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Tuesday, 21 November 2006 15:16 |
By DAVID FORBES
Around 50 disc golfing enthusiasts who packed into Asheville City Council chambers on Nov. 14 got their wish when council unanimously approved a new plan that would give them, after a six-month lapse, landscaping on a new disc golf course in Richmond Hill Park.
The opening of a new course was delayed when the city was charged with environmental violations because of erosion damage to the site caused by landscaping.
Members of the Western North Carolina Disc Golf Club said that they have ÇƒÓ and will continue to ÇƒÓ volunteer to put funds and time into the landscaping of the course ÇƒÓ and that they have found ways to address the environmental concerns.
"Weëve
gone through five changes and I believe that this is the last change,"
James Nichols, who is designing the course, said. "We now have a
600-foot buffer, which weëve agreed to in order to keep the peace.
Weëve been six months without disc golf. We want disc golf in this
town. We need closure tonight. We need no micromanagement by staff. You
guys donët need to be bothered by this. Weëre environmentally friendly
people and weëre considering everything thatës out there. We need to
know that on Nov. 15, we can start designing and creating our course
out there."
During the six
months local disc golfers have been without a course, Asheville has
also missed money that they ÇƒÓ and other disc golfers ÇƒÓ usually bring to
the area, WNCDGC Chair Meredith Nichols said.
"People have
been going to Greenville, South Carolina or Tennessee," she said.
"Theyëve been taking their money elsewhere. We were so excited these
past six years to have this wonderful community and all these people
coming here and for these past six months itës been taken away. This
doesnët need to happen again."
Later,
environmental activist James Wood, a Richmond Hill resident who bought
up many of the erosion concerns to public attention over the previous
months, said that he supported the disc golferës course construction.
"I think the new
course is great and Iëm in full support of it," Wood said. "I hope that
this council will also support an environmental advisory committee that
in the future can address some of these issues in a more direct
fashion."
In other action, council:
ï Approved 6-1 a
new seven-month parking plan that will involve pursuing public parking
in decks owned by Buncombe County, instead of expanding current
city-owned decks or opening new decks.
The lone
dissenting vote came from Councilman Carl Mumpower, who said the city
was making a mistake in turning its back on construction of a parking
deck near Battery Park.
In reply, Mayor
Terry Bellamy noted that the a previous deal with the Basilica of St.
Lawrence to get land for a deck had fallen through, so it is not
possible for the city to pursue such a plan at the current time.
A plan to build
a parking deck in the area had also drawn considerable ire from local
residents and neighborhood activists, who asserted that it was too
close to the Battery Park Apartments and might damage the Basilicaës
structure.
ï Voted
unanimously to delay using federal grant funds to refurbish two
buildings in The Block, Ashevilleës historic African-American
neighborhood, until the renovations could be incorporated into a larger
plan for the entire area.
However,
Councilman Brownie Newman pressed for, and received a promise from
council that if such a plan does not emerge soon, the city would go
ahead with the renovations.
"Iëm just not comfortable with letting this money sit here unless we have that sort of commitment," Newman said.
Meanwhile,
Darryl Hart, chair of the Eagle Market Street Development Corporation,
said that he was excited about the possibilities.
"Weëd like to
see just those two buildings renovated, but this will give us some
opportunities to put some bids out there and look at the larger scope
of what could happen as well," Hart said.
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