City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, welcome everyone to the Asheville City Council meeting. If you could just take a moment to silence your cell phones and please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Side note, for me, one thing I love about the World Cup is all the different national anthems. Some of them aren't very good, but some of them are pretty good. That just made me think of it. Okay, I'm going to read our chamber decorum statement. Members of the public attending council meetings or addressing the council shall abide by the following rules. Everyone shall follow the instructions of the mayor or any other presiding officer or official and shall refrain from impeding or interrupting the conduct of business. This shall include but not be limited to clapping, yelling, or other audio expressions of approval or disapproval of comments made during the meeting. Persons addressing the council are expected to observe the decorum of the chamber, to be respectful of the council and the public, to refrain from the use of profanity or foul language, to refrain from personal attacks and commentary on candidates for political office, and to refrain from making disclosures prohibited by the Personnel Privacy Act with respect to any city employee. Failure to abide by these rules may subject you to removal from the council chamber. Thank you. Okay, we have one proclamation, and that is Asheville Parks and Recreation Month, and I know we have our Director D. Tyrell McGirt here, but do we also have anyone else? Okay. Christa and I planned our shoe wear. All right. Welcome, everybody. Always good to see some Parks and Rec swag here. City of Asheville Proclamation. Whereas the French Broad and Swannanoa Rivers have hosted recreation experiences for thousands of years dating to Cherokee towns and villages with meeting plazas, hunting grounds, racetracks, and courts for ball play along the riverbanks in present-day Asheville. And whereas from at least 1797, the area in and around Pack Square Park has acted as the city's public square, providing many of the benefits of modern parks. And whereas Asheville's public park system began in the 1890s when the George Willis Pack complex not the, when George Willis Pack provided land for Aston and Montford Parks to foster civic pride and mountain spirit. Whereas the city of Asheville began providing recreation services in 1933 through the Parks and Playgrounds Division of Public Works, creating a year-round recreation program in 1945. And whereas the city of Asheville created a Parks and Recreation Department in 1956, to manage and expand access to shared leisure experiences for community members of all ages through parks, swimming pools, athletic spaces, community centers, and natural areas. Whereas the United States commemorates 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, its founding document that asserts the fundamental principle that all persons are created equal and possess unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. whereas equitable access to parks recreation and active living experiences are also fundamental rights integral to the health identity and economic and environmental well-being of Asheville fostering social connections promoting health and wellness and creating a sense of belonging for every person who calls our beautiful city their home and whereas Well-designed and maintained parks are essential and adaptable infrastructure that make our area resilient in the face of natural disasters and climate change, providing cost-effective and sustainable environmental solutions while preserving history, culture, beauty, and the well-being of neighborhoods. And whereas this year, Asheville Parks and Recreation celebrates 70 years as the trusted steward of our community's shared recreation spaces, including hundreds of acres of parks, playgrounds, greenways, and open areas throughout the city in a system that includes full complex recreation centers, swimming pools, Riverside Cemetery, sports fields and courts, and community centers that offer a variety of wellness, education, and culture-related programs for people of all ages every day. Now, therefore, I, Esther Manheimer, Mayor of the City of Asheville, do hereby proclaim July has Asheville Parks and Recreation Month in Asheville and encourage all Asheville residents to partake and enjoy all the parks and recreational opportunities the city and its partners have to offer.

Thank you, Mayor. I try to be quick. Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council, D. Tyrell McGirt, Parks and Recreation Director, thank you for recognizing July 2026 as Asheville Parks and Recreation Month as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country and we think about the rights of liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness for all people. We are reminded through Asheville Parks and Rec those rights We have the opportunity to see those rights play out in action every day within our public spaces. I do want to recognize that long before the country was founded 250 years ago, the French Broad and Swannanoa Rivers hosted recreation and community events with Cherokee villages on a regular basis. And I also want to recognize that our park system is not just acres of parkland, greenways, and community centers, but the true art beat of Asheville Parks and Recreation within our dedicated staff. And we have a few with us today. So as I call out their names, I want to recognize, just as we're celebrating a lone legacy with our country's history and 70 years with Asheville Parks and Rec, we have a few employees who have spent more than 20 years with Asheville Parks and Recreation Department. Kimberly Kennedy, who is currently serving as the Facility Manager at Stevens League Community Center, 20 years of service. Brandon Yates, currently serving as the Cemetery Manager over at Riverside Cemetery, 22 years. Candy Hensley Shaw, currently serving as division manager with the Recreation Management Division. Shatisha Bowden, currently serving as facility manager over at Grove Street Community Center. And Kimberly Turner, currently serving as one of our project managers all 26 years of service. Tamika Hill, currently serving as the facility manager at Lintwood Crump Shiloh Community Center, 29 years of service. And he couldn't be with us today, but we have one employee, Al Coff, who has been with the department 40 years of service. These seven employees have spent decades ensuring that our residents here in Asheville from toddler age to seniors have a place to belong, heal, and thrive. So as we celebrate again the 220th anniversary of our country, 70 years of the department, we invite you to come out to any of Asheville Parks and Recreation facilities or parks to enjoy our system. Thank you, Mayor, for the recognition. We do have one more thing. We have Madison come up. She has a special guest. You all may have noticed some artwork on the front of the budget book, and on the back of it, we're gonna have Madison tell a little story about how we got to that project.

Hi, guys. Thank you so much for having me. My name is Madison Hicks. I'm one of the full-time program leaders over at Stevens League Community Center. and I have the honor of introducing Ms. Gladys Dre. Ms. Gladys has been a part of Stevens Lee community since a toddler. She's been coming to toddler programs, summer camp, and she's been in my youth after school program for the past two years. Back in May, City Hall invited us to participate in the 2026 Asheville Budget Cover Contest. Gladys entered at her submission and she has won second place. So we just came in here today to recognize her. Gladys is very artistically talented. She's very involved with the community at Stevens Lee, and we love having her. So thank you guys very much for letting her come over here today.

Council, I'm just gonna stay down here to highlight one item on the consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved. Do I have a second?

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SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. SECOND. Item X, which is a resolution in support of Leonard Antonelli, Jacob Hill, and Alex Rosos. And if anyone is here on this item, please come forward.

So what I'll do is I'll read the resolution, and then you all would like to introduce yourselves.

And thank you very much for allowing us to change it. This is a resolution in support of Leonard Antonelli, Jacob Hill, and Alex Rosso's Bicycle Safety Zone Act of 2025. And that's because that's when it was first enacted. It was in 2025. Otherwise known as Lenny's Law. Whereas the City of Asheville is committed to promoting the safety, health, and well-being of all residents and visitors, including those who utilize public roadways for cycling and other forms of active transportation. And whereas Western North Carolina is home to a vibrant and growing cycling community, with many roadways, particularly in and around Asheville, serving as popular and heavy traffic cycling routes. And whereas on July 1st, 2025, Leonard Antonelli, Lenny, age 27, and Jacob Hill, Jake, age 32, were tragically killed while Griffin Tichenor was injured when a commercial vehicle crossed the center line and struck them during a weekly group cycling ride near Asheville, North Carolina. And whereas on July 18, 2024, Alex Rosos, age 26, died after being hit while riding on Swannanoa River Road near the intersection with South Tunnel Road. And whereas this tragic crash, tragic crashes underscores the urgent need for enhanced roadway safety measures to protect cyclists and prevent future loss of life. Whereas the proposed Leonard Antonelli, Jacob Hill, and Alex Rosas Bicycle Safety Zone Act of 2025, also known as Lenny's Law, seeks to establish designated bicycle safety zones on popular cycling routes across North Carolina, where stricter enforcement of posted speed limits and increased penalties for violations would apply. Whereas Lenny's Law proposed a practical, cost-effective approach modeled after school safety measures, that is non-invasive to private property owners and existing roadways, including the installation of clear signage designating bicycle safety zones to increase driver awareness and accountability. Whereas data consistently identify excessive speed as a leading contributing factor in vehicle cyclist collisions, and enhanced enforcement mechanisms can play a critical role in reducing such crashes. Whereas local leaders and advocates have expressed support for the concept of bicyclist safety zones as a proactive step toward improving roadway safety. And whereas regional partners, including the French Broad Metropolitan Planning Organization and the North Carolina Department of Transportation are actively evaluating strategies to improve safety along key corridors, further demonstrating the need for coordinated action. And whereas the City of Asheville recognizes that safer roadways benefit all users, including motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians, and contributes to a more livable, connected, and resilient community, Now, therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of the City of Asheville that, one, the City of Asheville formally expresses its strong support for the establishment of a law that increases awareness and consequences for speeding on designated roadways that meet prescribed criteria for bicycle safety, and two, The city supports collaboration with state and regional agencies to identify and designate appropriate bicycle safety zones within and near Asheville based on data, community input, and demonstrated need. And three, the city encourages the North Carolina General Assembly to adopt this legislation to enhance cyclist safety through the establishment of bicycle safety zones and increase penalties for speeding violations within those zones. And four, the city honors the memory of Leonard Antonelli, Jacob Hill, and Alex Rosos and recognizes this legislation as a meaningful step toward preventing future tragedies.

All right, if you would like to come and say a few words.

My name is Maddie Brando. I'm a resident of Asheville, and I work in Henderson County. I would like to share my story regarding the crash on NC 251 on July 1st, 2025 that killed Lenny Antonelli and Jake Hill and injured Griffin Tischner. On Sunday, June 29th, my boyfriend Lenny Antonelli took me to a jeweler to pick out an engagement ring. Afterwards, we went to a brewery to finalize our schedule for moving in together a few days later on July 4th. We called his parents, and they were so excited to hear we were looking at rings. Lenny told me he planned to ask my dad for his blessing at the cycling races in Indianapolis later in July. Instead, two days later, on July 1st, I called Lenny's parents, this time to tell them that Lenny was hit and killed by the driver of a dump truck on NC 251. They were riding on the regular Tuesday night group ride that has been going on since the 80s. His life ended when we were supposed to be at the start of the rest of our lives together. In my grief, I am advocating for changes to ensure no one else has to experience what I'm going through. It's been nearly a year, and it still feels like yesterday for me. It's pretty surreal for me to be standing here in front of you all. I never imagined doing anything like this. And actually, I... I just heard that there was a crash near Hendersonville Road today. And I don't know any details, but I know that we have to do something. These things keep happening every day. And it's terrible. However, I am grateful for the speed limit reduction and increased signage for bicycle activity on NC 251. I'm not sure if you guys have seen, there's brand new signs and the speed limit went down. It was as high as 55 in some areas and it's down to 40. And I am grateful for that and I will continue to fight for changes and improvements for all vulnerable road users. I want everyone in this room to reflect on what action they can take to improve road safety. I believe supporting these bicycle safety zones is a simple step towards improving road safety. Thank you guys for listening to me.

