From Staff Reports

Following a presentation on Buncombe County’s proposed new Comprehensive Plan, attendees at the Feb. 3 meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners fired away with questions about many facets of the document.

One unidentified man asked, “What’s next?”

As per the presentation, the proposal will be examined in April by the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, along with the Buncombe Planning Department.

“Will the new plan result in rezoning many Buncombe County properties?” someone asked. 

“No,” Pennington replied.

Meeting attendee H.K. Edgerton, who bills himself as a Southern heritage activist, noted, “I was born and raised in this community” — and has seen much change — for the worse — in Asheville during his lifetime. 

“We’ve got traffic jams on the freeways” and many other problems, exacerbated by population growth.

“How can you be trusted?” Edgerton asked. “What are you doing for our community?”

A smiling Pennington looked Edgerton in the eyes and, after a brief pause, said, “I don’t represent the City of Asheville. “(He works for Buncombe County, for which he is the planning director).

Then, he said, “ I think one way we can be ‘trusted’ is to be transparent — and have a wholesome steering committee, which we did. And (to) gain the trust of the community,” which Pennington feels his department has achieved through its efforts to get public input on the proposed new Comprehensive Plan.

At that point, an unidentified man heaped lavish praise on the proposed Comprehensive Plan, but then said, “My question is: Are there places where you might want to mention where the environment is preserved?”

To that, Pennington replied, “From the county’s perspective, we’ll be looking at historic farms in the county.”

Another unidentified man asked, “Are we talking about the county kicking in money for the city’s bus lines?”

No, Pennington said, adding that “the county does (run) Mountain Mobility. That’s where that conversation is going.”

An unidentfied man asked, “Is there any potential for conservation subdivision regulation?”

Phillips concluded the Q&A by noting that, “as far as conservation developments, that’s not the direction we took.”