Xpress recently obtained a copy of the “book of interpretations”—more than 178 pages of memos, e-mails and handwritten notes that Asheville’s Planning and Development Department uses as a guide when ruling on specific points concerning the Unified Development Ordinance. Some documents in the book date back to the UDO’s creation in 1997.

Asheville city officials on Wednesday announced the hiring of a new planning director. Judy Daniel, who has been working as the planning director for an agency that oversaw land-use planning and parks and recreation services in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, will start her new job June 30, according to a city news release.

The following are documents related to the Board of Adjustment hearing on March 24, 2008 for two of the four Staples signs.

BOA Application and Staff Report

Proposed and Old Depiction (TBD)

Drawings

ASHEVILLE – Development on steep mountain slopes should be regulated to protect homes and lives from landslides, according to a new study coordinated by the Land-of-Sky Regional Council.

The conclusions bolster the case for state rules requiring an evaluation of steeper slopes for stability before new construction is permitted, said state Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Madison.

Hopeful signs?  Staples displayed the proposed design changes for its Merrimon Avenue façade in a Jan. 28 press conference called by company executives and Mayor Terry Bellamy. Both camps aim to settle another festering issue in the long-running and often acrimonious debate about the city’s interpretation and enforcement of the Unified Development Ordinance. Staples and Greenlife Grocery have been high-profile cases in that dispute, along with Prudential Lifestyle Realty (whose sign was brought into compliance in 2006). But with Staples’ proposed signs still bigger than what the ordinance allows—and activists still grumbling—it remains to be seen whether this fight is over.

The following appeared (emphasis added) in the Citizen-Times Editorial Ratings.  Link to full editorial

A: To the public, for engaging in times when public engagement isn’t all that easy. A proposed Woodfin power plant, for example, was derailed by public opposition. A City Council vote in June to change elections to a partisan system brought a citizen reaction that fell just short of torches and pitchforks and sparked a petition drive and referendum that sorted the matter out. Other examples of engagement on development, roads, schools, the environment, etc., abound. For all the talk of average people being powerless, folks out there really need to give themselves some credit.

Neighbors on Courtland St (Montford Area) have filed an appeal of City Staff's interpretations related to the expansion of the Next Step Recovery group homes (formerly Flynn Homes) to an adjacent house. CAN has provided a bridge loan to this working class n'hood to cover the $500 fee thereby allowing them to file an appeal with the Board of Adjustment within the required 30 days.

Published November 29, 2007 (Asheville C-T Editorial)

Asheville City Manager Gary Jackson recently notified Reid Thompson that he is prohibited from visiting city-owned buildings without an appointment and escort.

In the letter notifying Thompson, Jackson says the prohibition results from “continued inappropriate behavior and comments to city staff.”

Jackson declined to say precisely what Thompson did.

No doubt, in these litigious days when workplace safety is a major issue, Jackson has an obligation to take whatever steps he feels are necessary to protect his staff if they complain that they feel harassed.

But one thing is certain: If anybody has a right to be frustrated with the City of Asheville, it’s Reid Thompson.

The recent debate over Greenlife’s noncompliance with Asheville’s zoning laws raises an interesting question: When city officials improperly state the law, may the recipient of that bad information depend on that information and break the law?