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In the light of our City Council's lack of adequate representation of the people of Asheville, the organizers of ourasheville.org hope to create a forum where both the shortcomings and the exceptional positive efforts of individual council members can be highlighted and used as an information and education resource for those who wish to help keep our great city on the right path for all of its residents, not just big business.

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Public Comment on Rule Changes for Development Procedures

City government will hold meetings to hear public comment on changes in city rules and review procedures for development projects recommended by a task force of representatives of the construction and development industries.

When:
Tuesday Feb. 1 and Thursday Feb. 3 at 6pm

Where:
City works bldg. 161 S. Charlotte St.

Further Information:
www.ashevillenc.gov/newslinks/development.rtf

Copy available for review in room A-101 of 161 S. Charlotte St. 8am-4-3:30 pm M-F
Article in AC-T, business section p.B8 Sat. Jan. 29

What You Can Do:
Attend the meeting (see above)

Write city council (link to the left) and the city staff contact:
Terry Summey (tsummey@ashevillenc.gov)

In your e-mail highlight the following points:
(Item numbers below reference specific sections in the proposed changes document)
1a: Do not remove the city council from the review process for
developments. All current reviews by council should remain.
1b. do not eliminate the formal TRC reviews
1c. do not try and EXPEDITE the approval times by limiting the time
available for review.
10a. Do not require the city to pay for infrastructure, ie sidewalks, hydrants,
etc ( they are recommending that city, not the developer pick up these costs)

Copy your e-mail to so that we can include it in our mailbag section.

Contributed by Christopher Fielden:

Hi folks,
I am sending out this call to action to be distributed as widely as possible
because it is an extremely important issue that will affect all of us in Asheville.
As you may have heard, this week there is a "city's citizen forum" to "provide feedback to city staff" regarding the recommendations of the 2004 Development Review Task Force.B And it's important that our voices be heard!
I just skimmed through the long document.B Many of the recommendations are
alarming and outrageous and a further erosion of our rights as Asheville citizens to have a say in proposed developments in our community.B Those who came up with these recommendations are obviously trying to make it easier and faster for developers to get what they want and for the public to have as little input
as possible. After what we have just witnessed with the Campus Crest developers cutting down acres of trees they were not supposed to, and with the Walmart developers repeatedly violating the Unified Development Ordinance and their conditional use permit, these proposed changes to the law are
inexcuseable.B These proposed changes would make it even easier for developers to commit violations and exploit our community.
The most alarming recommendations I read are:

Limit City Council Reviews.
Only those processes that are statutorily required should go to Council (rezonings).
Eliminate Level III Conditional Use Permits from Council approval.
All non-Conditional Use projects that meet the UDO and Engineering
Specifications should be approved at staff level. Let staff do their job.
Eliminate the formal TRC (Technical Review Committee) reviews since they
add delays to the process; recommend informal TRC reviews at least twice a month.
Recommend maximum approval times of :
Level I conditional use permitsB B - one week
Level II conditional use permitsB B - three weeks
Level III conditional use permitsB - five weeks
Here is the brief announcment from Terry Summey at the city planning
D epartment with information about the forum this week:
CITY OF ASHEVILLE CITIZEN'S FORUM
PURPOSE: To provide feedback to city staff on the following...
The recommendations of the "2004 DEVELOPMENT REVIEW TASK FORCE" which was presented to City Council on October 19, 2004. AND
Staff's RESPONSE AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN to be further considered by City Council at their worksession on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 at 3:00 p.m., City Hall, 1st floor meeting room.
DATES:Two opportunities to provide feedback....
Tuesday, February 1st; 6 P.M. or
Thursday, February 3rd; 6 P.M.
LOCATION: Public Works Facility, 161 S. Charlotte Street,
Training Room (A-109 - 1st Floor)
NOTE:If you do not have a copy of the report, it can be
obtained at the Development Services Center, Public Works Facility, Room A-101, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday - Friday.B Staff's report which was presented to City Council at their worksession on January 18th can also be obtained from the City's web site at: www.ashevillenc.gov/newslinks/development.rtf
Yes, the full report with recommendations can be found at:
www.ashevillenc.gov/newslinks/development.rtf
Or if you prefer, I can email you the document (it's about 270 kb).
Terry Summey is the contact person with the city planning department
regarding this forum.B He can be contacted at 259-5656 or tsummey@ashevillenc.gov.
If you don't want to subject yourself to these forums, you can email your
comments about this report.B Mr. Summey said that people can email comments to him by the end of the day Friday, Feb. 4 and he recommends referencing the recommendation numbers with your specific comments.B He will be taking all of the comments given at the forum and via email and putting them into a report to
give to City Council.B City Council will be considering changing the Unified Development Ordinance regarding the process for development proposals.
Please forward widely!
Christopher Fielden