After an eight-hour hearing held by the Buncombe County Board of Adjustment, owners of land in Riceville will get to develop it. Plans for a new community were met with citizen and non-citizen complaints. To oblige complainants, some of whom signed a protest petition even though they did not live in the United States, the developers had to scale plans back from 322 to 281 homes and eliminate some non-residential uses. The Buncombe County Commissioners would not approve the plan as originally proposed, so the developers found a way to come in under the radar.