The Community Reparations Commission, the body charged with addressing the harms of systemic racism, will continue its work in Asheville and Buncombe County through February.
At last night’s Asheville City Council meeting, the joint city-county commission received the greenlight.
In its two years, the commission passed 39 recommendations for the city and county – from a Black-led economic development center to no-cost health insurance for Black residents.
Last December, the commission asked for an eight-month extension, but the city and county only agreed to extend it through June. In a presentation to Council on Tuesday, Commission Chair Dewana Little spoke to the time-consuming nature of the work.
“All the trauma, all the harm, all the perpetuation on Black people. The disenfranchisement. It didn’t happen in two years. It happened over hundreds of years,” she said.
The group faced delays for several reasons, including a turnover in project managers and difficulties accessing data and historical research necessary to guide their work.
The commission has also been working steadily to engage with Black people who are unaware of the reparations process, Little said.
Council member Maggie Ullman said that the commission should have as much time as it needs.
“I just continue to feel in awe of the tasks that you all signed up for and the enormity of what it means. If you all need some more time, let’s do some more time,” she said. “You’re doing a lot of good work.”
Over the next six months, the commission plans to complete the following actions:
- Continue community engagement around reparations education utilizing a data collection tool that segregates by demographics.
- Write and finalize the group’s report
- Create a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization to manage public and private funds for reparations efforts
- Organize and create bylaws for a Black Chamber of Commerce
- Form and organize an Accountability Council and draft agreements with the city and county
- Form and organize a Reconciliation Task Force
- Review and vote on outstanding recommendations from commission
- Make recommendations around the history of harms, policy, laws, and practices that perpetuate the harm of black people
In February, the commission plans to conclude its work.
Buncombe County did not formally grant the latest extension to the Reparations Commission, but County Spokesperson Lillian Govus said the county will continue to provide staffing and financial support with a reduced “staff footprint.”
“We originally had a significant staff footprint, including a number of subject matter experts at the IFA meetings and regular meetings, research staff, attorneys, and communications staff in addition to representation from the county manager’s office and the Equity & Human Rights Office,” Govus wrote in an email to BPR. “Our staff support now is led by the Equity & Human Rights Office. Financial support continues.”
Payment for commission members is one question that has yet to be answered.
Currently, commission members are paid $75 per meeting for a maximum of $150 per month, the city’s equity director Sala Menaya-Merrit said.
“We would like for those stipends to continue because we are doing work and that’s just the reality of the situation,” Little said. “And so we will ask that those stipends continue on throughout.”
City Manager Debra Campell interrupted a back-and-forth about stipends to clarify that the city was only supporting an extension for now and that city staff would work to figure out payment at a future date.
“We will work through that with the commission at an administrative level, if you all would give us that opportunity to do that,” Campbell said.
City of Asheville
Council punts vote on 240-unit RAD apartment complex
Asheville City Council punted on a vote for a proposed 240-unit apartment complex in the River Arts District.
The complex, slated for 179 and 144 Riverside Drive, was originally granted a conditional zoning request by council three years ago. The developers came back with a few changes that required new zoning approval, including a request to add an extra story.
BRN Development, a Tampa-based development firm, made a few other changes to the proposal, which didn’t necessarily require zoning approval, but did prompt questions from council.
The original plan included 14,000 square feet of retail space and fewer residential units. The new plan scrapped the retail space plan entirely and increased the number of residential units from 160 to 240. It also increased the number of parking spaces from 165 to 243.
What didn’t change about the plan was its percentage of affordable units: 5%, or a dozen units, guaranteed for 20 years.
The slim amount of affordable units was more unpopular among city council members this time around.
Councilwoman Sandra Kilgore was one of several council members who said she wanted to support the project, but she expressed concerns about the project’s lack of affordability.
“We’re talking about expanding the River Arts District and making it diverse. We cannot make it diverse, if we do not have more affordable housing or residents. It will not be diverse. It will just be an area of just affluence,” she said.
Mayor Esther Manheimer agreed but expressed some worries around scaring off developers.
