GAP Report for 5/18/26
URGENT
- 0 Items
QUESTIONABLE
- 0 Items
POSITIVE
- 0 Items
REPORT BACKS
- Asheville should reject or substantially revise the Caribou Road and Sweeten Creek developments in response to community concerns from Shiloh (updated – Resolved, positively and negatively)
- Asheville should reject the proposed RTIC/Axon surveillance expansion until real oversight and accountability exist (updated – Resolved, negatively)
- Asheville should move forward with the proposed CDBG-DR affordable housing investments (updated – Resolved, positively and negatively)
Summary of the Report
New Issue: Buncombe County’s proposed revitalization initiatives and FY2027 budget lack meaningful anti-displacement safeguards
Buncombe County is preparing to adopt its FY2027 budget while simultaneously advancing major post-Helene recovery, infrastructure, and redevelopment initiatives. These decisions will help shape the County’s physical and economic future for years to come — including where public investment is concentrated and which communities experience the pressures that often follow revitalization and growth.
We remain seriously concerned about a major gap in the County’s approach: the continued absence of any meaningful anti-displacement framework guiding recovery spending, capital investments, or corridor revitalization efforts. Although County leaders have repeatedly heard concerns about affordability and displacement, current budget and agenda materials still show little evidence of displacement-impact analysis, targeted protections for vulnerable communities, or long-term planning to ensure existing residents and businesses can remain and benefit from public investment. The current budget and agenda provide several examples of how the County could begin addressing this issue immediately.
Report Backs
The May 12 Asheville City Council meeting produced mixed outcomes on the three issues highlighted in the May 11 GAP Report.
Issue – Caribou Road and Sweeten Creek Developments: The best outcome from the meeting was the unanimous rejection of the Caribou Road development after extensive testimony from Shiloh-area residents and substantial discussion about traffic, pedestrian safety, infrastructure limitations, and consistency with the adopted Shiloh Community Plan. Unfortunately, the Sweeten Creek proposal passed, despite generating many of the same concerns from residents regarding traffic access, neighborhood safety, and compatibility with surrounding residential streets.
Issue – RTIC/Axon Surveillance Expansion: On the surveillance issue, the RTIC/Axon/Fusus proposal passed 6-1 (Roney opposed) despite concerns about accountability, transparency, civil liberties, and long-term oversight. Multiple speakers criticized the lack of public process and warned about the risks of expanded surveillance systems and data-sharing infrastructure.
Issue – Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Affordable Housing Investments: Meanwhile, two of the CDBG-DR affordable housing investments moved forward, while a third – the strongest proposal – was rejected. City Council appears reluctant to commit these funds to multifamily affordable housing in light of ongoing concerns that there won’t be enough resources to support single family home repair and reconstruction. We see a way to support both, and will post about that soon.
Templates and Links to More Information
Take action with us:
- Email the County Commission about revising their revitalization initiative and budget based on an anti-displacement analysis.
Resources:
- Click here to read our full proposed anti-displacement policy proposal.
Buncombe County’s proposed revitalization initiatives and FY2027 budget lack meaningful anti-displacement safeguards
PROBLEMATIC
Summary: As Buncombe County considers both its proposed FY2027 budget and a major Commercial District Revitalization initiative, the County continues to advance recovery, redevelopment, and infrastructure investments without a clear anti-displacement framework; we believe County leaders should immediately begin incorporating displacement-impact analysis and community protections into these decisions before final approval.
The Facts: Buncombe County is currently considering and advancing several major initiatives connected to post-Helene recovery, infrastructure investment, and economic revitalization. These include:
- A proposed Commercial District Revitalization initiative — separate from but closely connected to the County’s broader recovery agenda — that would support corridor revitalization and infrastructure improvements in Swannanoa and other storm-impacted areas;
- A proposed FY2027 budget that includes major investments in recovery, transportation partnerships, public facilities, economic development, and other capital and infrastructure projects during a period of rapidly rising property values following a countywide reappraisal that increased assessed values by approximately 43%.
