ASHEVILLE – A vote on the South Slope Vision Plan, a sprawling document intended to guide future growth of the district, was pulled from the Asheville City Council agenda again on Oct. 24, this time “indefinitely.”
It’s been a long and meandering path for the plan, which began development in late 2017. Work stalled during the pandemic but was rebooted in March 2022. It first came to City Council’s agenda in July 2022 and has been continued from one agenda to the next 10 times over a period of 15 months.
Delays are due in large part to continued feedback sought from surrounding historic neighborhoods, like Southside. The neighborhood fears further encroachment into its boundaries, which have blurred over recent decades, still recovering from losses perpetuated during urban renewal and ongoing gentrification, residents say.
“We’re just hoping that soon we can have our moment to sit down with the city and really express what our hopes and wishes are. To be transparent and given the same grace that other communities were given,” said Shuvonda Harper, chair of the Southside United Neighborhood Association, a recently formed organization now officially recognized by the city, which represents the historically Black “legacy” neighborhood.
Southside United is in the midst of creating its own community plan, part of the “Plan on a Page” process, done with technical assistance from the city’s Planning Department and Community Engagement Division and ultimately reviewed and approved by city staff.
Harper said before the neighborhood could back the South Slope plan, they needed to have their own plan complete — without it, she fears the neighborhood’s spaces will continue to be defined for them.
‘Remove our own deadline’
At its stop with council Oct. 24 for consideration of adoption, rather than another continuance, it was removed from the agenda entirely. Council was assured the plan was not being abandoned, but according to City Attorney Brad Branham, as part of process, without a specific date to set, it could not be continued.
Council member Kim Roney said it was a chance to “remove our own deadline that’s creating the urgency.”
She referenced back to notes she had taken in 2018, during her time on the Multimodal Transportation Commission, where she said, even then, the same concerns around engagement of the Southside neighborhood were discussed.
There were items in the plan she wanted to see “get across the finish line,” like transportation improvements, stormwater mitigation, tree canopy repair, support for small businesses and buffers between development and neighborhoods.
“That said, we’ve put so many years and time and resources into this plan, and I wonder could we put some energy behind helping Southside United finish their neighborhood plan, because I do believe that is the thing that is holding that up.”
Vice Mayor Sandra Kilgore, who grew up in Southside, was similarly supportive of taking the time to work with Southside. They’re “very eager to get this thing on the road,” Kilgore said of the neighborhood, but there are issues left to be addressed.
What is Asheville’s South Slope?
Once a sleepy warehouse district, South Slope is now home to a slew of breweries, restaurants and bars in its mixed-use district of about 228 acres. While the name “The South Slope” has been coined by businesses and residents in the core study area over the past decade, it includes two larger neighborhoods: Southside, to the south, and downtown Asheville, to the north.
It also partially overlaps areas of the South French Broad and East End/Valley Street neighborhoods, as well as WECAN and Oakhurst.
The district serves as a “southern gateway” to the downtown core, said the plan, and has “emerged as a destination for both local residents and out of town visitors.” It’s now a vibrant tourism corridor, with music venues, breweries and late night eats expanding south from Hilliard Avenue, but it was historically part of the Southside community.
Many African American businesses flourished there in the early- to mid-20th century, according to the plan.
“Urban renewal and the East Riverside project removed a large number of commercial and residential buildings, eliminated some streets, and redeveloped other streets,” reads the plan. “Visitors to the area today often have no idea about the history of the area and what occurred in the community prior to the recent influx of new businesses and many breweries since about 2010 to the present.”
Phil Cassella, head of marketing for Burial Beer, whose South Slope taproom sits on Collier Avenue, said even in recent years, he’s seen significant change — from nearby lots poised for hotel development, to new restaurants and businesses flourishing throughout the district.
“I don’t think it’s going to slow down, either. I continue to see new things opening and construction projects, being started,” he said. “I think we’re going to see further growth down here.”
Parking continues to be a major concern for business owners, he said. From the Burial taproom, he could see the hulking behemoth of an unfinished parking deck, which stalled out mid-construction, and said recent loss of some nearby on-street parking also “tightened” already limited reserves.
The 92-page vision plan does not call for any major redevelopment of the area, and rather seeks to build on existing assets, connect the adjacent neighborhoods, refine existing regulations and transportation infrastructure, and support local businesses. It is intended to be used as a tool to guide and evaluate growth patterns in the coming years.
10 key initiatives
Harper was born in Lee Walker Heights, the city’s oldest public housing complex, newly transformed into the Maple Crest Apartments, which sits within the bounds of the South Slope study area.
Harper said many of the landmarks of the area she grew up in are now gone. She used to walk up and down Coxe Avenue, “the area that is now called South Slope,” and could remember fondly trips to and from downtown.
“That was my second home,” she said.
The plan notes that the study area follows the boundary of the Municipal Service District Boundaries, but also overlaps with adjacent neighborhoods that are commercially zoned.
“The intent of this plan is not to rename these areas as South Slope, but to ensure that the city plans for connectivity and thoughtful transition throughout the area,” it said. Among its 10 key initiatives, it includes honoring African American history, enacting equitable development and connecting neighborhoods via the Southside Greenway Connector.
Other initiatives include:
- Update zoning and design guidelines to achieve community goals.
- Create a gateway at Biltmore and Southside avenues.
- Weave art throughout the district.
- Develop city owned property for affordable housing and job creation.
- Convert Banks and Buxton avenues to shared streets.
- Make Coxe Avenue a green main street.
- Develop successful incentives for sustainability.
Billy Enright, vice chair of Southside United, said it was “comforting and reassuring” that the city was willing to wait to approve the plan until conversation continued with the neighborhoods.
In the past, he said, it had not always felt as though the neighborhood was able to have that kind of impact.
Largely, Enright said, it’s a good plan, but what it lacks is not necessarily in its content, “but in process.”
“The plan can only ever give us good guidance, and it’s going to be the relationship and the trust and the partnership that is going to ensure the plan gets enacted as intended,” Enright said.
“The process to date has given people a lot of concern, but we are in this space where the city, city council, some neighborhoods are saying, ‘Hey, yeah, let’s take a look at this process, and see what needs improvements.’”
The South Slope Vision Plan is one of many opportunities to strengthen the community, he said, “to pour (in) resources, highlight legacy, to really reclaim this area.”
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Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.