The City of Asheville’s Board of Adjustment has jurisdiction to hear cases regarding variance requests from the provisions of the Unified Development Ordinance. Additionally, the Board of Adjustment has jurisdiction to hear appeals regarding interpretations of the Unified Development Ordinance, Floodplain Ordinance, Housing Code Ordinance and Historic District Guidelines.
Pursuant to NCGS 160D-302, City Code Sec. 7-6-2, and the Rules of Procedure for the Board of Adjustment, appeals from decisions of the City’s administrative staff must be filed within 30 days of the contested action.
Board of Adjustment Enabling City Ordinance
The City of Asheville (City) strives to ensure information on City websites is accessible. Our goal is to deliver a web experience that achieves “Level AA” conformance according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v2.1 (WCAG 2.1). Some of the documents on this page may not be fully accessible per ADA guidelines. If you encounter any accessibility barriers, please contact sstarr-baum@ashevillenc.gov for personal assistance.
Board of Adjustment Documents (meeting materials, annual reports, annual work plans, governing documents, enabling statutes, resolutions, ordinances, etc.)
The Board of Adjustment for the City of Asheville shall consist of twelve members, five regular members and seven alternate members. Three regular members and four alternate members who are residents of the City of Asheville shall be appointed by the Asheville City Council. Two regular members who reside within one mile of the municipal limits and three alternate members shall be appointed by the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners pursuant to N.C. Session Law 2013-30.
All members shall serve three-year terms. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all members appointed by the Asheville City Council shall serve at the pleasure of Council, and may be removed at any time with or without cause. All members shall serve a maximum of two terms.
Chair: Suzanne Godsey
The Board of Adjustment meets at 2:00 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month at City Hall, in the first-floor conference room. Meetings are held in person.
2026 Meeting Schedule
Next Meeting: August 24, 2026 at 2:00pm, taking place at 70 Court Plaza, Asheville, NC 28801, USA (CANCELED PER SAM STARR-BAUM)
To view more upcoming Board of Adjustment events, visit the Events Calendar.
Public Access:
Public Comment:
Variance Application
Flood-related Variance Application
Administrative Interpretation Appeal Application
Board of Adjustment applications may be submitted online through the City’s Development Portal at www.develop.ashevillenc.gov. You will receive an email invoice and instructions for paying fees online once you have submitted your application. Please upload all documents, including this form, to the General Permit Application.
Paper versions of Board of Adjustment applications and filing fees paid by check may be submitted to the Permit Application Center. Physical file storage devices such as USB drives will not be accepted. The Permit Application Center is located at 161 S. Charlotte Street, Asheville, NC 28801.
For older Board of Adjustment materials, please visit the Board of Adjustment Documents folder. To watch older recordings, you may view them on the Engagement Hub.
