To complement the comprehensive plan for the city and to focus on specific areas of need, the Planning & Development Department has prepared a number of small area plans over the past several years.
Map of Neighborhood Plans
Shiloh Neighborhood Plan
WestEnd/Clingman Avenue
Haywood Road Corridor
Charlotte Street
Broadway Corridor
River Redevelopment Plan
Shiloh Neighborhood Plan Complete
In late 2003, the Shiloh Community Association, Neighborhood Housing Services of Asheville, and the City of Asheville came together to organize a community planning process. A task force was organized to lead the effort to develop a plan for Shiloh. Over the past several years, the task force has worked with the City to address pressing community concerns and to work on the development of a neighborhood plan.
A draft of The Shiloh Community Plan 2025 is now in review by the community and by the City. On July 22, 2010 the Asheville Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously (5-0) recommended approval of the plan. The plan was adopted Asheville City Council on September 14, 2010.
A link to the plan is provided here.
Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan
The Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan consolidates 20 years of planning for the redevelopment of the urban riverfront corridor by RiverLink. The RiverWay Plan builds and expands on The Riverfront Plan, developed by RiverLink in 1989 in cooperation with the AIA and the ASLA, which won the American Planning Association’s Large Scale Planning Award and was adopted by the City of Asheville and Buncombe County as the vision for a revitalized riverfront.
In 1991, RiverLink received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts to develop a broad spectrum of Design Guidelines for Open Space that addressed issues such as access to the river, signage, public art, landscaping, structures, support facilities and graphics. The Open Space Design Guidelines are now part of the zoning code and have guided river park and river greenway development since their inception. Other planning efforts RiverLink undertook include the master plan/construction drawings it commissioned from Edward. D. Stone, Jr. for French Broad River Park and Greenway.
Wilma Dykeman RiverWay Plan
WestEnd/Clingman Avenue
This small area plan was completed in 1996 in order to anticipate and guide the changes affecting this old riverfront neighborhood.
City Council identified several reasons for undertaking the plan including:
- The neighborhood is an important connection between Downtown and the French Broad Riverfront. As the Riverfront and Downtown become more economically linked, a strong physical connection between them would be mutually beneficial.
- The area could also experience more residential development pressure as a result of Riverfront revitalization. The character and impact of any new residential development must be sensitive to the existing historic fabric of the neighborhood and its residents.
- There is also the potential for increased commercial development on Clingman Ave as business and entertainment uses expand in conjunction with the French Broad River revitalization efforts. Further commercial development in the neighborhood may be perceived as a detrimental intrusion into the neighborhood.
- There is a significant need for rehabilitation of the housing stock and utilities.
The WECAN Citizens Master Plan was adopted by City Council on January 22, 2008.
Haywood Road Corridor
The concept for the development of the Haywood Road Corridor Plan began in the early 1990’s as Asheville’s Downtown Development office realized the redevelopment potential of the historic character of this similar but smaller downtown area. In the City’s planning endeavor to maintain the viability of the central downtown core, it recognized the same idea could be utilized on the Haywood Road corridor which also contained a unique mixture of commercial, institutional, and residential uses.
Neighborhood integrity and lack of commercial intrusion into established neighborhoods was a strong concern on both sides of Haywood Road. Quality landscaping and retaining the old building facades and signage was in keeping with the historic nature and future vision of the area. Community cohesion and consistent character was desired along Haywood Road and between the neighborhoods that adjoin it. The key to business retention and community cohesion is "improved an adequately maintained infrastructure."
In 1995, community meetings were held to receive input from the public on how this corridor area should continue to develop. At that time, efforts to receive community input fell short from the lack of community involvement and redirection of certain City priorities. However, in 1998, the need to provide some positive direction to accommodate the growing revitalization of the corridor, the concept of the small area plan resurfaced and through several community meetings with neighborhoods, businesses, and churches, the Haywood Road Corridor Plan was prepared and adopted by the City of Asheville.
The plan will be used by the community and city staff in making decisions related to the future of Haywood Road and land development of adjacent properties and neighborhoods.
Charlotte Street
Charlotte Street and its unique mixture of commercial, institutional and residential properties is located between an increasingly vibrant downtown and some of Asheville’s most historic neighborhoods. Over the past ten years, hundreds of new businesses have opened in the historic buildings of Downtown Asheville, which is fast becoming a major draw for tourists. The neighborhoods served by Charlotte Street have seen similar investment and revitalization occur over the years.
The street is also the "front door" for the Grove Park Inn, one of the largest tourist destinations in Western North Carolina. Charlotte Street is often the first introduction to Asheville for the estimated 3000,000 people who visit the Grove Park Inn each year.
Although its location poses problems such as steadily increasing volumes of traffic and conflicts over development which tend to follow, it also provides Charlotte Street with enormous potential. An opportunity exists to take advantage of this potential in a way that enhances the street economically while assuring the future development is compatible with and beneficial to its surrounding neighborhoods and provides an appropriate entry into the City.
The Charlotte Street Corridor Plan serves as a guide for the future development and improvements along the street. The plan will be used by elected officials, city staff and the community in making decisions related to the future of the street.
Charlotte Street Corridor Plan
Charlotte Street Transportation Enhancement Study
Broadway Corridor
The Broadway corridor between US 19/23 (soon to be I-26) and downtown Asheville presents a unique opportunity for the City of Asheville to achieve several goals designed to enhance the livability of the community. The Broadway Corridor Plan makes efficient use of our limited land and resources, promotes a wide variety of transportation and housing options, absorbs and effectively serves a growing population, and protects the architectural and environmental character of the City through compatible, high quality, and environmentally sensitive development. Broadway has the potential to serve as a model to demonstrate how new development can be successfully integrated with existing development.Past and recent development along Broadway has not always been compatible with the role of the street as a major entry into downtown, as a link between UNCA and downtown, or as a link serving the adjacent neighborhoods. In spite of the few examples of development that are not compatible, there are opportunities for development and redevelopment along the corridor that would strengthen this role, while benefiting the property owner, developer, neighbors, and the community as a whole. As part of the comprehensive plan for the City of Asheville, it will be used as a development template by elected officials, City staff, and the community in making decisions relating to the development and redevelopment of the Broadway corridor. The development template and guidelines identified in the Broadway Corridor Plan were developed with the input of Broadway corridor business owners, property owners, residents, and neighbors working with City staff. The Plan is in the process of being reviewed by The Planning & Zoning Commission and will soon be before Asheville City Council for adoption.
River Redevelopment Plan
The River Redevelopment Plan, adopted in 2005 is intended to work in tandem with the Wilma Dykeman Riverway Plan and the 1992 Biltmore Village Development Plan to spur redevelopment activity along the Swannanoa and French Broad Rivers. The plan was prepared in accordance with the Hurricane Recovery Act of 2005 and has resulted in the granting of some $820,000 of infrastructure enhancements and forgiveable recovery loans to businesses in the three river area through the NC Rural Economic Development Center.
Zoning changes recommended by the River District Design Committee have been initiated to bring the land use into greater compatibility with the Dykeman and Biltmore Village Plans.