The Commercial District Revitalization proposal includes projects related to sidewalk construction, pedestrian connectivity, commercial corridor improvements, remediation of storm-damaged properties, and activation of properties acquired through the federally funded Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which supports the acquisition and redevelopment of disaster-impacted properties to reduce future flood and hazard risks. The FY2027 budget includes funding for public safety facilities, transportation-related partnerships, greenway and recreation projects, facility renovations, economic development incentives, conservation easements, and affordable housing services.
You can see the County’s commercial district revitalization presentation slides here and the budget presentation slides here. You can read the County’s proposed budget in brief here.
Our Assessment: Many of the investments currently being discussed by Buncombe County may provide real public benefits. Recovery investments, transportation improvements, and commercial revitalization efforts can help communities recover from Hurricane Helene and improve long-term quality of life.
But public investment can also increase land values, accelerate speculation, raise rents, and increase displacement pressure — especially in communities already facing affordability challenges. Sidewalk improvements, corridor revitalization, infrastructure upgrades, and economic development initiatives often make neighborhoods more attractive to outside investment while providing few protections for existing residents and small businesses.
For the past five months, the County has been hearing concerns from residents, advocates, and community organizations about displacement and affordability pressures. Yet the current Commercial District Revitalization proposal and the proposed FY2027 budget still do not appear to include any measures to protect existing residents and businesses from displacement pressures (i.e. a broader anti-displacement framework, displacement-impact review process, or targeted protections for communities facing heightened displacement risk during post-disaster recovery and redevelopment).
This is especially concerning because the County is making these decisions during a period of post-disaster rebuilding and rapid increases in assessed property values. The absence of an anti-displacement framework is no longer simply an oversight — it is becoming a pattern of governance that leaves vulnerable communities exposed to the unintended harmful consequences of public investment.
Our Proposal: We have repeatedly called on Buncombe County to adopt a comprehensive anti-displacement strategy that incorporates housing stability, community preservation, equitable development, and displacement-risk analysis into public decision-making. (You can read our full proposal here.) The County still has an opportunity to begin moving in that direction before final adoption of the FY2027 budget and approval of related recovery and revitalization initiatives.
At a minimum, the County could take several immediate steps over the next two weeks:
- Direct staff to identify communities and corridors at elevated risk of displacement connected to recovery and infrastructure investment;
- Require basic displacement impact analysis for major revitalization and capital projects;
- Prioritize affordable housing preservation and anti-displacement protections in areas targeted for public investment;
- Commit to developing a formal County anti-displacement framework during the upcoming fiscal year.
These would not solve the problem overnight. But they would represent a meaningful acknowledgment that public investment decisions can have unintended consequences — and that protecting vulnerable communities should be part of responsible recovery and budgeting.
A basic displacement-impact review process could provide County leaders with data about which communities are most vulnerable to rising rents, redevelopment pressure, speculative investment, and commercial displacement connected to public investment decisions. That information could help shape final budget priorities, including where to direct affordable housing resources, small business support, preservation funding, infrastructure phasing, and community stabilization efforts.
We have been warning Buncombe County for many months that growth and redevelopment pressures could displace longtime residents and small businesses. The County still has an opportunity to show that it is willing to plan for those impacts instead of reacting after displacement has already occurred.
Things to do: We invite you to use our email template below to urge the Buncombe County Commission to incorporate anti-displacement protections and displacement-impact analysis into both the proposed Commercial District Revitalization initiative and the FY2027 budget before final approval.
Email Template: You can send an email to the Buncombe County Commission by filling out the form below. Our email tool will send an individually addressed email to the recipients, and enable us to track how many emails were sent overall in the campaign. If you prefer to write your own email, you can copy and paste (and adapt) our template text – please cc: or bcc: info@gapavl.org on your individualized email, so we can better track how many emails were sent.
To: alfred.whitesides@buncombecounty.org, amanda.edwards@buncombecounty.org, drew.ball@buncombecounty.org, jennifer.horton@buncombecounty.org, martin.moore@buncombecounty.org, parker.sloan@buncombecounty.org, terri.wells@buncombecounty.org
CC: or BCC: info@gapavl.org
Subject: Please include anti-displacement protections in Buncombe County’s recovery and budget planning
Dear Commissioners,
As Buncombe County considers both the proposed Commercial District Revitalization initiative and the FY2027 budget, I urge you to recognize that public recovery and infrastructure investments can contribute to displacement pressures if they are not paired with intentional protections for vulnerable residents and small businesses.
