The flyer published for the latest wave of public meetings for Asheville’s Downtown Master Planning process indicates that Business Improvement Districts are in the works. As mentioned in a prior post, these organizations would use revenues from a special new tax to take care of basic city services like public safety and sanitation. Government will then be free from having to spend revenues on role of government functions.
The planners also spoke as if it was a given that developers must pay a price to the community for being prosperous. David Dixon, a planner from Goody Clancy, explained that 10-20% of units in a new development could be subsidized by the other units, or proceeds from all units could go toward providing affordable housing elsewhere. To avoid time lags for the latter option, an organization could be established to oversee excesses earned by development and redistribute them in a more timely fashion.
The second public meeting today sought to engage the African-American community in the discussions. At first, people aired complaints about racism that seemed shallow and unfounded. Then, a lady got up and said urban renewal discriminated against blacks because it priced them out of the market. Black people, she said, can’t afford to shop downtown. Others pointed to the water colored visions and said they didn’t see themselves there. Dixon said the buildings looked like luxury apartments, but some of the units were subsidized. People seemed to be saying that African-Americans were dependent on others for housing.
The urban planners got taken to task. The meeting was held in the public works building, on land which was a black neighborhood until it was seized by eminent domain. Some speakers told of three waves of displacement of black people. Some spoke of “planning fatigue.â€
Thomas Jones then made passionate remarks about how people should never tell their children they can’t do anything. He was black. He moved to a neighborhood and made his yard look like a park and drove up the property values of the white people on the street. He owns a steakhouse, and he leaves his teenage kids in charge when he needs to step out. People need to empower themselves by seeking out opportunities for training and tooling.
Dixon closed the meeting sounding somewhat stunned. He said he would have to think about responses, given that it was difficult to communicate with people accusing him of being untrustworthy. To build trust, he promised to be frank, and he indicated he had believed society had evolved beyond the point of demanding a token black face on the planning team, which some members of the audience had requested. Dixon then agreed with Jones that the answers laid somewhere in the realm of education for empowerment.