“We’re working to try not to be just ‘Anywhere USA’ with this kind of housing construction,” she said. “But I also don’t want to scare off anybody who wants to build housing in our community. We have a lot of projects that we’ve already approved that aren’t coming out of the ground because the financing isn’t working.”
Council will vote on the proposal at their Sept. 10 meeting. In the interim, council members and city staff said they hope to bring the project more into alignment with their goals for the River Arts District.
City of Asheville
A far less controversial Duke Energy substation project moves forward
Council approved a plan for a new Duke Energy Progress substation in downtown Asheville.
Duke Energy’s current downtown substation is more than 50 years old and needs replacement to meet the growing electricity needs of downtown residents and businesses, according to the city.
The plan evolved considerably since it was originally proposed in 2022. At the time, the project was slated for Lexington Avenue, an idea that was unpopular among Asheville residents and drew criticism over its tree loss and its “fortress design,” the Asheville-Citizen Times reported.
The city paused the plan for two years to come up with an alternate solution.
Council member Kim Roney thanked the community for all of its feedback on the new plan.
“It was originally a situation that would have knocked down a lot of trees. It had huge storm water issues and would have had a significant impact on part of our downtown and Lexington Avenue specifically,” she said. “We got a ton of feedback and we went to the drawing board with Duke and this is why it’s better. So thank you for pushing us to make it so.”
The new plan includes a land swap between Duke Energy and the City of Asheville. The City granted Duke 0.26 acres at the corner of Hiawassee and Rankin Avenue in exchange for 0.24 acres directly behind the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.
As the first phase of the project, Duke will build a temporary open-air substation near Patton Avenue and Clingman Avenue, a plan that was granted zoning approval at last night’s meeting.
“Duke has to install a temporary substation to maintain grid reliability and support of the electrical infrastructure in the downtown area,” Clay Mitchell, a city planner, explained.
Once the Patton Avenue substation is complete, Duke will be able to redevelop its substation on Rankin Avenue. The agreement requires Duke to decommission the temporary substation after 3.5 years or six months after the new Rankin Avenue substation is built, whichever is sooner.
As part of the project, Duke committed to building 200 feet of sidewalk along West Haywood, Patton Avenue and Knoxville Avenue within six months of construction beginning.
Construction on the temporary substation is expected to start soon, although a start date was not announced. Justin Brown, a Duke Energy project manager, told council members that the temporary substation is expected to remain on Patton Avenue until around 2026 and that the promised sidewalks would be installed in early 2025.
“Hopefully we will start construction on the permanent Patton Avenue gas-insulated substation in early 2027,” he said.
City of Asheville
Other tidbits
- Merrimon Avenue is safer after its road diet, according to a presentation by NCDOT. The controversial Merrimon Avenue road diet improved safety for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians. The street redesign downgraded the North Asheville thoroughfare from four lanes to three lanes, adding bike lanes to both sides. See the full presentation.
- Council voted unanimously to adopt Recreate Asheville, a systemwide 10-year plan for Asheville Parks & Recreation. The plan includes a goal of six major development projects in the next four years, including a new neighborhood park in Sweeten Creek, a pickleball complex and an aquatic facility.
- As part of a 27-item consent agenda, Council approved a $1.4 million contract with DanGrady Company, LLC for the Southside Connectivity Improvements Project. The project will connect pedestrian and bike paths in the Southside neighborhood. Construction will begin in 2025.
- The consent agenda also included an agreement with NCDOT to build a $775,000 new stoplight at the intersection of Biltmore Avenue, John Walker Avenue and White Fawn Drive. The new traffic signal aims to improve safety and mobility of residents in the Maple Crest community and for future planned affordable housing in the neighborhood. Construction is expected to start in 2027. The city is paying $423,000 of the project costs.
Every second and fourth Tuesday, Asheville City Council meets at the Council Chamber on the 2nd Floor of City Hall, 70 Court Plaza beginning at 5:00 p.m. See the full recording of the August 27 meeting and the agenda.