The County is currently advancing major recovery, revitalization, and infrastructure investments without any clear anti-displacement framework or displacement impact analysis. Recovery and investment are important, but they should not come at the cost of pushing longtime residents out of their communities.
Before final approval of these initiatives, I ask that the County take immediate steps to begin incorporating displacement-impact analysis and anti-displacement protections into these major recovery, revitalization, and infrastructure decisions.
Thank you for your leadership,
[Your Name]
REPORT BACK STATUS
Unresolved
Report Back
Coming Soon!
Asheville should reject or substantially revise the Caribou Road and Sweeten Creek developments in response to community concerns from Shiloh
PROBLEMATIC
Summary (Updated 5/18/26): City Council unanimously voted 7-0 to deny the Caribou Road rezoning proposal after extensive neighborhood opposition and public discussion regarding traffic safety, infrastructure limitations, pedestrian dangers, and consistency with the adopted Shiloh Community Plan. Residents repeatedly emphasized concerns about cumulative redevelopment pressure and whether the scale and design of the project fit the surrounding neighborhood. The Sweeten Creek proposal ultimately passed later in the meeting despite similar concerns being raised about access routes, road width, sidewalk limitations, and neighborhood compatibility. Although there were many overlapping community concerns about these two projects, stopping the Caribou Road project seemed more urgent to residents than addressing the Sweeten Creek proposal – the former yielded 26 public comment sigh-ups, where the latter yielded none.
Original Summary: The City should reject or substantially revise the proposed Caribou Road and Sweeten Creek developments because the Shiloh Community Association argues the projects conflict with the adopted Shiloh Community Plan, exceed infrastructure capacity, and threaten the long-term stability and character of the neighborhood.
The Facts: City Council is considering two major affordable housing developments connected to the Shiloh area:
- Caribou Road – approximately 100 affordable housing units
- Sweeten Creek Road – approximately 126 affordable housing units
Both projects are being advanced as tax-credit affordable housing developments.
At the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting, City staff acknowledged significant community concern related to infrastructure, traffic safety, pedestrian conditions, environmental impacts, and neighborhood compatibility.
You can read the Caribou development staff report here and see the presentation slides here. You can read the Sweeten Creek development staff report here and see the presentation slides here.
Our Assessment: Affordable housing is urgently needed in Asheville. But affordable housing alone does not automatically equal anti-displacement policy or community-centered development.
The Shiloh Community Association has formally opposed both proposals, stating that they are inconsistent with both the Shiloh Community Plan 2025 and the Living Asheville Comprehensive Plan. In its letter to City officials, the association raised concerns including:
- incompatibility with existing neighborhood character and scale
- insufficient infrastructure capacity
- traffic and pedestrian safety risks
- lack of sidewalks and traffic calming
- environmental impacts and loss of green space
- cumulative redevelopment pressure
- encroachment of higher-intensity development into residential areas
The association also emphasized that the Shiloh Community Plan specifically calls for development that is “compatible and sensitive to sustainable development” and generally consistent with the neighborhood’s existing residential character.
These concerns are significant because they are grounded not simply in opposition to growth, but in adopted neighborhood planning documents developed through years of collaboration between residents and the City itself.
Shiloh is a historic Black neighborhood that has already experienced decades of redevelopment pressure, infrastructure strain, and displacement concerns. Many residents view these proposals as examples of development happening to the neighborhood rather than with it.
The City should not move forward with projects of this scale without first addressing infrastructure readiness, pedestrian safety, environmental impacts, and meaningful neighborhood alignment. At minimum, these projects require substantial revision and deeper community engagement.
The Ask: We invited you to join us in urging City Council to honor the Shiloh Community Plan and reject or substantially revise the Caribou Road and Sweeten Creek proposals.
REPORT BACK STATUS
Resolved (Positively and Negatively)
Report Back
See summary above for more details.
