Report Back

(Updated 8/3/26): Council voted 4–2 to approve rezoning approximately 40 acres of the Asheville Mall from Urban Place to Regional Business, with Councilmembers Kim Roney and Sage Turner voted against. The decision went against the recommendations of both City staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission. It removes requirements intended to produce housing, walkability, internal street connections, and transit-supportive redevelopment without securing a specific development plan or enforceable public benefits. Although supporters argued that Urban Place zoning had made redevelopment financially and practically difficult, the vote gave away substantial public leverage over one of Asheville’s largest redevelopment opportunities.

Summary: The owner of the Asheville Mall is asking Council to rezone approximately 41 acres from Urban Place to Regional Business without presenting a specific redevelopment project. The change would weaken mixed-use, walkability, and transit-supportive development requirements while allowing unrestricted drive-throughs and broader automobile-oriented commercial uses.

The facts: The property contains an approximately 198,000-square-foot mall building and extensive surface parking. Current zoning is intended to transform sites like this into mixed-use town centers containing housing and commercial space. Regional Business zoning would still allow multifamily housing, but it would remove requirements intended to produce a walkable, connected development—such as standards governing building placement, block size, street-facing buildings, internal sidewalks and trees, and the location of drive-through lanes. Planning and Zoning recommended denial 4–3, and staff recommends denial.

Our Assessment: We are marking this “problematic” because by approving this request, the City would surrender leverage over one of Asheville’s largest redevelopment opportunities without receiving a site plan, housing commitment, affordability requirement, street network, transit improvement, or other enforceable public benefit. Council should deny the straight rezoning and invite the owner to return with a conditional, mixed-use proposal.

Things to do: Residents who contact City Council (AshevilleNCCouncil@ashevillenc.gov) may wish to emphasize:

• Council should reject the request to replace Urban Place zoning with Regional Business zoning.
• The owner has not presented a specific redevelopment plan or offered enforceable commitments involving housing, affordability, transit, walkability, or other public benefits.
• The current zoning preserves the possibility of transforming approximately 41 acres of mall and surface parking into a mixed-use, transit-supportive town center.
• Rezoning now would give away the City’s leverage while permitting more automobile-oriented development, including drive-through businesses without the current requirement that they have only one lane located behind the building..
• When the owner has a viable redevelopment proposal, it should return with a conditional rezoning application that allows Council and the public to evaluate the actual project and secure enforceable community benefits.