Thank you Maddie. It's not easy for her to tell that story every time, so thank you for your courage to do that. Well, my name is Adam Smith, and it's an honor to be with you this evening, though I wish it was under happier circumstances. But I was born and raised in Asheville, so I'm particularly happy to be here and grateful for the opportunity. First, I'd like to thank you, Mayor, for having us and your support of this proposal for Lenny's Law, and thank you, Council members, for your support as well and for giving us the time to speak with you tonight. So on July 2nd, 2025, my wife was looking through the news and she said, did you hear about the crash on Riverside Drive? And I said, yeah, I saw something about it. She said, you didn't know the guys, did you? She looked and she said it was Leonard and Jacob. And I said, gratefully, I said, no, I didn't know a Leonard or a Jacob. And then she said, but they called him Lenny and he worked at Liberty Bikes. And at that moment, my heart just sank, and it was like a gut punch because I did know Lenny. I knew Lenny actually quite well from my business connections with Liberty Bikes. And Lenny's death was a loss for the whole community, not just for cyclists, not just for the cycling community, but for everybody. He truly was a fine young man, and I was honored to know him. I heard the same thing about Jacob, though I did not know him. And then I also want to acknowledge that Griffin, who was supposed to be with us tonight, was also hit and injured. Luckily, managed to escape. And Bo, we also want to acknowledge Alex Rosos in this act as well, who lost his life in 2024. So thank you for bringing that to our attention and honoring him. So I'm the chair of the Woodfin Parks and Community Enrichment Committee. We call it PACE for short. And a week after the accident happened, we were having our meeting. And we were discussing anything that we could do to make cycling safer for cyclists out there on our roads. And I said, well, why can't we just designate Riverside Drive as like a bicycle safety zone, like a school zone, slow people down? Everyone looked around and they said, that is a great idea. So I went home and I did some research. And it turns out this idea does not exist anywhere in the United States. And this is where I feel like there's some higher power stuff going on to make this happen. Because a week after that, I was at an event that my company was sponsoring, a marathon event. And I was speaking with one of the volunteers about my idea for Lenny's Law. And when I said Lenny's Law, she turned to me and she said, Lenny was my fiance. It was Maddie. So it was just like this serendipitous moment where we connected and I gave her a big hug and There's no way it was just a coincidence. And she said, in four days, I'm presenting this to the MPO, and I'd love for you to come and present this idea with me as well. And I said, of course I would. So in October, we went to the French Broad MPO. We presented. She presented. And they loved the idea. And in response, they updated and or installed 96 signs on Riverside Drive. And they lowered the speed limit. So there's already been some positive change that has happened. And that was a great start, and we really appreciate it. But we know there's more work to be done. So Lenny's Law, I believe you all know what it is. What is it? It encompasses the idea for a bicycle safety zone. It's so simple. It's just a sign. It's a sign with increased fines for speeding next five miles, for example. That's what it would say. It's simple. It's effective infrastructure. and we come before you today to humbly ask for your support and request your official endorsement of the idea of Lenny's Law through the resolution that Mayor Manheimer just read. What we're trying to do is we're trying to build a coalition of municipalities to endorse this idea And Woodfin has already done so. They became the first to do so. Because we want to take this to the North Carolina General Assembly and get this passed into law at the North Carolina state level. And then perhaps beyond North Carolina and have this become a law all over the United States. But Asheville has a unique opportunity to become the first city to enact a bicycle safety zone. So that is our second request that we work together to get one of these up and see if we can make some positive change right here in Asheville. Because this idea will save lives. It will prevent tragedy. It will prevent people like Maddie from suffering the kind of devastation that she has experienced. And it will make a difference. So thank you so much for your support. We really appreciate it.

Okay, thank you very much. Okay, council, we have a motion and a second to adopt the consent agenda. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Next, we're going to move on to the manager's report, and I'll turn it over to our manager, Wesley.

Thank you, Mayor. We do not have a report for tonight, so I will yield my time.

All right.

We're going to move right along here. We're going to go to our public hearings agenda. That was great. It didn't say anything. Our first public ‑‑ oh, Will's already here. I was imagining you stuck in the stairwell. A public hearing to rezone 99999 Deaverview Road from RM8 residential multifamily medium density to RM16 residential multifamily high density.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, members of council. Will Pompous with Planning and Urban Design. I'll be presenting this rezoning petition for the property at 99999 Beaverview Road. This is a straight rezoning petition, so there are no plans or proposed projects associated with this. It is a request to change the zoning from one district to another. Here you can see the property outlined in red in the western edge of Asheville towards the municipal boundary. It is located off Deaverview Road. It's near Deaverview Road, Ford Road, city-owned site that's just to the north of this property, across Deaverview Road. Just to point out, it's kind of an unusually shaped lot. There's actually no frontage on Deaverview Road. It would not be created like this today, but it's kind of a holdover from older plot lines. So the existing zoning on the property is residential multifamily medium density. The applicant is requesting a rezoning to the residential multifamily high density districts. The future land use as designated in the city's comprehensive plan is residential neighborhood. No change in that would be required. The rezoning request was reviewed and approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission at their June 3rd meeting. And then this table breaks down the main differences between the two districts. You can see the RM8 in the center column and the RM16 on the right column. Really the main difference between these two districts is the density of units allowed and then the minimum lot size required for parcels in each district. So for instance, the existing RM8 requires that new lots be 4,000 square feet minimum, whereas the RM16 requires smaller lots and therefore more lots to be created at 2,500 square feet instead. Staff has identified that the main pro of this rezoning is that it would allow for slightly higher densities of multifamily residential development on smaller minimum lot sizes and has not identified any cons with the request. In terms of compatibility, the purpose of RM 16 is outlined here. It talks about a full range of high density multi-family housing types. Staff finds that the rezoning would be compatible with the surrounding land uses, specifically existing duplexes just to the north of the subject property and the larger surrounding residential neighborhood. Staff finds that the request is consistent with the future land use designation of residential neighborhood. That talks about a variety of housing types that can range from townhomes, duplexes, apartment complexes as well, and that over time these areas can benefit from having more housing diversity. RM 16 district is cited as an appropriate district within the residential neighborhood future land use category. The rezoning would support the following goals in the city's comprehensive plan to increase and diversify the housing supply by promoting zoning policies to encourage more housing and to celebrate the unique identity of neighborhoods through creative placemaking by continuing to support contextually appropriate infill development and a variety of housing types. Therefore, staff concurs with the Planning and Zoning Commission and recommends approval of the proposed rezoning. I'm glad to answer any questions you might have.

I have a couple. Sure. Do we have any responsibility for access?

So the city does have to confirm access to the site if there's ever a development proposal. So since there is no direct frontage on Giverview Road, the applicant would have to secure an easement or other.

It looks like there's adjacent areas that could, but we don't have to. It's not part of this process of rezoning.

It's not germane to rezoning, but would have to be proven at a time of any kind of development.

Can you go back to the zoning district comparison? This is actually not, I just want to point it out so we don't lose it in the context, but does this density square footage seem odd to you? That RM8 requires more than RM16? I'm just thinking in the future review of our UDO.

It returns to the two units per 4,000 square feet?

Versus 2,500 for more, yeah. It just seems like that would be different.

So it does mean that the RMA allows for fewer units on the same size lot compared to ARM 16? Yeah, it's more dense on the RMA. Correct. So it is true that the ARM 16 is more dense than the RMA. It's a really kind of, I think, unique way of phrasing it.

It is how you want it. I just think it's... The minimum lot size might be tweaked as we look at the UDO.

It's not related to this project. I just wanted to make a note of that.

Because you can clearly do it for 2,500 square feet.

Interesting. So the straight rezone, we don't have to see any kind of plans, projects, drawings, elevations, nothing but rezone.

Correct. It would be anything permissible, permitted in the RM-16 district would apply to this property if the rezoning was approved.

I can make a motion. Hold on, let me see if we, sorry. No public comment. Okay, no one has signed up for public comment, so I will open the public hearing and I will close the public hearing and I will entertain a motion.

I move to approve the rezoning request to the property located at 99999 Deaverview Road from residential multifamily medium density RM8 to residential multifamily... high density RM16 and find that the request is reasonable, is in the public interest, consistent with the city's comprehensive plan, meets the development needs of the community in that the request promotes zoning policies to encourage more housing and supports contextually appropriate infill development in a variety of housing types.

Second.

All right, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, that's a seven to zero approval. Next, item B. I need a motion to continue this item to July 28th, 2026. I don't know why we're doing that to you, Mayor.

Sorry.

Who seconded it? Apologies.

I don't know why.

We have a motion to second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right. Thank you. And then finally, a public hearing for moratorium on new data center development. And we're going to hear from Chris Collins.

All right, good evening, Mayor, Council, I'm Chris Collins with the City's Planning and Urban Design Department. And between myself and Brad Branham, we're gonna take you through a potential moratorium for data centers within the city of Asheville. So to go over the issues we're looking at today or tonight with this potential moratorium, we do know that data centers have been shown to produce intensive impacts on local electric and water utilities. In addition, may pose significant impacts on neighboring properties. That can be anything from heat to light to noise. The city does currently lack a definition for this land use within the Unified Development Ordinance. and as well does not have any concrete policies, strategies, or tools to effectively manage the impacts of this use. That lack of direction results in uncertainty for developers, staff, and community members within the city of Asheville. And the city does need sufficient time to study this land use and zone for it appropriately. The need we're looking at here is time to effectively respond and provide some level of certainty to determine where these things should occur and how they should occur. And also, for that reason, consideration of new data center development applications should be suspended to allow for that time. I want to make it clear we aren't aware of any incoming data center applications and we don't have any right now. So there's nothing on the radar pushing this. It's just to give us time to move forward So what would this look like? The way we've written the ordinance for you all to review tonight, this moratorium would apply to any new development applications, use, or change of use that would fall under a specific NAICS code for data processing, hosting, and related services. There's kind of a catch-all phrase in there, any facility functionally equivalent to such uses. What it would not apply to, and this is spelled out in the ordinance as well, is any data processing equipment or server rooms that are incidental or accessory uses to other things. So think about communications boxes, small servers. Our hospitals have data facilities, things like that. Those would not be subject to this moratorium. And then I'm going to hand it over to Brad for a moment, and I'll be back with you after he takes you through the legal ins and outs.

