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Tuesday, 24 October 2006 17:02 |
From Staff Reports
Maintaining the unique character of West Asheville ÇƒÓ likely through a change in zoning ÇƒÓ was a dominant theme at a meeting about the future of Haywood Road last Thursday.
About 40 West Asheville residents and business-owners met at the West Asheville community center to discuss zoning along the neighborhoodës main thoroughfare.
Alan Glines, an urban planner for the City of Asheville and member of the long-term planning committee for the development of Haywood, moderated the forum, which gave members of the community a chance to voice their opinions on how they want West Asheville to develop.
"We love downtown ÇƒÓ we just want to keep downtown across the river," Glines said.
Several months
ago, residents and business-owners were sent a survey asking questions
about how the area should develop, he noted.Of the more than 1,000
surveys that were distributed, the committee received 402 responses.
Most of the major concerns listed were about future development and
public safety along the road. The majority of residents and business
owners wrote that they felt that maintaining the character of West
Asheville should be a top priority for the future.
Furthermore, the
majority of those who responded to the survey were in favor of
restricting businesses to two stories in height, beautification of the
street, more green space and pedestrian walkways, Glines said.
Other major
concerns listed were where parking lots will be located, pedestrian
safety, how to avoid big-box stores ÇƒÓ such as Staples or Wal-Mart ÇƒÓ and
how to encourage small businesses to come to West Asheville along
Haywood road.
Several people
listed Tunnel Road and Patton Avenue in the survey as examples of what
they did not want for their area, he added.
Among the major
existing problems in West Asheville, residents listed drugs,
prostitution, lack of green space and pedestrian dangers.
Furthermore, many respondents expressed concern about the future of the area and how it will continue to develop.
After reviewing
the results, the committee decided that most of the issues facing the
community could be addressed with zoning specifications.
Construction of
Haywood Road currently has three major zoning areas. The highway
business district is focused on automotive traffic and allows large
parking lots and big-box stores such as Staples and Wal-Mart. The
central business district encourages street fronts and pedestrian
traffic, but allows for mixed use and has no parking requirements.
Central business district II gives a 40-foot building-height limit and
parking restrictions, as well as allowing drive-throughs.
The committee
proposed that based on the results of the survey, the zoning that would
best meet the communityës needs is the neighborhood corridor district.
This would maintain the character of the street, encourage small
businesses, allow residential use, give a chance for more green space
and become more pedestrian friendly. The zoning would also prohibit
big-box stores by limiting buildings to no more than four stories tall
and 24,000 square feet of floor space. The designation would also give
businesses incentives for keeping their storefronts and sidewalks in
good condition, Glines said.
An additional
benefit to using the neighborhood corridor district is that it can be
customized for Haywood Road so that more of the areaës concerns can be
addressed, he noted.
After a brief
presentation, the meeting broke up into smaller groups to give those in
attendance a chance to discuss ideas and concerns with committee
members and city planners.
The planning
committee will compile the public feedback gathered during the meeting
to develop plans to improve Haywood Road. Any rezoning proposal made by
the committee will require approval by City Council, which will most
likely consider the issue next year, Glines said.
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