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.

Things to do: We invite you to use our email template to urge City Council to honor the Shiloh Community Plan and reject or substantially revise the Caribou Road and Sweeten Creek proposals. (The template also addresses the other two issues in our report: the expansion of surveillance and the allocation of funding for affordable housing through disaster recovery money.)

Email Template: You can send an email to the Asheville City Council 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: AshevilleNCCouncil@ashevillenc.gov

CC: or BCC: info@gapavl.org

Subject: Please reject the RTIC surveillance proposal and honor the Shiloh Community Plan

Dear Mayor and Council Members,

I am writing regarding several important items on the May 12 City Council agenda.

First, I urge you to reject the proposed Real-Time Intelligence Center (RTIC) and Axon/Fusus surveillance expansion unless meaningful public oversight, transparency requirements, and enforceable guardrails are established first. Asheville should not move forward with expanded real-time surveillance infrastructure without strong civilian accountability, independent oversight, and explicit protections against future misuse or expansion of these technologies.

Second, I urge you to honor the Shiloh Community Plan 2025 and the concerns raised by the Shiloh Community Association regarding the proposed Caribou Road and Sweeten Creek developments. While affordable housing is urgently needed, residents have raised serious concerns about infrastructure capacity, pedestrian safety, environmental impacts, neighborhood character, and cumulative redevelopment pressure in this historic Black neighborhood.

I respectfully ask you to reject or substantially revise these proposals in genuine partnership with the Shiloh community.

Finally, I encourage you to continue supporting the proposed Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) affordable housing investments, which would create hundreds of long-term affordable homes and help reduce displacement pressures after Helene.

Please prioritize accountability, transparency, and community-centered decision-making in your votes on these proposals.

Thank you for your consideration.

[Your Name]

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