Thank you, Chris, and good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council. My name is Brad Branham. I have the pleasure to serve as your city attorney, but tonight I'm going to take a stand here and give you a little information about moratoriums. Moratoriums are a highly legally regulated practice that is authorized in North Carolina. In order to do it, though, you've got to meet certain legal requirements. So while Chris is going to give you a little more of the substance of what is proposed and the plan, for the city and city staff i want to go over what has been essentially the results of the legal analysis of this process so to start i do want to say the the answer to the big question you are legally authorized to issue a moratorium of this nature in north carolina there are a few elements that legally we must as a city meet in order to move this forward and i believe we have met each one of them but i want to go over each very quickly with you First, the city has to have a valid purpose for a moratorium. And we have to, as Chris has just done, specifically define those permits or those land use applications that we would be placing under this moratorium. Now, the duration of the moratorium is also defined by statute. It must be temporary and it must be reasonable, specifically related to the time that we require to address the problem that we identified as our purpose. We're not allowed to exceed that time and we have to consider alternative options to the moratorium. The moratorium should be the last course of action available and you will hear, I think Chris mentioned that, but this is something we've also looked at alternatives already to decide if there were any other courses of action we could bring before you and we feel that the only adequate one is the moratorium. And finally, the ordinance must specifically give a termination date, and it must lay out the schedule that staff is going to follow in order to address the problem that we have outlined. Now, let me hit each one of those very quickly. I've also linked to each one of these slides the specific statutory reference for all of the fans out there of state statutes who want to reference them themselves. As I said, we have to have a valid purpose. And in this case, the purpose would be to create the definitions of data centers, which we don't currently have, and to then roll that into the necessary regulations and zoning classifications in order for this particular land use to be appropriately allowed to develop only in those areas where we're able to mitigate unforeseen and disproportionate negative impacts on the community, the environment, and our infrastructure. Duration. As I mentioned earlier, North Carolina allows you to do this, but it must be temporary. Now, I will mention that although the state statute doesn't put a ceiling on how long these can be, our U.S. Supreme Court has said that anything over a year is going to warrant some skepticism. In our case, we looked at how long we think this is actually going to take, and we are proposing a full-year moratorium, which has been held to be constitutionally supported. next we have to lay out the actual schedule and describe the task that we are going to take as a staff in order to address the problem that we've mentioned now staff is going to propose and chris is going to tell you a little more about this a four-phased approach throughout the next year which will essentially involve analysis public engagement and bringing back some proposals to you in the form of ordinances and regulations uh through the committee's process uh and then eventually to council so that you your advisory boards and the committees of this body can give due consideration to those legislative changes process wise we have already brought this proposal to the pede committee i believe we got unanimous approval to move this forward from that body the legal notices that are required have already been sent out and you are here on the 23rd tonight to conduct the required public hearing for a moratorium, which we're going to do in just a moment when I shut off. Council then has the ability to vote on what will be an ordinance. So this is effectively law through your ordinance-making power. This requires probably only one vote. If we receive sufficient votes from you tonight, there is no waiting period. The moratorium would go into effect immediately. And finally, just to sum this up for you again, the most important question, you do have legal authority. We've reviewed this in my office and we believe that the necessary purpose has sufficient legal support. We believe that the alternative options have been sufficiently analyzed and that a moratorium is the appropriate and necessary step. We are recommending one year, which we think is legally supported and justifiable. And once council conducts its public hearing, you will have the chance to vote on the ordinance to start this process. And the rest of the process will then take place thereafter, which Chris will outline for you, which again will give us time to develop the future policy and regulations and incorporate that into our UDO around data centers. As Chris mentioned, we don't have any applications right now as we stand here today for data centers, but it is important to remember that per statute, any data center that already had what we call a vestigrat, which has already had an application that had been approved, they would be unaffected by this moratorium. I don't think there's any that apply in that case. With that, thank you, Council. I'm going to still be here to answer your questions. I'll probably even come sit next to you if that's okay, but I'm going to hand this back to Chris. But I'll answer your question first, Council Member.

While you're there, as noted in the Planning Economic Development Environment Committee meeting, the list in the NAICS Code 518.210 includes virtual currency mining, aka cryptocurrency.

it's in the list of 32 uses so i just wanted to um get you to confirm on the record in this meeting that we are including the full list including cryptocurrency i'm going to do whatever you really smart attorney does and turn around to chris and make sure he's nodding before i yeah that we have confirmed that we've looked at that and that is an absolutely perfect segue for me to bring chris up here to talk to you about some of those substantive matters thank you

Okay, thank you, Brad. I am still Chris Collins, playing in Urban Design Department. So what Brad mentioned, we'd be looking, we are proposing a 12-month moratorium. It's really the most we can do. Why are we proposing 12 months? I'm gonna talk you through this slide that we have up now. Before that, I wanna remind you that this is with the backdrop of a planning staff that is working right now to update, do a minor update to a comprehensive plan and a full rewrite of all development regulations So, we have to work this in with that. So, keep that in mind as we look at the duration for some of these steps. But, of course, phase one is research and development. We've been working the past few weeks to get this moratorium proposed and put together. We would be looking to spend about 30 days on research and development. We have, of course, already done some to get this together, but there's a lot more to do to understand the landscape we're working with. Phase two would be selected engagement looking for the right folks to talk to about this making sure everyone has a chance to interact with us as we develop this ordinance and these rules and regulations around it and phase three we're allowing a good chunk of time in there for actually drafting the ordinance and the materials drafting of course includes making everything making sure everything else planners draft up is vetted by our legal team and is legal and getting it ready to present to the Planning and Zoning Commission for recommendation to City Council at all would happen in phase four under hearings and adoption for which we're allowing for 90 days for completion. I will say this does fill out the one year period, but if things got ready before 12 months were up, we would be happy to bring it before the planning is under commission and council at that point as well. So just to kind of summarize what we have told you tonight and what decisions are on the board, have to decide, should the city implement a moratorium? Staff is recommending yes, following the process that's been recommended. The decision should be made on the scope of the moratorium, the development category. We are proposing that data centers of all types and sizes that are primary data centers and fall under the NAICS codes. Sorry, I always have a hard time saying those letters together. 518210 be included. Decisions that have staff evaluated and exhausted alternative options. Really the only other alternative option here is to try to squeeze a data center into another land use category, which really doesn't work, or address the impacts of the use, or try to quickly move into a zoning tax denial process. Again, duration, we are recommending a one-year duration for this to allow staff to adequately come up with regulations to address this use. And take any questions you may have.

So during our PEDE meeting, I really appreciated the staff responding to issues with demand on electric grid, on our water infrastructure, heat, and land use. But my research on this, granted I'm not a subject matter expert, but I am a musician. shows the need to have subject matter experts in baseline measurement for noise. Not just DBA, but also DBC, which measures vibrations, and DBG, or infrasound, sound waves below 20 hertz, that might not be audible to humans, but can have health impacts like nausea and headaches for those who live and work in close proximity. I know right now, thank you, Brad, for sending what the county regulations are. The county's only measuring up to 55 DBA and not DBC or DBG. So I know we're gonna get into the weeds during the moratorium process, but I just wanted to make sure that's on the public record for tonight that we need to include sound in addition to water, electricity, and heat. And I'm ready to make a motion when we're ready.

Well, we gotta have the public hearing first. So we've got a number of people signed up to speak under this item. It's under my other tab. Okay, everyone who's speaking under this item, you'll have three minutes to speak. Please watch the lights on the lectern. Green means go, orange means you're getting ready to stop, and red means stop. The first person signed up to speak is Eric Olson.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Eric Olson. I'm just a citizen. I'm in a civic group called SAGE that works on economic development issues, quality of life issues, those kinds of things. And I wanted to begin with a genuine question. I'm wondering if the council studies this for a year, and comes to the conclusion that data centers can be effectively managed with enforceable community benefits, would that change your vote? And I ask that because several members have already suggested that data centers are unlikely to make sense in Asheville. and I respect that candor but if that conclusion is already set then this moratorium really is just a long time out before we close the door. And that concerns me because behind that door is real money and real leverage for the city of Asheville. Right now communities like ours all over the country are negotiating community benefit agreements that offer us not only revenue, but also solid protection from all of these developers. Just recently, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, recently got $20 million in direct community investment. And they have enforceable commitments on water use, noise, energy, sound and public reporting. It's not theoretical. That city has negotiated valuable benefits from a position of strength. We face a housing crisis, hurricane recovery, strained infrastructure, tax increases, and limited revenue options in this town. We shouldn't spend the year making sure we never get the chance to negotiate for benefits that could meet all of those needs or at least help them. I understand the fears about water, about energy demands, about noise, about neighborhood fit. They're all legitimate, but they're not reasons to disarm ourselves, and we clearly need to regulate and negotiate aggressively. Now, Attorney Branham has identified the core problem. Data centers need to be defined, so let's do that directly and quickly. Let's not let other, we can even use other communities' language and learn from that rather quickly. A targeted text amendment can be drafted in a few weeks, and that would give the attorney the legal tools to manage data centers and data center proposals. And that moratorium may feel protective for us, but it also sends a message that we're not at the table. Meanwhile, the housing plan remains underfunded, recovery continues on its shoestring, our taxes go up, and the innovation economy just passes us by.

Thank you.

I just urge your council to take a few weeks, not a year, to make these calls.

Thank you. Next is Nina Tovish.

Good evening, Mayor and Vice Mayor. Council members and city staff, I have confidence that this moratorium will go into effect. I think it's a wise choice. If we keep our eyes on what's happening nationally in the development of data centers and the growth of AI, you can see that it's a pretty chaotic landscape out there. And everything we can do to inform ourselves and prepare ourselves to make good decisions on behalf of our community is wise. As you go forward, I hope that you will find constructive ways to include public engagement and input on how land use gets defined or not defined for this purpose. I hope there will be coordination at the state level so that we can work with other communities both here in Western North Carolina and across the state. I think that strengthens the position of this city. I hope there will be special consideration for the perils of certain kinds of land use for already disadvantaged neighborhoods and communities. I think that needs to be prioritized in discussion. And I hope that as a city, when dealing with both the state and the federal government, to help manage this process, you will push for sensible regulation of these kinds of facilities. It's not the best environment for that right now. That may change, but I think it's well to prepare for that kind of conversation at different governmental levels. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you.

