The recent decision by Staples Inc. to finally listen to an enraged Asheville public about the appearance of its Merrimon Avenue monstrosity brings to mind the entire issue of ugly new buildings that seem to be proliferating like warts all over the so-called “Paris of the South.”

Some examples include the bland and boxy new bank and real-estate buildings further down Merrimon and the Stalinesque condominiums going up next to the charming, folksy Thomas Wolfe homeplace.

This issue is important because Asheville has such a great heritage of fine architecture that is recognized worldwide, especially its art-deco gems.

Sadly, this garden of masterpieces is being choked out like weeds by incredibly unimaginative buildings. (We hope the buildings are not a reflection on the personalities of their owners....)

Ultimately, this appears to us to be the fault of the city staff, which acts more like advocates for every developer’s pie-in-the-sky plan than like the watchdogs that we expect to preserve the rich cultural heritage and character of Asheville.

City Council ought to be the court of final appeal, but too often simply rubberstamps the staff’s recommendation — much to the dismay of the citizenry and future generations.

The problem is that big money in the form of wealthy developers is steering the ship of state. City officials act as if their hands are tied and claim they have no authority except to enforce the technical minutiae of legal requirements — then disregard even those requirements (as with the Staples building), or hand out variances and exceptions like candy. All too often, the public is kept out of the loop.

A city that depends so much on tourism for its livelihood must keep its focus on the bigger picture — the appearance and style of its new buildings. Their placement, too, must not interfere with existing landmarks — as the enormous ParkSide condo would do, if built as proposed, practically smack in front of Asheville’s signature City Hall.

This problem is not confined to city officials, however, as anyone who walks around UNC Asheville will be horrified to discover. (Perhaps UNCA is saving money by sharing Soviet-era architects already used by local developers.)

We at the Planet want to apologize to you, Richard Sharp Smith, Douglas Ellington and the other great architects of Asheville’s past, for the cheap, tacky, commercial-grade buildings that detract from the jewels you left us.