Update: Asheville City Council postpones Public Hearing on rezoning of 1 Oak Street

A public hearing was scheduled for last week’s Asheville City Council meeting, seeking the approval of a rezoning request for a 10.5 acre parcel containing three properties on Oak Street.

In last week’s GAP Report, we raised the concern that the residents of the East End / Valley Street neighborhood, Asheville’s oldest historical Black community, had not been sufficiently engaged by the developers prior to this item coming to City Council. When the project went before the Design Review Committee in May, that body approved it with a list of conditions, one of which was that these developers consult with the East End / Valley Street neighborhood. This condition was not included in the list of project conditions that was put forward by staff to the City Council prior to last week’s meeting.

In response to the advocacy of GAP supporters, among others, the Asheville City Council voted unanimously to postpone this hearing until September 12th, 2023. Hopefully, City staff and the developers will use this extra time to meet with local residents and take their needs more fully into account as they move forward.