Master Plan advisory committee meets

… the rule of law… missing for development downtown

 

ASHEVILLE – June 13 – At a meeting of select downtown stakeholders, known as the Advisory Committee for the Asheville Downtown Master Plan, was held at 2:00pm in the conference room of the Grove Arcade. Representatives from Goody Clancy, the Massachusetts firm with which the city has a $170,000 contract for revisioning downtown, gave an overview of the planning process to date. They had collected public input, and discovered that the rule of law was missing for development downtown, and a form-based code was desirable.

Dwight Butner, who has served on a number of advisory committees downtown, recommended that the planners look at the findings and recommendations of the Downtown Social Issues Task Force so they don’t reinvent the wheel. Butner described downtown as a place with a lot of law, but no order. The report contained recommendations for nuisance courts, judicial reform, and, most infamously, the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness.

With respect to urban form and policy, Joe Minicozzi, president of the Coalition of Asheville Neighborhoods, mentioned that the Asheville Downtown Commission had broad powers that had never been used, such as buying and selling land.

Planner David Dixon said Goody Clancy was surprised by how undefined negotiations in the realm of economic development and community benefit were. Since there was no definitive point of contact, people could shop answers. Dixon hoped Goody Clancy could institute a rule-of-law negotiations process.

After sundry comments about the need to grasp the bigger picture and implement a form-based code, Butner said, “I can’t think that big.” However, if people were going to be asked to improve their own property for the sake of the master plan, they needed to be compensated. He cited as an example shared parking lots. Goody Clancy reported that the parking study conducted by Kimley Horne indicated there was no shortage of parking spaces. The problem was getting churches and nightclubs to avail their empty lots for public use during times of peak demand. Butner said lot owners would need help with maintenance, and Dixon suggested the city could provide them with lighting and security for a win-win situation.

Dixon started to talk about TIFs and how the city might extract community benefits from high-end development. Owner of Magnolia’s and former city councilman Chris Peterson said Dixon was missing the “biggest point” stressed at the recent meeting Goody Clancy attended at the Chamber of Commerce. He advised Dixon to take it seriously. “I heard loud and clear that to get a building permit in the city, you have to go through h***; and if you follow all the rules, you get extorted.” He told how city council plays a major part. As an example, he cited the Grove Park Inn having to pay for $650,000 in traffic calming in his neighborhood. Neither he nor his neighbors wanted it.

Actively listening, Dixon restated Peterson’s complaint: Developers increase the value of downtown. They have the money. It was a given that their wealth should be redistributed, but what was needed was predictable and equitable guidelines so one developer was not burdened with more “extortion” than another.

Peterson regretted that most of the downtown business owners who would be taken advantage of in the process did not have the luxury of taking time off work for the public forums. He wanted to know well in advance when the next meeting would be so busy people could start making arrangements to take time off.

Butner suggested business owners don’t show up because they have no faith in the process. They spend 365 days a year downtown. They see their property taxes double amidst increasing graffiti and crime. Public forums generate a lot of “fluffy,” “unrealistic” “pipe dreams,” and downtown property owners get stuck with the bill. The perception is that the business elite is on top, when in fact they’re on the bottom, having to follow all the rules; pay for privileges, inspections, and citizen amenities; pay the taxes; etc.

Dixon asked how the committee might more proactively reach out to citizens’ groups to get them to show city council and others that they really are onboard with the master planning process. Goody Clancy wanted to hear more from the African-American community, which has been severely under-represented at the public forums. One member at the table suggested capitalizing on the Parkside hype, stating a real or perceived crisis was usually necessary to stir the public to action. Dixon noted that many minorities live in public housing, and that is land often viewed for eminent domain.

Dixon suggested wagging council members through their constituencies. It was suggested that moms could hand out flyers on street corners, and flyers could be purchased for newspaper inserts and distribution at libraries. Dixon was surprised at how the newspapers in this town were “not the most cooperative.”

Kelly Miller, from the Chamber of Commerce, suggested the lack of excitement could come from the public looking at costs and not benefits when considering, for example, TIFs. Dixon added that the implementation of the master plan would need a point person, probably the mayor, who would have the power to make decisions when the public process dragged beyond set deadlines.

The next public meeting will be held on July 28 and 29. It will give citizens an opportunity to comment on a draft master plan. Times and locations are yet to be announced. Dixon is still accepting comments at david.Dixon@goodyclancy.com.
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Leslee Kulba is a Tribune staff writer.