Next is Mo Knight.

Maggie, I feel like we need new light bulbs.

I can't tell if they're on. I can't tell the lights.

I don't think they are on.

I haven't put it on yet. Yes. Okay, you can see it.

I'm here to speak in favor of moratoriums. We heard that someone is worried that some of the deals that are out there might dissolve. There's a little concern with that, but Anything that's going to disappear in as short a time as a year is something illusory anyway. So if there is a real demand for these kinds of centers, it will still be there in a year. What we do need is time to examine whether or not the environment we're living in can handle that. I think that we have seen a lot of evidence that these centers have an outsized negative effect on Poor communities, vulnerable communities, it does matter where they go. We have a lot of them going in very quickly in this country. We need more time to examine these things. Duke Energy has a monopoly, legal though it may be, on energy in this area, and it continues to raise rates. We need to know how a data center will affect us. I think that applying to the North Carolina Utilities Commission Pressuring them to rein in Duke Energy would be a really good use of some of this year so that we can know where the financial burden will reside. I also think that water usage is becoming more and more important as our environment degrades around us. And I see so much housing go up. We do have a housing crisis. It's not for lack of housing, it's lack of affordable housing. And if we see expenses of water and energy rise, That crisis, no matter how many houses go in, is going to grow because people are going to be priced out. I have done research, and data centers don't actually offer that much employment to the community. They're relatively unmanned for the size of the damage they do. There is money to be made on them. I question who will be making that money. Thank you for letting me speak, and I hope that this moratorium will go in place. It isn't that long. We do need time to look into this stuff.

Thank you. Carla Johnson.

Thank you, Mayor and Councilmembers. I'm a resident. I'm also very involved with healthcare, have been for a number of years, so I have been tracking the health that we're seeing because of these data centers in a very short period of time that we've had it here. And I just want to kind of reiterate my gratitude for not moving forward for the sake of revenue over what potentially health and economical environmental benefits would potentially be irreversible. And as of June 2026, More than 69 US jurisdictions have already put moratoriums. Excuse me. This isn't something I do very often. They've already put active blocks on moratoriums. And what we're looking for already, we're seeing in Virginia, Texas. Virginia, you alluded to it. There are chronic health concerns, migraines, cancers. We're beginning to see turbo cancers anyways everywhere. Lung issues, anxiety, asthma increases. The water for one data center, it absorbs so many millions of gallons of fresh water. There are some developers that will argue there are ways to build data centers that don't do that. Very few will do that because of the cost to do that. And I want to know how we absorb as a small community the increased utilities, increased expenses that we will be dealing with. And researchers from the Institute of the Environmental Health Project that have been all over this note that the public health burden from these emissions could cost billions annually. We're talking about devastating property values. We've had some already go in for eminent domain, taking people's homes. There's lack of meaningful public participation and the noise is affecting people, the lighting is affecting people, it's disrupting the circadian rhythms, it's affecting melatonin production, and that of course will emit long-term health benefits and devastation. So I do applaud you for taking a slow pace. I hope that we are all involved in this public decision. It will impact everything if we don't look at it from the standpoint that Sometimes revenue over health and our environment doesn't matter. We've already seen the devastation from Pauline. We don't need another decision that's made in post. So thank you very much. Thank you.

OK, that was Rachel Cohen.

I revised my statement about the points.

The green one is still in play.

Hello everyone, I'm Rachel Cohen. As you said, I represent Sunrise Movement WNC. Thanks so much for the time and I will not take the whole three minutes, I believe, so you're welcome in advance. So I just wanted to say that Sunrise is very supportive of this 12 month moratorium. We are really excited to see unanimous support out of the PD committee, so thank you to all the members of that committee for showing your support for the moratorium. As with many others, we are very concerned about some possible negative impacts of data centers, and really what we wanna do is make sure we use this year to figure out what are the strongest possible protections we can put in place for our residents, right? to prevent these potential negative impacts. And I just wanted to note briefly that Leland, North Carolina in Brunswick County has regulations in place currently that say that at least 60% of a potential data center's energy consumption must come from either on-site renewable energy sources or renewable power purchase agreements. Just thought that was an interesting thing to note as we're doing our exploration during this one year. to note all the tools we may have to ensure that we are not degrading our environment using more electricity than we need to and causing these health harms that others have discussed. So just wanted to thank those who are in support of this and urge you all to support the moratorium. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Rob Campbell.

Hey, good evening, Council. So my name is Rob Campbell. I'm a renewable energy policy analyst based here in Asheville. I appreciate that people have already discussed the environmental concerns and public health concerns with data centers, because these are, of course, incredibly important. But I think it's also important to address the economic concerns, too. One of the main arguments that you hear for them is that they provide these economic benefits to the towns that they're put in. But I think something we also need to acknowledge is that they are economically devastating for rate payers in areas that they're put in. So we see a lot in my line of work, data centers come up a lot, especially recently, because they've led to a massive increase in demand growth. And what happens is utilities have to either build new facilities or they have to contract for that increased demand growth. And when they do that, a lot of those costs get passed on to residential customers like you and I and everyone else in this room. So what we're seeing is the more data centers get built, the more utility rates go up. And that's, of course, a huge topic across the country. But I think it's an especially big issue here in North Carolina. And that's in large part due to Senate Bill 266, which passed the North Carolina General Assembly last year. And there's two main reasons for that. The first is that that bill, which is now law, eliminated the interim carbon emissions reduction goal for the state, which of course applies to Duke. That means that they basically have free reign to build more gas plants, which they are happy to do when data centers are built. And it also another important point to consider from Senate bill 266. Is that it shifts certain cost away from commercial and industrial customers on to residential customers. So, my company actually did a policy brief that found that it's increasing residential costs by 18%. that are coming from commercial and industrial customers such as data centers. So what this means in effect is the more data centers get built, the more energy the utilities like Duke have to contract for, and then the more residential rate payers have to pay for that. So basically data center construction is incentivizing the build out of additional gas plants in particular, which is not only going to increase rates, but of course it's going to lead to increased pollution and all sorts of other issues that come along with that. So I think it's important to consider that not only do we have these environmental and public health impacts, but when data centers are constructed, we're also hurting rate payers who are already struggling from increasing utility bills. So I'd urge you to consider that, and I fully support the moratorium. Thank you.

Thank you. And then Zen Honeycutt. Anybody? Zen Honeycutt?

Mayor, if they're not here, I have another comment. I don't think they're here. I guess I'm just kind of curious. You know, when I first started hearing about data centers and reading about them in the news, they seemed to be very large. And I was reading how they've kind of jumped to maybe 200 acres, 500 acres. And then I recently read that 1,000 acres had been secured somewhere for one. So I didn't really think that Asheville was like a, target for these types of build outs. But the more I've learned, the more I'm seeing it roll out in like micro nodes too. So for me, I'm gonna be curious. I don't think we have a major land use. I don't think someone's gonna come by 1,000 acres and put a data center here. I understand that's a lot of the concern for the big environmental, but I'm also gonna be looking for information around, I guess they're calling them micro nodes is the term, and whether or not we're gonna allow that. They can be as small as like an air conditioning unit, for example. But knowing that, I will make a motion to adopt an ordinance enacting a one-year development moratorium on data centers as the city currently lacks a definition for or proper land use regulation for data centers, has exhausted other options for regulating data centers. Excuse me. And the one-year time period is needed in order for the city to formulate and draft proper land use definitions and regulations for the use. Second.

Before we vote, I just want to take a moment to thank the leadership of our mayor and for leading this initiative and taking this seriously. So, thank you. Brad and your department and DK Wesley for whipping this up pretty quickly from when we had these conversations. So thank you both for that.

And it was nice to see you at the podium too, Brad. I appreciate it.

And just in case, for our official purposes, we've closed the public hearing. So we have a motion and a second. I appreciate that, Bo. I did... I did speak with staff about this a number of months ago because, of course, it is a huge conversation in the nation, not just in our city and North Carolina, but all across the nation. And it is very different in different communities. But not only do you have the issue about proper land use, the environmental impacts, the health concerns in North Carolina the way energy is regulated and the generation of electricity is regulated in our state we bear the burden of the cost of increasing the generation capacity in our state we would be paying as rate payers for these facilities not only that currently they get a sales tax tax cut that i was listening to the news comes in at around something like $50 million a year annually for North Carolina that we lose out on because of the incentives that data centers are provided because they're exempt, which is why the governor has introduced the idea of eliminating the sales tax exemption for data centers. But when I was a baby lawyer, that's what you're called, and I worked at the General Assembly, I staffed a public utilities commission, and the the commission that was studying the deregulation of the electric industry in North Carolina, which never happened. But one of the things we looked at was what we rely on in terms of generation. And in North Carolina, we have mostly nuclear or gas-powered generation. And the cost of building a new plant is extremely expensive, and it is borne by us. So if if these data centers can increase that capacity, it has real impacts for us, that I worry do offset incentives you might be able to derive from data centers. So I understand that I'm not naive. We depend on using the internet, sending emails. A lot of the functions of our daily lives depend on the existence of data centers somewhere, but there has to be a balance because I think that the individual person in our country right now is not able to handle this on their backs and the impacts are forever. So I think we need to take a pause and make sure we do put in measures that address all of the concerns that we have as a community and hopefully give some time on a state level for the state legislature possibly to consider some changes that will make the environment in North Carolina better, but I'm not holding my breath for that. I mean, honestly. We have a motion. Is there any other questions, comments?

I mean, I'll say we didn't spend decades building this amazing arts community adding to our culture, having this amazing outdoor recreation, our small businesses, so we could become a warehouse district for AI. Like I just, I don't want that future for us. So I'm glad, I'm excited we're doing the moratorium. I think there were really thoughtful comments too about, well, essentially it's gonna be very unlikely that we'll be able to legally ban them, right? That we're getting a nod from our city attorney on that. And so some of the comments about, okay, well, what would the benefits have to look like to even entertain it? I think will be part of this conversation. So- Yeah. Well said.

