The most nefarious portion of the draft for Asheville’s Downtown Master Plan is Strategy #7. It recommends the establishment of a business improvement district to “enable everyone to share in the benefits of prosperity.†The BID, dubbed the Asheville Downtown District (ADD) would be governed by a board that “must transcend election cycles.†This body would be charged with, among other things:
• “overseeing completion of greenways and bikeways,â€
• “revising the city’s signage ordinance,â€
• “scheduling building safety and environmental inspections,â€
• “adopting downtown parks,â€
• “buying, selling, and managing real estate,â€
• “coordinating security patrols,â€
• “installing pole [security] cameras,â€
• “cleaning and repairing streets and sidewalks,â€
• “overseeing planting and décor,â€
• “managing recycling programs,â€
• “programming, marketing, and licensing downtown public realm places and events,â€
• “licensing street vendors and performers,â€
• “managing downtown’s public and private parking facilities,â€
• “launching a [business] incubator program,â€
• “investigating a coordinated goods-delivery system to multiple downtown businesses,â€
• scheduling operating hours for businesses,
• “placing the right retailers in the right locations,†and
• managing extortions from developers, otherwise known as community benefits.
This leaves those in elective office with nothing to do but hire planners for studies.