Caribou Road – 7-0 opposed to rezoning
Sweeten Creek – 7-0 in favor of rezoning
Total GAP Supporter Actions Taken: 22
Recipients and Responses:
Asheville City Council
- Mayor Esther Manheimer: No response
- Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley: No response
- City Council Member Bo Hess: No response
- City Council Member Kim Roney: No response
- City Council Member Maggie Ullman: No response
- City Council Member Sage Turner: No response
- City Council Member Sheneika Smith: No response
Asheville should reject the proposed RTIC/Axon surveillance expansion until real oversight and accountability exist
URGENT
Summary (Updated 5/18/26): City Council approved the RTIC/Axon/Fusus proposal 6-1 (Roney opposed), allowing Asheville Police Department plans for a Real-Time Intelligence Center to move forward. Public testimony and Council discussion focused heavily on surveillance oversight, transparency, civil liberties, automated license plate readers, and long-term expansion of surveillance infrastructure.
Original Summary: The City should reject the proposed Real-Time Intelligence Center and Axon/Fusus surveillance expansion unless it first establishes meaningful transparency, public oversight, and enforceable guardrails around how surveillance technologies are used.
The Facts: City Council is being asked to approve funding and purchasing authority connected to a new Real-Time Intelligence Center (RTIC) and Axon/Fusus surveillance platform for the Asheville Police Department.
The proposal includes approximately $1.14 million in federal funding and would expand the Asheville Police Department (APD)’s ability to integrate:
- body and dash cameras
- drones
- public and private camera feeds
- live-streaming systems
- mapping and intelligence tools
APD describes the system as a tool for faster emergency response and improved situational awareness. City materials state that participation in camera integration programs is voluntary and that the system does not currently use facial recognition.
You can read the two staff reports on this issue here and here and see the presentation slides here.
Our Assessment: The core issue is not whether technology can sometimes assist emergency response. The issue is whether Asheville is prepared to create a centralized surveillance infrastructure without strong civilian oversight, transparency requirements, independent auditing, explicit bans on facial recognition, and meaningful public governance.
Community advocates, including Sunshine Labs, have raised significant concerns about the proposal, including:
- lack of public oversight
- absence of a final negotiated contract for Council review
- long-term vendor lock-in with Axon
- future AI and facial recognition expansion
- insufficient guardrails around data use and sharing
- risks of disproportionate surveillance in Black, immigrant, unhoused, and activist communities
(You can read Sunshine Labs’ more detailed analysis here. You can join their Community Forum on the surveillance issue from 6-8 pm tonight, Monday, May 11. Here is the link.)
We agree with Sunshine Labs that once these systems are established, they are extremely difficult to scale back and often expand beyond their original purpose. Asheville is moving faster on surveillance expansion than on the accountability structures needed to govern it responsibly. Across the country, surveillance technologies initially introduced for limited purposes have steadily expanded into broader monitoring systems with disproportionate impacts on historically over-policed communities.
The City should pause this proposal until robust oversight and public accountability measures are established.
The Ask: We invited you to join us in urging City Council to reject the RTIC/Axon/Fusus proposal unless meaningful public oversight and enforceable surveillance guardrails are adopted first.
REPORT BACK STATUS
Resolved Negatively
Report Back
See summary above for more details.
Council voted 6-1 (Roney opposed) to approve the expansion.
Total GAP Supporter Actions Taken: 22
Recipients and Responses:
Asheville City Council
- Mayor Esther Manheimer: No response
- Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley: No response
- City Council Member Bo Hess: No response
- City Council Member Kim Roney: No response
- City Council Member Maggie Ullman: No response
- City Council Member Sage Turner: No response
- City Council Member Sheneika Smith: No response
Asheville should move forward with the proposed CDBG-DR affordable housing investments
POSITIVE
Summary (Updated 5/18/26): City Council partially approved the proposed CDBG-DR affordable housing awards, voting to fund District East Commons and 319-B Biltmore while declining to move forward with Terrace at River Hills after a motion to fund the project failed for lack of a second. This is unfortunate – this was the most “shovel-ready” of the three proposed. The decision reflects a wariness on the part of City Council to commit CDBG-DR resources to multifamily affordable housing when uncertainty remains about whether there are sufficient funds to support single-family home repairs. We will be posting more about this issue soon.
