It was a good night for a change. The City of Asheville invited stakeholders to comment on the vision for the Merrimon Corridor study.

Earlier this year, Asheville held visioning sessions for Merrimon Avenue, but, for some reason, a great many property owners to be affected didn’t hear about it. People in other parts of town, though, had definite ideas about the “look” of buildings and the sense of place that should characterize Merrimon (a.k.a. US 25). A survey was circulated and “the people” got to say how many stories, how wide of setbacks, what style of architecture, etc. they wanted the business owners to buy for their investments.

When it came time for city council to vote, business owners on Merrimon were hoppin’ mad. Foster Schreiner, who owns a CPA firm on Merrimon, said he was going to be optimistic and hope this would get business owners more involved in the political process.

He was right. During the city council campaign season, Merrimon Avenue was full of signs for the three candidates who weren’t anti-development. One business with no lawn put out cinderblocks to hold the signs in place.

After city council voted to continue the matter of rezoning, city staff is inviting the property owners to have a say in the planning process. It was a strange feeling to, for one night, sit in a room of activists who wanted to run their businesses affordably, without buying a lot of crazy one-size-fits-all government requirements.

In one breakout group, a man complained that if he supplied the city’s sidewalk and buffer requirements on his lot angled between two main streets, all he’d have left is room to plant one tree. Another guy couldn’t meet the regulations because of the topography on his lot. Small lots can’t provide mixed-use development and the parking to accommodate it. One lady said she would have to have businesses buy the residential space next to her to get the “look” the city wanted. All complained about the crunch the proposed rezoning would put on their pocketbook.

One joker mentioned the John Locke Foundation’s study on planning penalties and how Asheville’s, now over 25%, was the second highest in the state. She recommended deregulation as an incentive for smart (double-entendre) growth. That item got the most votes from the group. Other winners were similar, asking the city to scrap its Unified Development Ordinance and draconian standards for renovation. Property owners wanted flexibility and consideration for their unique circumstances.

One guy suggested incentivizing the affordable housing the mixed-use zoning and city council’s strategic goals would require, but others complained that as business owners they’d be paying their own subsidies with increased taxes.

The most unique comment of the night concerned the city’s limitations on species that can be used in landscaping. The inbreeding of species, presumably, could lead to an increase in arboreal pathologies.

All in all, it was nice to attend a meeting where liberty, property rights, and deregulation were the orders of the day.