Any other questions or comments? All right, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? All right, thank you. That was a unanimous vote. Thank you, Chris, for your fast work and whoever else worked on this. Brad, of course, Brad. We have two items of unfinished business. I think it's two. I'm sorry. We have one item of unfinished business and two items of new business. This is a resolution authorizing a substantial amendment to the CDBGDR action plan to reallocate $19.2 million in CDBGDR funding to the CDBGDR single-family home repair program. Amending the CDBGDR affordable multifamily housing construction program budget to $18.8 million and the infrastructure budget to $115 million. Bringing the single family home repair program's budget total to $22.2 million. We had a public hearing on this item on June 9th, so we're not taking further public comment tonight on this. And Bridget Herring is here. Sorry, I was reading Maggie's handwriting, which is really good handwriting. And Bridget Herring is going to present this item.

Great. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of Council. My name is Bridget Herring, and I have the pleasure to serve as the Recovery Coordinator with the City of Asheville. and just want to go over briefly where we've been before you take action on this item this evening. So again, this is a timeline. I'm not going to read it, but just that there's been six months of robust conversation with our recovery boards, with our community, with you all about this before taking action this evening. So what we heard in the public comment hearing, I think what we heard is overall people said yes to everything, right? Yes, we want to invest in our infrastructure. Yes, we want to invest in multifamily and getting new affordable units into our community. And yes, we want to invest in single family home repair, but significant concern and some opposition to how the state Renew NC program is delivering that and to using CDBGDR funds in general to fund single family home repair. More specifically, the Housing Recovery Board discussed the affordable housing portion of the reallocation at their June 3rd meeting and had a motion not to support the reallocation in a six to four vote. and also is asking for us to pursue more conversations with the state on providing more assistance from that space. Just earlier today, the Infrastructure Recovery Board also had a conversation about this, looking specifically at the proposed reallocation from the infrastructure program, and that came up with a tie vote, five to five. So as we've been discussing, there's an estimated $32 million gap with the single-family home repair as we know it today. And without additional CDBGDR funding, I think the concern is that applicants that are currently enrolled in that program may not receive support through a city-funded program because we don't have another funding source readily available for home repair. The good news is that once we started hearing the demand for more multifamily housing units, I think staff really went back and challenged their assumptions to look for what are other strategies we could use to help fill this gap. And so changed the recommendation to the action plan to reduce the recommended reallocation from the multifamily. and then moved really quickly to try and get a notice of funding opportunity out the door to see what was out there in terms of shovel-ready, affordable multi-family units. That notice of funding opportunity was for 10 million, but once the demand came back in and staff saw that there was additional shovel-ready projects, U Council took the action to approve almost 18 million to add 331 affordable housing units across three projects earlier this year. So as we start to think about resources being constrained, we think about who's burdened, who's benefits, how do we reduce that impact and help our community as a whole recover? And so that's when we turn to the infrastructure funding. I think it's really important to note that adding resilience to our water system is our number one infrastructure priority. And we've really coalesced around that. worked really hard with our federal partners to get people to understand our unique watershed in the system, the direct filtration system that we have. And I think we've been pretty successful, and I see some progress indicators that allowed me to feel comfortable that this was a more low-risk option. And some of those are, one, that we secured a $10 million loan from DEQ for the North Fork Infrastructure Project. That is a 0% interest loan, but it does have 30% principal forgiveness. So we're looking at repaying 7 million of that, not the full 10. We've submitted, as I've mentioned in previous presentations, 260 million through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to fund this program. The state has submitted that to FEMA and we know that the first tranche of that funding, should it be approved, would be an estimated around 10 million. So this is just giving you a little bit more context on how we arrived at that number and why we're making that recommendation. And then in addition, we saw that FEMA gave us a positive eligibility determination on installing a permanent pretreatment system at the Bee Tree direct filtration plant, which is huge because this is the first time that the FEMA staff that we've worked with have acknowledged that FEMA has seen a natural system that is damaged and wants to repair it with an engineered solution. So I think that's just a great win for our community and our rate payers, as well as a progress indicator that FEMA is starting to understand the unique nature of how we deliver water in our community. When did we hear that?

When did we hear that?

That's awesome. I did mention it at the last manager's report. It was in the slides. Maybe didn't lift it up as high as that. Either way, that's fantastic. But in the past six months. So I know that there was desire to hear more. and be more proactive about our collaboration with the state. And this is just a snapshot because I think it's important to recognize that our relationship with the state is about all of our recovery. It's not about one single issue. We're working with them on a number of different places. And so this is just a list of some of the ways that we collaborate with them. So I'm not gonna read it, but just to know that these are different ways that we try to work that relationship to secure more resources for our community. to recover in a variety of different ways. So again, here is the proposed reallocation that Mayor read off. We estimate this will serve somewhere between 55 and 65 homes, and the focus will be to serve the lowest income applications with vulnerable residents in them first.

Yeah, you're like, what else could we possibly ask you since we've heard this many, many times now?

Okay. I'm happy to make a motion. Okay, please. I move to authorize the city manager to negotiate and enter into a development and sale agreement. Oh, I'm reading the wrong one.

Whoa.

I got one right here. Right there.

I motion to recommend city council authorize the city manager to submit an amendment to the CDBDR action plan to reallocate $19,200,000. $19,200,000 to a single family reconstruction with $9,200,000 from the multifamily housing construction program, $10 million from the infrastructure program. Update the unmet needs assessment and mitigation needs assessment to reflect new data.

A second? Okay, we have a motion and a second.

Any other questions or comments?

All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed?

No.

All right, that was a six to one vote. Thank you very much. Okay, now we're gonna move on to new business. And this is a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into a development and sales agreement with 29 Oak Hill LLC4. The sale of city-owned property and the development of 42 affordable townhomes for home ownership at 290 Kill Drive and allocate 1.6 million of 2020 for affordable housing bond funds for a construction loan and down payment assistance. And adoption of a budget amendment to transfer the 1.6 million from the General Capital Projects Fund to the Housing Trust Fund. And Sasha Bertensky is going to talk to us about this.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, and members of council and community. I'm Sasha Rutinski, I'm the affordable housing officer, and I'm here to do what the mayor just said. But yes, I'm here to talk to you about Oak Hill, which is a piece of city-owned property. We're bringing forward a development deal for this piece of property. We had an RFP process last summer and selected a partnership of Eden Rock Enterprises and Dr. Steven Martin to develop the site. This project would develop 42 townhomes on city-owned property, affordable to households at or below 80% to 110% of AMI. And in addition, the city would loan $1.6 million to the developer construction, and $750,000 of those same dollars would stay in the development in the form of down payment assistance or silent second mortgages. So just really quickly, the location of this property is in the Emma community, which is kind of maybe larger than many of us think of it. But this is just off of Lester Highway, so on the west side of town. You can see here on the panel on the right, the property in blue is our property and the major street Below is Lester Highway. So it's behind the Salvation Army property, if you know where that is, on Lester Highway. So not very far up Lester Highway. And then here is an aerial view of our property. You can see that, and it's more vegetated now I believe, but you can see that this property was actually a dumping site for a while. So underneath the soil there are large tree trunks and some other materials. It was also used as a place to bring towed cars from downtown, which sat there. So we have undertaken and done a lot of study of the soil. We've done geotech work there, as well as soil sampling to make sure that it's safe to build housing here. And we also received a letter of no further action from the state. So we are clear to move ahead on that. I meant to say this before, but property is 3.72 acres. Back in 2023, we were looking at developing this property and we met with the neighborhoods and shared some information about that property. And at that time, we had a developer who had approached council and was interested in developing it. And so we brought him to that meeting as well. The biggest number one thing we heard from neighbors at that meeting were concerns about traffic. There is a lot of cut-through traffic in this neighborhood. You can see here, people coming from Patton Avenue and Lester Highway turn up to Oak Hill and then, I don't know if you can see my mouse, and then they turn here on the left side towards Hazel Mill Road going back towards Louisiana. So there's a lot of folks coming through there. The city did add traffic or speed humps in the neighborhood after the neighborhood petitioned for that. And those were installed last year, but neighbors still say there's still a lot of traffic issues there. This site is zoned RM16, so it is zoned for a pretty dense amount of housing. So in last summer, we did release that RFP, and we got three proposals for that RFP, and we selected this partnership.

Was that a Delaine Richardson?

