The agenda for the February 8 Asheville City Council meeting looked rather thin. It looked as if council might even get out in less than a couple of hours – a feat accomplished only once in the last ten years if memory serves. Unfortunately for those who despise overreaching government yet feel compelled to sit through the meetings, the council chambers filled early with citizens.
“Why are they here?” I asked a representative of CIBO.
“Kenilworth,” she replied.
Funny. I didn’t remember seeing anything about Kenilworth on the agenda. In fact, “Kenilworth” was not explicitly mentioned in any of the staff reports.
However, those in the know knew that two more-or-less housekeeping amendments to the UDO were to be discussed. Planning Director Judy Daniel explained they were meant to clear up language to better reflect council’s intent.
It seems a developer had wanted to construct high-density, infill apartments near a transit line. He owned land and hand enough money to proceed. That was rare in the current market. He proposed meeting many of council’s Smart Growth goals. But, the neighbors didn’t want him to build. They weren’t NIMBY’s, just normal folks who thought Smart Growth was good for other people.
Frank Howington’s proposal made it all the way up to the finish line of Asheville’s development review process, and then city council decided he ought not to build the 100-unit complex on his own property. Regrouping, Howington subdivided the property and came back with two 50-unit complexes on adjacent lots. The smaller project needed only city staff approval, and it was granted.
Neighbors appealed the decision, but the Planning and Zoning Commission ruled in Howington’s favor. The neighbors responded by suing Howington for improper subdivision of his land.
City staff reacted by initiating a rezoning of the property to intercept Howington’s new designs as they came around the pass. As reinforcement, staff rushed two UDO amendments before council to stop the construction. Council split its vote, some members uncomfortable with the hasty, irregular, and obviously targeted manner in which the matter was brought before them. The matters eventually passed with a second reading, giving staff time to discuss the amendments with the normal “key-playing” groups.
An update in the Citizen-Times reports no major progress on any front. The matter is making its way through the court system.
