County Commission Agenda – Presentation: Economic Development Coalition (Slides)

The Economic Development Coalition is a “public-private partnership of Buncombe County, the City of Asheville and the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce advancing opportunity, quality of life and economic sustainability in Buncombe County through workforce investment, high-wage job creation & economic diversification.” In the presentation, the Coalition is reporting on some of it’s accomplishments over the past year, such as placing 153 people in new jobs in the County.

As is too often the case with Buncombe County Commission presentations and agenda items, this report does not include any demographic data. We wonder: how many of the folks who were placed into new jobs were Black or Brown? If this data wasn’t collected, why wasn’t it? And if it was collected, why isn’t it included in this report?

County Commission Agenda – Old Business: Board Meeting Time/Schedule Change (Survey Results) (proposal, presentation slides)

The Buncombe County Commission discussed a scheduling change at their June 6th meeting, and postponed a final decision, seeking more community input. They currently meet on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 5 pm. With the proposed change, they would meet at 10 am on the first Tuesday of each month; the meeting on the third Tuesday would remain at 5 pm. Survey feedback from the community was gathered from 101 people, with 59% favoring the proposed schedule change.

We still have questions about this proposed schedule change. A few weeks ago, we learned from Commissioner Martin Moore (and reported here) that the goal of this proposal is to open up access to Commission meetings to service workers and others who might be unable to attend a 5 pm meeting since they work evening hours. Unfortunately, the survey data seems inconclusive on this question. 70% of the survey takers indicated that they had attended County Commission meetings in the past, which leads us to suspect that the people who filled it out were not necessarily the population the schedule change is seeking to target. We wonder: What additional resources will the County put towards connecting and engaging with the folks they recognize are currently not attending? Is there some larger strategy for expanding access to Commission meetings? What about holding meetings at lunchtime, which might make it possible for both 9-5 employees and those who work evening hours to attend? Presuming that the County decides to proceed with this experimental schedule change, what data will they collect to determine whether more people are in fact participating? Will they track attendance and compare it to past records? Will they factor in racial demographics in that analysis?

Update: Asheville City Council Meeting June 27th, 2023 – Public Hearing D to conditionally zone 319 Biltmore Avenue from Regional Business District to Residential Expansion/Conditional Zone. (Staff Report, Presentation)

This was a rezoning request to facilitate the building of a new residential/commercial building adjacent to Maple Crest Apartments. The project site covers a total area of 4.59 acres, is located at 319 and 311 Biltmore Avenue, and will be developed into two buildings with a total of 221 residential units. From the staff report: “A total of 30% of the units (67 units) will be affordable with a target of 20% (45 units) at 60% Area Median Income (AMI) and below and a target of 10% (22 units) at 80% AMI and below, all for a minimum of 30 years.”

GAP joined an action alert from Just Economics, inviting the Asheville City Council to push for improvements to the plan. Just Economics suggested that an additional 10% of the units (22 units) be set-asides for Housing Choice Voucher recipients. They also called for “the commercial space to be designated for a small grocery store, child care center or other entity that benefits the residents of Maple Crest and the future residents of 319 Biltmore.”

This proposal was approved by a unanimous vote by City Council with no changes to the percentages of affordable units. Jen Hampton from Just Economics reported: “We heard from members of council that they heard from you all and that our concerns around the true affordability needed by our community are going to be taken into consideration… We also had a chance to speak to the developer about the different levels of affordability and the needs of the community regarding the retail space. They heard us and though they did not make a firm commitment, they did agree to take the needs of the community into account and do what they can to ensure the space is used in a way to meet those needs.”