Yes, he's associated with the one we selected. Last September, if you'll remember, I came forward with a kind of a draft plan of how to spend the bond funds. You all allocated $10 million to the WNC Affordable Housing Loan Fund, and in that plan was $1.5 million for this fund. and so we're coming forward with 1.6 million tonight. The developer acquired 67 Oak Hill, which is adjacent, connects to our property, which created this opportunity for a greater number of homes. This spring we signed a letter of intent with the developer and we've continued to have negotiations since then. So, just to go over the deal itself. So, the idea here, and I'm just speaking of our property at this point. So, 42 town homes, 10 would be affordable to households at or below 80% AMI, 10 affordable to households at or below 100% AMI, and then 22 affordable to households at or below 110% AMI. The town homes would be three bedroom units, approximately 1,200 square feet each, Portability period would be 20 years insured by deed restrictions that run with the land. So we would sell the land to the developer for a nominal price, like a dollar, and then we have a housing trust fund loan for 1.6 million. And I'll get into the down payment assistance a little bit here. So we would loan the funds, and I actually have a diagram that speaks to this, but $1.6 million at the beginning of the project, and they would build the homes and phases, and at the end of each phase, they'd pay back. It's almost like a line of credit. When folks are closing on their homes, we will extend this down payment assistance or silent second mortgages. So $50,000 for a household at or below 80% AMI. 25,000 of city funds for a household at or below 100% AMI. So we wouldn't be providing down payment assistance for those households at 110% AMI. So repayment of those funds would occur at sale with shared appreciation. So let's say a homeowner buys a home, they had 50,000 in down payment assistance, they stay seven years, the average time that people stay in a home. That home gets sold by deed restriction to another qualifying family at 80% AMI. The repayment is, let's say the home appreciated 10%. So that down payment assistance would be paid back plus 10%. And that way we're in a position to recycle those funds to the next homeowner in terms of down payment assistance. Because if it always stays the same amount going forward, the prices are gonna increase and the gaps are gonna increase for folks. So we're trying to figure out a way that we can meet that 20 year affordability period sustainably. Now the developer also has that other piece of land and they would build 28, it might be a little bit less, of market rate town homes on 67 Oak Hill, which isn't a part of this deal that you're considering tonight. The two pieces of land are united as one development, and because it's over 50 homes, it would trigger a conditional zoning request. So you would see this project again, but as a CZ, and that would be later this year. So really quickly, here's a site plan, a preliminary site plan. On the left you can see, it's kind of a little faint, I apologize, but our property there is in blue, and then you can see these smaller parcels on the left, and that's where all the main homes for the Oak Hill neighborhood are, and that's where folks are cutting through with traffic. So those are the single family homes that are experiencing that cut through traffic. This site plan, if you can see this is one, move my mouse along it this is one kind of road here that goes up and connects you know Oak Hill to Oak Hill it actually helps increase the connectivity in the neighborhood and anyone living here in Oak Hill in this development shouldn't be going through that congested area because they have options to either go south to New Leicester Highway or go east back towards the Project timeline, they're in the approval process right now. They would begin site work and infrastructure, and then vertical build either late 2026 or early 27. And then there's the rollout of six phases of rollout of homes. And I broke this out for you by phase. So you can see there's the number of units is eight for the first four phases, then six, then four. sales prices and down payment assistance. So the construction cost is the same for all of these units. There's not a difference in construction costs. There's not different finishes and all of that. These are all estimates right now. Obviously, different income brackets have different maximum mortgages that they can afford to pay. we're looking at this gap for down payment assistance, we would have 50,000, where you see that 80,000 for an 80% AMI family, we have 50,000 in that, and there would be other sources needed to fill in that gap. And again, these numbers could change. And then obviously, maybe it's not obvious, down payment assistance would only be what a family needs to purchase the home, if that makes sense. So just one last look at this cycle, how this works. We established this $1.6 million credit line at the beginning of the project. They draw down those funds to construct the homes for phase one. As buyers buy these homes, we start putting out this down payment assistance. So if there's four 80% homes in that first phase, that's $200,000 for DPA. that credit line reduces by $200,000. So the credit line is slowly diminishing as they're constructing all of these units. When buyers purchase their homes, that money comes back in to help replenish that credit line as well. So it keeps recycling until the project's entirely done. And then at the end of the project, we would be repaid $850,000, the way it's structured right now, plus interest. So the neighborhood. There was a neighborhood meeting. I was not in town at that point. I couldn't attend. But approximately 25 folks attended that neighborhood meeting. Lots of concerns, again, about current and future car traffic. We are working on some basic traffic analysis on that. and they will be going through the TRC process, technical review, and transportation staff will have a lot to say through that process. Additionally, I thought I had it on there. Additionally, part of the neighborhood meeting concerns are about affordability. Folks from Poder Emma, which is the larger neighborhood context, came to that meeting and expressed concerns about not reaching lower affordability levels. So just really quickly, an analysis. We'll gain 42 new units for 20 years. We'll have silent second mortgages and deed restrictions to ensure that our investments stay bound to those homes and return to the housing trust fund upon resale. Approval of this part of the land and the funding allows the developer to proceed with some level of confidence to spending more money to go through this conditional zoning process. We've worked with an experienced consultant out of Charlotte who's confirmed that this is a good deal for the city. And home ownership just in general, the theme for this thing is very hard to accomplish, even for moderate income households. So we're recommending approval of the sale of the city on land for 20 affordable townhomes and households at or below 80% and at or below 100% of area median. Something I'm, sorry. Okay, that's where I'm going. We're recommending approval. We're also recommending approval of the 1.6 million. I wanted to talk about the committee. This is important. So HCD considered this matter last week And they, discussed this desire to reach households at or below 60% AMI. And they changed the motion, or they changed the suggested motion a little bit. But I will say the one thing happening here is that to reach those households at 60% or below requires an additional, potentially $100,000 in down payment assistance. And then all of a sudden, you've got a 300 and some $300,000 plus house and half of it is in DPA or grants. And it's not that that's necessarily a bad thing. That's kind of how the CLT model is working in some homes right now in Asheville, but it just requires a lot of investment. So.

You know, and when we made that, when we were having that discussion, we were talking about the smaller units. I wasn't reflecting on the fact that these are townhomes. you know, and they're kind of sharing walls, and so it's a little different. But was there any discussion with the applicant after that around whether or not they could reduce?

I'm interrupting you, go ahead. So this was the motion that HCD suggested it was households earning 60 to 100%. And I shifted the motion for you all just a little bit to say at or below 80% because if someone, let's say if you have a voucher from the Housing Authority for home ownership, you might be at 50%. So I didn't wanna unnecessarily restrict it by saying 60 to 100, gotcha. So that's a small thing.

That was the other request. That was the other request to talk to the HACA program.

Yeah, so we reached out to the Housing Authority. Ella responded. She's super supportive. We haven't got a meeting on the books yet, but we're working on setting that up. We're looking at all our different options and trying to understand that. Unfortunately, we don't have an answer right now, right here. I think if... We had needed to revise this in some way to require more city investment of that 1.6 million that stays with the project. We could come back to council maybe when the CZ is before you or maybe before that, depending on timing.

Sasha, you mentioned something that I hadn't heard before. You talked about the prior use, the former use of the land. And I'm wondering if this land can be seen as a brownfield, and if so, could they apply for the state's brownfield redevelopment program in order to help with the affordability?

I would have to go back to my notes. I know I discussed this with the engineers doing the analysis of the soil. I think it's a very long, drawn-out process. It's very long. I would have to look at that. It's worth double checking for sure. I've already said this many times. So the fiscal impact would be 1.6 million of our bond funds through a housing trust fund loan with a three-year term and an interest rate of 1%. And at closeout, we would be paid back 850,000 of that 1.6 million. Back to key takeaways, and then we do have a suggested motion. Happy to take any questions or comments. And the developer, actually, I should have said, the builder, Brandon Quinn, who's with Eden Rock, and Dr. Stephen Martin are both here in the audience if you have questions for them as well.

I have questions about, so we have the land. We own the land. Then we did some geotech analysis. So what is our all-in on this land right now, ahead of the loan?

Yeah, so we paid $450,000 for the land. And then we did additional, like several different environmental studies, reports, geotech. And so all-in, it's $551,000.

551.

And then you've come up with this massively creative way to arrange a down payment assistance program. I mean, this is such a remarkable deal. I really want to highlight the creativity here. Because we haven't done, we've outsourced down payment assistance. We haven't deployed it ourselves. And what you're doing with these loans and making, allowing it to build and refresh, it's just really creative. I think it's so hard to achieve any of these AMIs and home ownership that it requires creativity. And I just applaud the effort. I'm still, like, absorbing all of it, even from our HCD meeting. But I'm overall very excited about it.

It's similar to the Homeward Bound model, isn't it, where they take a first lean position? And an HF.

And an HF.

Yeah. I mean, we would be taking a first lien position with the down payment or a second?

Second. Second. A second. Because they're paid off when sold. They're still getting mortgages from a bank. Okay.

But, I mean, we... We're a silent second. Yeah. So, second.

Which is great. Yes. Not that Sasha's not a genius, but the model is out there. I don't know. I think she's a genius.

This is not something we created on our own. MHO has shared appreciation. Habitat definitely with us did construction, turning some of that into DPA. That's something they've done with us. So it's not all unheard of or anything.

I guess I'm trying to get to the per unit cost here because the loans throw me off because some of it stays, some of it doesn't. Did we get $850,000 back? Is that right?

Yeah, so $750,000 divided by $20,000.

Plus the $550,000 divided by $42,000 is $31,000 a unit for ownership.

That's awesome. I have a question. I mean, it is kind of interesting that 80% of AMI, 100% of AMI, 110% of AMI is something that needs subsidy in order to achieve ownership. I mean, in some communities, housing is cheap enough that that would not be the case. So that, you know... I'm just thinking my first home was a townhome, and I think it was $80,000, but it was in Puke Wave Arena next to a cemetery. There were some trade-offs, really quiet neighbors, but that's what we could afford. It was a long commute to work. It's a great way to try to leverage it. I'm a little disheartened that it takes so much to be able to help people, but that's what it takes. One question I've got for you, sometimes in the past we've put together projects and we got all the numbers laid out and everything's like perfect and you got a chart, I'm looking at a chart. And then what happens is, you got a timeline in here, the developer finally goes out, they get their lending, they start pricing everything out and it's like, uh-oh, this isn't gonna work. It's gonna cost us $400,000 a unit to build this. I mean, what flexibility do we have if everything doesn't land perfectly? I mean, the construction is not even supposed to start for a while. So tell me about that. What flexibility we have in terms of... Well, I mean, what if the construction cost turns out to be $325,000 a unit? Tell me, do we just... slide all of this or you're gonna have to come back and ask for change yeah we may have to come back and i don't know if i um but don't put that out there Oh, no, I'm just curious because I, you know.

What are our safeguards, basically, against it falling apart versus that? You know, like how do we prepare for what we've learned from the past, which is increased costs and inflation and construction materials, time, et cetera. If it does come back to be more expensive, will we see it again or will you have the authority to programmatically change it?

Yes, we would come back to you because the resolution clearly says this is how much will be paid back and this is how much. you know, will stay in the development. So if any of those numbers change, it would come back to you.

You know, one thing that I didn't hear said tonight, and we realized at the end of HCD2, was that these are all three-bedroom homes. which I don't know if was understood. We don't see a lot of three-bedroom. Are they still all three-bedroom? Your face is making me, okay.

No, before I was realizing, I didn't mention one thing. There was a conversation at HCD about maybe some smaller units. Yeah, we talked about reduced square footage. Right, for 60% units, and we did have a conversation about that with the developer, and basically they said, you know, we're not against adding some units that are 60% that may be smaller footprints. We're going to look at it, so they're looking at that right now. But that was, if you start converting some of the 80% units to 60% units, the math breaks the model. So the 80% units are really important to making it work overall.

I think what the developer shared, And what we learned was that this was a rough cost of $250 a square foot and an expected 1,200 square foot build. And that's where we started saying, well, what if they build it smaller? But I don't want us to do the thing where we put so many tasks and challenges on the project that it can't happen, because this one has had a couple of failed attempts. So I'm really just, I wish them well. I hope that this can come to fruition. It's so hard to get home ownership. If there can be tweaks to get to the 60 AMI area, which we're building in via the language, That's so wonderful.

