Last night, Asheville City Council adopted an affordable housing plan by a unanimous vote. The report dissed inclusionary zoning, form based codes, and city-owned land trusts for housing. It even recommended relaxing the UDO to allow and incentivize more density and multi-family units.
Unfortunately, I only saw red the first time I read the document. Changes to the UDO (a good thing) were only one of the four top recommendations. The other three were TIFs, bonds, and transit overlay districts. Other recommendations included rent controls, employers getting contractually involved in peoples’ housing choices, regional collaboration, middle-class welfare, “aggressive, committed public policy,†government involvement in providing housing, government involvement in providing jobs, forcing people out of their cars, and education and outreach.
Mayor Terry Bellamy appealed to the community to embrace the plan and refrain from using divisive rhetoric against it.