Original Summary: The City should approve the proposed CDBG-DR affordable housing awards because they would create hundreds of long-term affordable homes and help reduce displacement pressures during post-Helene recovery.
The Facts: City Council is considering nearly $18 million in CDBG-DR disaster recovery funding for three affordable housing developments that would collectively create 331 affordable housing units.
The recommended projects are:
- Terrace at River Hills – 126 units
- District East Commons – 93 units
- 319-B Biltmore – 112 units
The City’s presentation notes that eligible projects must reserve at least 5% of units at rents affordable to households at or below 30% Area Median Income (AMI). The majority of the units proposed will be at or below 50% AMI.
The City explicitly frames these investments as part of a broader anti-displacement strategy intended to stabilize residents, preserve generational wealth, and reduce housing insecurity after the storm.
You can read the staff report here and see the presentation slides here.
Our Assessment: No affordable housing proposal is perfect, and Asheville still faces enormous housing affordability challenges. But on balance, these investments represent a meaningful and constructive use of disaster recovery funding.
The projects provide long-term affordability protections, leverage additional state and federal funding, and create housing at affordability levels that are increasingly difficult to build in Asheville’s current market.
Just as importantly, the presentation reveals that the City plans to pair renter-focused multifamily housing investments with expanded homeowner repair programs intended to help existing residents remain in place after Helene. (It’s worth noting that there are several available strategies for the City to address both the need for more multifamily rental housing and single-family home repair. It’s unclear to us that the City has landed on the best available strategy that will maximize returns on both of these critical needs. We will have more analysis on this issue in future reports.)
The bottom line is that this is a positive step. While the City needs to continue strengthening anti-displacement protections and community accountability, these housing awards move Asheville in the right direction.
The Ask: We invited you to join us in urging City Council to continue prioritizing deeply affordable housing and anti-displacement recovery investments.
REPORT BACK STATUS
Resolved (Positively and Negatively)
Report Back
Resolution authorizing the award of Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery multi-family housing funds to Commonwealth Development Corporation (District East Commons), and Laurel Street (319B Biltmore).
- Adopted Unanimously
Resolution authorizing the award of Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery multi-family housing funds to Mountain Housing Opportunities/South Creek Development (Terrace at River Hills).
- Ullman moved for a vote, but motion died for lack of a second
Total GAP Supporter Actions Taken: 22
Recipients and Responses:
Asheville City Council
- Mayor Esther Manheimer: No response
- Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley: No response
- City Council Member Bo Hess: No response
- City Council Member Kim Roney: No response
- City Council Member Maggie Ullman: No response
- City Council Member Sage Turner: No response
- City Council Member Sheneika Smith: No response
PREVIOUS REPORTS
GAP Report for 5/11/26
Asheville should reject or substantially revise the Caribou Road and Sweeten Creek developments in response to community concerns from Shiloh (new) Asheville should reject the proposed RTIC/Axon surveillance expansion until real oversight and accountability exist...
GAP Report for 5/4/26
0 Items Buncombe County is advancing budget, land use, and investment decisions without any anti-displacement analysis (new) Appeal deadline for property tax reappraisals is too early (resolved) The 50 Coxe Avenue affordable housing development should do more to...
GAP Report for 4/27/26
0 Items Buncombe County is advancing major decisions that impact displacement without clear analysis or a coordinated policy response (updated) Appeal deadline for property tax reappraisals is too early (updated) The 50 Coxe Avenue affordable housing development...
GAP Report for 4/20/26
0 Items Buncombe County is advancing major decisions that impact displacement without clear analysis or a coordinated policy response (new) Appeal deadline for property tax reappraisals is too early (updated) 0 Items 0 Items Buncombe County still not taking action on...
GAP Report for 4/13/26
0 Items 0 Items Appeal deadline for property tax reappraisals is too early Buncombe County needs to adopt an anti-displacement policy 0 Items Help Expand Government Accountability in Asheville We’ve had some of our most significant successes lately, with the...