Right, and I would really love to see some homeownership vouchers. It's really about people being ready that are in the pipeline. Because, you know, I don't know if everyone knows this, but when you have a homeownership voucher, the payment standard is higher. So it helps the math of the entire development. So it's more like buying a market rate or like a moderate market rate home.

I've been so curious about it. I'm going to meet with them, too, but we haven't had our chance. I really hope that that comes to fruition here. You know, maybe the public doesn't realize what we're talking about because we have vouchers in the community that are commonly used for rent but can actually be used for mortgages, and that would be a wonderful thing to see more of.

So people, if they're interested in that and they're in the voucher program, they enter that pipeline and often do a lot of work, like if it's their credit or putting aside money, you know, doing all these steps, and it can take, multiple years to be ready.

Okay, did we ask? For now, we've asked you all the questions. We do have some folks here that are signed up to speak, but since this is an item of new business council, I do need a motion

I move to authorize the city manager to negotiate and enter into a development and sale agreement with 29 Oak Hill LLC for the sale and development of the city's property at 29 Oak Hill Drive to include 10 townhome units affordable to households earning at or below 80% AMI, 10 townhome units affordable to households at or below 100% AMI, and 22 units affordable to households at or below 110% of AMI, where all units will be affordable for a period of 20 years. Additionally, the City Council approves a $1.6 million construction loan to 29 Oak Hill LLC, a portion of which will convert to down payment assistance at the sale of the homes at or below 80% AMI. and at or below 100% AMI. An adoption of a budget amendment to transfer $1.6 million from the General Capital Projects Fund to the Housing Trust Fund. Second. Rolls off the tongue. Second.

I know, my tongue's not working tonight either. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Thank you. Very long, it's probably a record-setting motion there. All right, the first person signed up to speak under this item is Sarah Estrella.

So did you guys pass the motion?

Not yet.

No, the motion's been made. There's not been a vote.

I live at 61 Oak Hill Drive, which is just at the corner of the intersection in the old neighborhood. I don't know if we can go back to. We can look at it. So I am right here. And the way this subdivision is, there were some speed humps put in there and it hasn't helped it. So for instance, for me, I have had my fence destroyed at least four times in the last four years. 52 Oak Hill has had its fence destroyed one time in the last four years. 45 Oak Hill has had their fence run over two times in the last four years. And 46 Oak Hill has had its fence damaged one time in the last four years, all from high speed vehicular traffic. So I get a little bit concerned, a little defensive when I hear that traffic is not an issue. I see that this other portion here is proposed with it, and from what Sasha said, the traffic would reroute through here. But I think the neighborhood would like some sort of guarantees that that might actually take place. For instance, at this intersection, there's a stop sign and anyone is welcome to come hang out on my front porch and watch people not stop and cuss. And I've even been shot at with a BB gun before from my porch. So I would encourage anyone to come out and witness that because it's not two lanes. It's not bi-directional. If there are two vehicles or even buses or trash pickup coming through, people have to actually back up to go through the intersection. The corner pin of my property is in the center of the intersection. So it's not two-way passable. So when I hear that we're going to have, I know you guys are just voting on one portion. Sure. I know you guys are only voting on one portion of this development, but the concern to the neighborhood is this one that you're voting on, the one beside it, which is going to result in more than 50 homes, this property here, which is the Salvation Army property that is currently for sale. And if you just go up Lester Highway, just at County Home Road, there's a whole other apartment complex that is not even being completed. Now, when you look at this intersection here, which we're looking at, you know, it's kind of by the hot spot. There are already a lot of car accidents. There's barely an ability to make a left-hand turn. The cars stack up over here. The cars stack up over by the old Kmart. So I know that you guys aren't here for traffic, but what we would like to see to propose something harmonious is even if you put some sort of I don't know, dead end for the old section of Oak Hill here so that traffic could be rerouted through here.

Additionally, I'd like to see assurances that when these properties are sold, how are they going to remain affordable?

Who's going to be overseeing the program?

Thank you. Thank you. Sarah Benoit.

Good evening, everyone. Thanks so much for your time. I was supposed to be signed up for the AI data centers thing, and I was never called, so you'll be getting an email from me. I live at 37 Oak Hill Drive, so this development will back up right to my backyard. I do want to say I live in a fantastic neighborhood. I rented my house there for 16 years, and then I was lucky enough to have my landlord's family offer to let me buy it in 2019. I have watched everybody move in there, have their kids grow up there. I've watched people retire. We're an awesome community. We love Asheville. We are working class AF. So we actually all work for a living. We are putting in the time. It is really important to us that things are actually affordable and that this doesn't turn into what other developers have done. On one end of our neighborhood, we have houses that have been built that are now just sitting there and nobody's buying them. They're over $400,000. On the other end of Oak Hill Circle, we had a developer come in to build, and then they bulldozed the forest, they took everything down, and then they left. And they never built a single thing. So I do want to be clear that with development and with city and state government, our neighborhood really does not have very much trust. The state of North Carolina, we have petitioned them numerous times for a light on Lesser Highway. It was an extremely dangerous place to try to leave and enter our neighborhood. They absolutely refused and tell us over and over that their studies show that the traffic is just fine. That is insane that they keep saying that. We have no control over that, and neither do you. So you're going to create a situation that dumps out onto a street that the state is in control of managing. And they have not been very helpful. It took me four years to get speed limit signs there when I moved in. It took my neighbors many years after that to get the speed bumps in, and as was described by my neighbor Sarah, we still see people tear through our neighborhood. I had the unfortunate experience of watching my neighbor's dog get out. Him and his child were coming down the street about 10 years ago chasing the dog. I watched somebody drive through our neighborhood, kill their dog, and keep going. And so when we come with emotions about this stuff, it's because for two decades, we're kind of just ignored. We have no sidewalks there. There is a sharp curve when you try to leave or enter on Hazel Mill Road. There's a big sharp curve on Lesser Highway when you try to leave or enter on the other side of the neighborhood. So what we see is a big problem of passing the buck on infrastructure responsibility. We want affordable housing. We want working people to live here. I wish more people could buy homes here. I certainly couldn't have paid whatever those prices were, and I still can't pay them if that's what I've been asked to pay for my house. I hope that we live up to the expectations that we're setting, but without work on the infrastructure and dealing with the way that the neighborhood is set up with a 90-degree turn in our street, you are going to create a whole bunch of additional problems for us and the new people that live there.

Thank you and I apologize, I don't know why your name wasn't under the moratorium item. Okay, last person signed up to speak under this item is Jill Weaver.

Good evening. Nice to speak to you. I'm going to reiterate things people have said. I live next door, 35 Oak Hill Drive. This would be in my backyard. There is a very small driveway on my property that either you need to back into it or back out and pray. I'm not a religious person, but it's quite near New Leicester Highway, and it's really dangerous now. So that's part of our concern right now. Right now, without these additional developments, It's really life-threatening. It's not a walkable neighborhood at all. My mailbox has been creamed a couple of times. And you take your life in your hands when you walk down the street there. And I also agree that we need to look at both of these developments together. The numbers you've provided, the creative financing, That's all pretty impressive, but these are actual real people living here right now. And the quality of our lives and our housing is important. We don't want to only be thinking about new people coming into the neighborhood. And I would say that the traffic calming measures really made no difference. Some people sort of find it fun to go over the speed humps. And partially because of, no one's really mentioned, the ingles. on the corner there where people can't turn left to get back onto Patton, a lot of traffic from the grocery store loops around and loops around. So it's not just rush hour, it's pretty much all the time. And one thing, by having these three bedroom homes and more people, that's more cars, given that it's not a walkable neighborhood and there's not much of anywhere to walk to, frankly, anywhere, there's gonna be at least two cars So we're talking about an extra, what, 70 units times two, 140 more cars, plus delivery vehicles, whoever may be routed through, and I don't understand quite how this is going to work, but the people who live there with their connectivity, that doesn't account for delivery vehicles, maintenance people, all the other things that come into when you own a home. So really, as much as it's kind of exciting to think about bringing affordable housing, think about what you're doing, a current neighborhood that's really struggling made up of working people. I don't currently live there. I rent my home, and I rent it below market rate, and even my tenants, who are happy to be there, they complain to me about the traffic, which, you know, what can I do about that? I can't. So I do ask you to think about all of these things when you consider this development. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Council, that is the last person signed up to speak under this item.

Questions? We already have a motion. I have a general comment and really directed towards staff for maybe the future because I run into this a lot. I know there's not a lot we can do for traffic, certainly off of Lester Highway. I also live off of Main, really active port. I live right off Haywood Road. And I experience a lot of the same stuff. And I'm wondering what residents do, right? Like to have your fence hit five times is crazy. I've rebuilt my rock wall in my front yard six times this year. My neighbors are concerned, we're all concerned, so I'd be curious if we have a pamphlet, a how-to, a steps to take, a who to call, when your neighborhood is having an ongoing issue with a stop sign or something. I think I've pieced together in the past, I've emailed staff for advice, but if we don't have a guide, that might be helpful, because I think people are kind of grasping for straws on how to... You can figure out where to plug in.

Sage, since we're the members of the MPO, maybe we could reach out about the DOT corridors to understand where residents should be directing their energy.

Yeah, I joined the MPO this past year. It's been enlightening. It's somewhat discouraging, honestly. But I mean, we can certainly advocate for more. But that idea that we'll never put a stoplight here, that tone, I hear it. So I would encourage us as a city to see what we can do to better help residents understand what they have access to or what tools or studies they need to do in their own neighborhoods. It's just not acceptable. There is a guide.

See, I don't even know that.

Wait.

Hold on. Yeah. Can you repeat all that? Sure.

I guess what was said is that there actually might already be a guide and that they have talked with DOT as well, the neighborhood. And see, and I think that's just further problems. We can't get solutions. You shouldn't have your private property hit repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly. That's a problem.

Okay. Sasha, you do whatever you're doing. You're jumping up, but you weren't jumping up.

I do want to make just a couple comments. I definitely don't. Hope nobody heard me say traffic is not a problem. Definitely did not say that. I didn't want to speak for our transportation department. I met with our transportation engineer about this a few weeks ago, and he, because I think it was Sarah Estrella, sent me a really great list of, here are all the things I'd like you to consider, and we talked about that list, and Chris Cairns is going to look at the crash data around this site and different intersections like Hazel Mill and all of that to see what data we can gather and if there are really, you have to make an argument with the state around safety because there's not enough cars for a signal down there at Lester Highway. So we're just gonna look at all the safety data and try to understand it in a much more deeper level. I just can't make any promises. What about our own private street speed limits?

