Summary: Residents have repeatedly asked Buncombe County to address displacement and adopt an anti-displacement framework, yet County leaders continue making major housing and recovery decisions without one and without providing any meaningful public response. Commissioners should explain whether they intend to address displacement and why they have ignored these concerns.

The facts: Over the past six months, a range of residents with diverse interests have repeatedly urged Buncombe County to adopt an anti-displacement strategy or analysis framework. GAP supporters have sent emails, submitted public comments, met with officials, and spoken at County Commission meetings.

At the June 2 meeting alone, multiple speakers urged commissioners to consider displacement impacts when making housing, recovery, and economic development decisions. These requests came from affordable housing advocates, displaced business owners, housing bond supporters, and GAP members.

Meanwhile, the County continues advancing major housing and recovery initiatives, including these on their June 16th agenda:

• A proposed $40 million housing bond
• Affordable housing investments
• Commercial district revitalization projects
• Recovery investments associated with the Helene Recovery Plan
• Hazard mitigation property acquisitions and redevelopment planning

Taken together, these initiatives will shape where people live, whether businesses return, and who can afford to remain in Buncombe County in the years ahead.

Our Assessment: We support many of the County’s housing and recovery investments. What concerns us is the County’s apparent unwillingness to engage with residents about displacement.

Over the past six months, community members have repeatedly raised concerns that public investments can unintentionally accelerate displacement if governments fail to track who benefits, who is being left behind, and whether existing residents can afford to remain in place.

County leaders have never publicly explained why they have declined to pursue an anti-displacement framework. They have never publicly discussed the proposal at a County Commission meeting. They have never explained whether displacement is being analyzed in some other way. They have never responded to the central question residents continue asking: How will Buncombe County know whether its housing and recovery investments are actually helping vulnerable residents remain in their communities?

Reasonable people can disagree about policy. But public accountability requires engagement. When residents take the time to write thoughtful emails, prepare public comments, attend meetings, and speak directly to elected officials, they deserve more than silence.

If County leaders disagree with the proposal, they should explain why.

If they support the idea, they should act on it.

What they should not do is continue pretending the issue has not been raised.

Things to do: Contact the County Commission and ask commissioners whether they intend to address displacement concerns and why residents have received no meaningful response after months of raising the issue.

Email Template: You can send an email to the members of 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.

Important: If you receive a response to your email, please forward it to us at info@gapavl.org so we can reflect that in the report back.

Subject: Do you read the emails residents send you?

Dear Commissioners,

For months, residents have been asking Buncombe County to address displacement.

People have sent emails. People have made public comments. People have attended meetings. People have proposed specific solutions.

Yet there has been no meaningful public response.

You may disagree with the proposal for an anti-displacement framework. You may believe another approach would work better. But residents deserve to know whether their concerns are even being considered.

Why has the County not publicly responded to repeated requests for an anti-displacement strategy?

How are displacement impacts currently being evaluated?

If displacement is not being evaluated, why not?

Public participation only works when public officials are willing to engage with the people they represent.

I would appreciate a response.

Sincerely,

Report Back

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