The City of Asheville proceeded with turning off electricity and gas for eight buildings in its River Arts District. The RAD is a place where rad hipsters have moved into abandoned warehouses in an attempt to rejuvenate the area through the application of creative-class theories from urbanist Richard Florida.
One person affected was commissioned to do a piece of public art for the city. He claims the city will lose $4000 if they don’t let him complete his piece, which is too colossal to be moved.
Development Services Director Shannon Tuch says the noncompliant buildings have been cited since 2009. The problem is, so many improvements were needed to get things up to code, tenants would always opt to vacate and leave the problems for the next guy. Tuch indicated the problems were of a public safety nature, such as inoperable fire hydrants in buildings storing combustible materials.