I mean, we reduced speed limits. And they did speed bumps, but it's not helping.

I mean, you can, it sounds like. I just wonder. I think it's a 25. It's already 25? I think it's pretty low. Oh.

Well, can you help me understand, because there's new developments going in, what is the threshold for the light? Do we know that?

It's a pretty high threshold. I don't know the number of cars, trips per day, but it's a certain number. I think it's usually during the highest hours of traffic. You know, like they look at specific hours.

So that might be helpful to know in the follow-up.

Or maybe when the last time they looked at that. I mean, there's a lot of traffic over there, and we're putting a light right there at Martin Luther King in Charlotte, and... I would bet there's more cars over there. On Lester Highway. Yes. So I'd be interested in using all the leverage powers we have with NCDOT to see what we can do about that light.

Okay. We have a motion to second. Any other questions, comments?

I would love to add one.

Okay.

Well, I meant for, sorry, for council. I did wanna, actually, I recall, Sasha, can you clarify for the second part of this, the part that's not, at issue, and you may have said this and I apologize, is it going to need to come to us for zoning approval? Yes. A conditional zoning.

So this project will come back to you for a conditional zoning request. And maybe by then have some transportation stuff. Yes. Okay. Staff will have more time to look at that. Yeah. And we may see smaller units then. That would be when, if they were.

So to be clear, we are gonna see a conditional zoning request, and that's when we could be pulling a lever for transportation infrastructure.

We will see a conditional, do you mean, well hold on, are we gonna see conditional zoning for the whole project, or just that second parcel that's not part of the funding?

The whole project, because how it works is 42 units on our property doesn't trigger CZ, but once you add these others,

So then the whole project will have to come back to us for, thank you, sorry.

And they'll be responsible for transportation on their site. If it was found somehow that these 68 or 70 units are triggering massive amounts of traffic, then yes. But generally speaking, it's a pretty low number of units. It's not going to... trigger them to be responsible for existing problems.

I mean, we have many times, especially with the neighborhood infill, CZ, conditional zoning, we have added conditions regarding traffic impacts, even if they don't technically trigger something from a transportation standpoint. So in other words, tonight is a discussion around and a vote around the funding only. And we will have an opportunity to look at the whole site and traffic issues once it comes back to us as a conditional zoning application.

And maybe by then Kim and I can get some input from MPO.

Thank you for that clarification.

OK. Now, everybody ready? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay, we have a unanimous vote approving the funding piece of this. All right, council, we are now to the final portion of our agenda, which is the general public comment. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Yes, you're totally right. Please, vice mayor.

Council, we have nine boards and commissions for consideration this evening. The first one up is the African American Heritage Commission. There's one vacancy for a three-year term, and staff recommends Bobby Smith for appointment. Is there a motion for Mr. Smith? So moved.

Second.

All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Second is the Asheville-Buncombe Riverfront Commission. There is one vacancy of a three-year term. However, no eligible applications were received, and as such, the city clerk will re-advertise. The same holds true for the next board, which is the Board of Electrical Examiners. There's one vacancy there as well. Since no applications were received by the deadline, the clerk will re-advertise that one. Up next is the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority. There's one vacancy for a three-year term. Lucius Wilson is currently seated and is eligible and interested for reappointment. The board recommends Lucius Wilson, and there were no applications received for this seat by the deadline. So the first thing we must consider is whether we want to re-advertise or consider the reappointment at this time.

What did that last part mean, like by the deadline? Did somebody scoot in late or something?

I'll ask that to her because I don't know.

I believe that the folks that have applied for this were not eligible. Were not eligible, not that they missed the deadline.

So really this is our only eligible applicant.

Yes. So with that in mind, do we want to go ahead? Well, I would go ahead and say, so I'm ex officio on a TDA. And what I can tell you is the other members speak very highly of Mr. Wilson. And so does Vic Isley. Okay.

Yeah. I've worked with Lucius on plenty of things. I think he's, a high contributor, he really tunes in, great perspectives, strong community leader. Yeah, I would make a motion to reappoint Lucius Wilson.

Okay, is there a second? Second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Up next is the Design Review Committee. There is one vacancy of a three-year term, and the chair believes the board could benefit from more landscape site expertise, stating that the board has general users and real estate developer voices. The chair's recommendations in this order are Justin Roberto Thorne, Sean Patrick Escobar, and Mrs. Kelsey Morrow. In addition, staff made recommendations. They suggested adding Emily McMakin, Julie O'Dwyer, and Cecilia Smith. With those recommendations in mind, is there a motion?

I'd like to... Go ahead. I didn't hear your name. It may conflict. I was going to make a motion for Justin Roberto Thorne at CDC. That was also... Oh, good. Well, then we second.

Second.

All right.

Well, hearing a motion and a second for Mr. Thorne. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Up next is the Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority. There is one vacancy there for a four-year term. And this person must be a registered voter in the city of Asheville. Staff in the chair recommend Dr. Chantel Simpson for appointment. Is there a motion for Dr. Simpson? So moved. Second. Okay. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. On to the Historic Resources Commission. There are three vacancies for three-year terms. The chair and staff recommend Leslie Humphrey for reappointment and recommend Antonio Pareto, Jane Matthews, and Richard Matheson equally for the other two. So can we get a motion for Leslie Humphrey?

So moved.

Is there a second? Second. All those in favor of Ms. Humphrey, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Now we'll need... A motion for two of the three. A motion for two of the remaining three. Those three, again, are Antonio Pareto, Jane Matthews, and Richard Matheson.

And the recommendation from the committee. So, right, so...

there was unanimous recommendation for left leslie humphrey and then of these three there are only two seats available so they recommended these three equally so we can do it one of two ways we can have a motion or we can go down the line yeah i mean i had jane matthews and mr matson on my Okay, so. I didn't see their applications, unfortunately. Is that a motion? Is that a motion? Is there a second for Jane Matthews and Richard Mattson? Second. All those in favor of Jane Matthews and Richard Mattson, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously for Ms. Matthews and Mr. Mattson. Onto the Neighborhood Advisory Committee, there is one vacancy for a three-year term. And the chair and vice chair declined to issue any recommendations, citing the fact that the board has not been meeting regularly. And as such, they've requested that we leave these positions open.

As the liaison, I will say they just had a special meeting. They had really great turnout. But if they don't have any meetings scheduled, I don't understand why they wouldn't want to appoint someone to a meeting that doesn't happen.

Would anyone be opposed to leaving this position vacant for now?

If there's no negative impacts, it's fine. And then when they start meeting again, we'll need to appoint.

Okay. So we'll just leave that position open for now. Okay. And finally, we have the Planning and Zoning Commission. There are three vacancies each for three-year terms. The chair and staff recommend Jonathan Anzalito, Jane Bell, and Lindsey Brothel.

So moved.

Give me one second. Wait a minute. First of all, we need to make sure that we don't want to advertise for this. Hearing no objections. Is there a motion? Can you restate your motion? I moved. For all three, Bell, Anzalito. Okay. Is there a second for all three? Second. All those in favor of appointing the three recommended candidates Please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That also passes unanimously. Mayor, back to you.

All right. Thank you. Okay. Now we are ready for general public comment. We have one person signed up to speak.

It's Ms. Pickleball.

It's otherwise known as Christina, and I'm going to say it wrong, Dupuch. Dupicable. Dupush. It's Dupicable. Dupicable. Dupicable.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council, and staff. Always great to see you all. It's been a while since the Pickleball Association has come to speak. I always tell one of the board members who's sitting beside me back there that I'm always humbled to come to your meetings and to really recognize the challenges and the issues not only our community has, but what you face and make a decision. So thank you very much for your work and your service. Just want to hit a couple of things. Number one, we have loved, loved, loved having our community meetings to get feedback about dedicated pickleball courts, which you have really tolerated very well. and absolutely advocated with us with the bond referendum and we got the money and then i saw the great news that roger farmer park had been selected for the designated site so we want to say thank you for the process we really appreciate that and we did have our community come out we always like to have more people come out but people came out so we are very excited thank you we are very grateful to see in the process move forward All of you probably have gotten lots of emails recently, even though I believe the situation is attempting to be resolved around the Malvern Hills, and this has dealt with pickleball. And us, in representing the Asheville Pickleball Association, we have been very concerned about the situation. I myself have met with some of the people who have been writing you emails and advocating for something to be done. Within every community, no matter what it is, there are beautiful people and people that cause us challenges. And so I think that the Malvern Hills community ended up being a park where some people who really like to play late at night and play loud music and honk horns and have all kinds of interesting language as they're playing pickleball really caused a problem. I absolutely know you care about that community. The Asheville Pickleball Association cares about that community. And we are very happy and very grateful that the Parks and Recreation has now adjusted the hours of that park. I saw that there was some new signage that went up. I got lots of emails from people over there today. And I know that we have to continue to look. Every sport, and I've really gotten a great relationship with D. Tyrell and all his staff over the last couple of years, that you are challenged in all communities in expanding pickleball and all the other sports, as well as trying to take care of community members that live beside those courts. So we are your partner. We are here. We'd like to participate with you and do whatever we can to help educate our community in what's going on and how to act. We want to just highlight a couple of things, because it's been a while since I've been here. just some of the work we've done. We've continued to work with veterans, which has been very successful. We've done after school programs at several of the schools. We recently did a great fundraiser for Park helping at-risk kids, which is probably something that some of you are familiar with. We've donated nets in conjunction with the Asheville Parks and Recreation Department for several of the courts. We have free monthly clinics for your citizens to come out and learn how to play pickleball, and those are at Oakley, and there's one this Saturday from 10 to 12 if anybody would like to come learn how to play pickleball. We have a partner with Asheville Parks and Rec. Actually, why more people aren't here tonight is because our summer league is going on and tonight we have over 41 women in the summer league. Thank you so much, appreciate it.

Thank you. Okay. That is the last person we have signed up to speak tonight. Our next council meeting will be

July 25.

July 25. Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize. 28. 28.

Maggie had predicted 7.50, and I volunteered to talk for 30 minutes.

Shh.

No.

We are adjourned. No.

I move to ban the microphone.