. Creating an overarching policy will increase predictability for both staff and developers, who will now know that anti-displacement impacts will be consistently analyzed and higher risk policies and projects will require mitigation.

Precedent in other NC Counties:

• Wake County: Pairs growth with affordability requirements and right-to-return strategies.
• Durham County: Routinely requires permanent affordability and community benefits in rezonings and public-private partnerships.
• Mecklenburg County: Uses affordability set-asides and housing trust fund contributions linked to public investment.

4. Monitoring and Accountability

What it is: A requirement to track displacement outcomes over time and adjust policies when harms emerge.

Key elements:

• Annual public reporting on displacement indicators
• Disaggregation of data preesnted by race, income, tenure, and geography
• Authority for City Council and County Commission to revise mitigation strategies to address pattersn of inequity identified in the displacement data

Why this matters: Without monitoring, mitigation becomes symbolic and can’t be expected to reliably address displacement. Accountability ensures the policy actually works.

Precedent in other NC Counties:

• Mecklenburg County: Maintains public equity dashboards tied to capital investments.
• Durham County: Conducts ongoing reporting and policy recalibration based on outcomes.
• Wake County: Monitors displacement impacts near major investments and transit corridors.