From Staff Reports 

ASHEVILLE, N.C — UNC Asheville’s Millennial Campus Development Advisory Committee recommended dropping the idea of building a controversial 5,000-seat soccer stadium from its South Campus property, known as “the woods,” in its report released on July 20.

Yet, the committee still designated the 45-acre urban forest as the top priority for other commercial and campus development.

Following are background details on the stadium proposal:

• The university previously pursued a partnership with the Asheville City Soccer Club to build a $250 million stadium district on the wooded land.

• The plan triggered massive pushback from neighbors and local groups such as Save the Woods and Friends of the Woods, who gathered more than 18,000 signatures to protect the urban forest.

• UNCA paused the project in August 2025 following the ensuing community uproar and formed an advisory group to re-evaluate.

Following are the committee’s recommendations:

• The MCDA Committee’s formal report advised against building the stadium because a large sports venue “would organize development around a single use, crowding out the higher priority uses.”

• Instead, the committee prioritized the South Campus for student housing, retail, dining and open public spaces.

• The guidance stresses that future building should prioritize the natural landscape, topography and trail connections.

Following is a summary of community reaction to the committee’s recommendations:

• Activists and neighborhood groups reportedly are pleased the stadium is off the table, but opinions remain mixed-to-critical regarding any construction.

• Preservationists argue that developing the urban forest with housing or retail is still the wrong decision for the campus ecosystem.

The “Comment Bubble” following a July 21 story by Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) on the UNCA committee’s recommendations included the following assertions:

• Pilfering — “Growth and development are overrated and much harm to the environment has been caused by it. Is it entirely possible that something is big enough? Like the population in Western N.C.?”

• PlotThickener — “Yep. Once you take too much of what draws people here away, then it just becomes everywhere else. Orlando. Et cetera.”

• Tom51 — “Heaven forbid we leave some land undeveloped for the wildlife that has been there for centuries. Let’s build another apartment bldg. or condo, gas station and we MUST have a stadium.”

• WAVLNATIVE — “The libs wanted to turn McCormick Field into a homeless camp a couple of years ago and I’m sure they have their eyes on this piece of property! 

“Hope it happens and all the homeless in West Asheville make the trip over!”

• AvlNC — “Nah... they fit in better in WAVL. They don’t like NAVL — no drug dealers and no free needle handouts.”

• Normal — “Those woods need a mural.”

• WAVLNATIVE — “A rainbow mural, if they have their way!”

• johnbarleycorn — “Call it the George Floyd Woods, no? Then we can all visit and take a knee.”

• WAVLNATIVE — “That piece of land will soon become a homeless camp  — if the liberals have any say in it!

“But, maybe not, as it is fairly close to the holy land of the mayor in North Asheville — and God forbid they invade that area!”

• johnbarleycorn — “Its a perfect bucolic spot for homeless to live and thrive, no? And also for illegals... since Asheville is  a sanctuary city.”