Asheville Downtown Commission

The Asheville Downtown Commission was created by City Council for the sustainability and continued development of downtown, a vital urban center of western North Carolina’s economic, cultural and visitor activity.

The Downtown Commission provides City Council with recommendations on downtown policies and programs. In addition, Downtown Commissioners fill 4 out of 9 seats of the City’s Design Review Committee, which reviews development projects within the Central Business District, the River Arts District and hotel projects outside of those areas. The Downtown Commission provides input on development projects outside of the scope of Design Review, including impacts related to land use, economic development, parking, public space, safety, sustainability, etc. 

More information about the Downtown Commission’s role and duties is available here.

More information about the Design Review Committee, including agendas and materials for upcoming meetings, is available here


Regular Meeting Schedule

The Downtown Commission will meet in-person on the second Friday of each month at 8:30 a.m. in the first floor conference room of City Hall (70 Court Plaza). The typical length of each meeting is 1-2 hours. All meetings will be live streamed on the City’s YouTube Channel and the Downtown Commission’s Public Input Page.* 

Voicemail and written comments may be submitted before 5:00 p.m. the day before the meeting and will be provided to Downtown Commission members prior to the meeting. The email address for public comments is AVLdowntowncommission@publicinput.com.

More information about submitting public comments in advance of the meeting is available here. Public comments during the meeting must be made at the meeting in-person

 


Upcoming Meetings & Special Notices

 

The Downtown Public Space Management Committee will meet on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 4 p.m. The meeting will be held in-person at City Hall (70 Court Plaza) in the 6th Floor Training Room. 

 

To receive Downtown Commission meeting notices and agendas by email, please contact Dana Frankel at dfrankel@ashevillenc.gov. 

 

 


Sub-Committees

 
Design Review Committee 

Information about the Design Review Committee can be found at ashevillenc.gov/drc. Please contact Will Palmquist at wpalmquist@ashevillenc.gov with specific questions about the downtown design review process.

 

Pack Square Plaza Visioning Community Advisory Committee

The Downtown Commission established the Pack Square Plaza Visioning Advisory Committee as a sub-committee at their October 14, 2022 meeting. City staff is inviting representatives from other boards and commissions and the community at large to participate. The first meeting was held on October 31, 2022. 

The next meeting of the Advisory Committee will be held in April, 2023. Contact Stephanie Dahl for more information, sdahl@ashevillenc.gov. 

More information about the Pack Square Plaza Visioning project is available here

 

Downtown Public Space Management Task Force

Downtown Public Space Management is the focus of the for laying groundwork for updates to the Downtown Master Plan. An ad-hoc Public Space Management Committee was formed in late 2018 to guide this work.  Following a workshop with the committee on October 24, 2019, staff began drafting the framework and recommendations. The committee’s work was suspended during COVID, and staff’s focused turned toward the AVL Shares Space temporary outdoor expansion initiatives.

At the Downtown Commission’s January 2022 meeting, there was unanimous support to reboot the Committee, and to seek participation from various representative groups. More information and an application form to participate is available here. Current committee participation and open seats are viewable here. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis with representative roles filled as-needed. 

The Committee is chaired by Andrew Fletcher

Meetings are being scheduled based on Task Force member availability (approximately quarterly). See notice above and in table below. 

 

Parking & Transportation Working Group

This Working Group of the Downtown Commission is not actively meeting. Previous agendas and meeting notes are are available here.

April 15, 2021 – Parking & Transportation Working Group – video link

 


Agendas and Documents

Agenda

Documents

Action Minutes 

Video

May 12, 2023 Agenda

See materials linked to Agenda   May 12, 2023 Video

April 14, 2023 Agenda 

See materials linked to Agenda April 14, 2023 Action Minutes April 14, 2023 Video

Public Space Management Task Force Agenda – March 29, 2023

See materials linked to Agenda N/A March 29, 2023 Video

March 10, 2023 Agenda

March 10, 2023 Materials  March 10, 2023 Action Minutes March 10, 2023 Video

February 17, 2023 Work Session Agenda

February 17, 2023 Work Session Materials N/A N/A
February 17, 2023 Pack Square Plaza Visioning Community Advisory Committee Agenda February 17, 2023 presentation N/A N/A
February 10, 2023 Agenda  February 10, 2023 Materials February 10, 2023 Action Minutes February 10, 2023 Video
January 13, 2023 Commissioners to participate in Pack Square Visioning Design Workshop
December 9, 2022 Agenda December 9, 2022 Materials  December 9, 2022 Action Minutes December 9, 2022 Video
Public Space Management Task Force Agenda – November 16, 2022 November 16 PSMTF Materials N/A November 16, 2022 Video
No meeting in November
October 31, 2022 Pack Square Plaza Community Advisory Committee (CAC)  October 31, 2022 Materials N/A October 31, 2022 Pack Square Plaza Visioning CAC Meeting Video
October 14, 2022 Agenda October 14, 2022 Materials October 14, 2022 Minutes October 14, 2022 Video
No meeting in September
August 12, 2022 Agenda August 12, 2022 Materials August 12, 2022 Minutes (draft) August 12, 2022 Video
July 8, 2022 Agenda  July 8, 2022 Materials July 8, 2022 Minutes July 8, 2022 Video
June 23, 2022 Public Space Management Task Force Agenda June 23, 2022 Materials N/A June 23, 2022 Video
June 10, 2022 Agenda  June 10, 2022 Materials June 10, 2022 Minutes June 10, 2022 Video
May 13, 2022 Agenda May 13, 2022 Materials May 13, 2022 Minutes May 13, 2022 Video
May 5, 2022 Public Space Management Task Force Agenda May 5, 2022 Materials N/A May 5, 2022 Video
Public Space Management Task Force Site Visits – April 6 and April 28 April Site Visit Materials April site visits worksheet N/A
April 8, 2022 Agenda April 8, 2022 Materials April 8, 2022 Minutes April 8, 2022 Video
March 25, 2022 Public Space Management Task Force Agenda March 25, 2022 PSMTF Materials N/A March 25, 2022 Video
March 11, 2022 Agenda March 11, 2022 Materials March 11, 2022 Minutes March 11, 2022 Video
February 11, 2022 Agenda February 11, 2022 Materials February 11, 2022 Minutes February 11, 2022 Video
January 14, 2022 Agenda January 14, 2022 Materials  January 14, 2022 Minutes January 14, 2022 Video
December 16 work session w/ Multimodal Transportation Commission  December 16, 2021 Materials  December 16, 2021 Minutes December 16, 2021 Video
2021 Meeting Materials
2020 Meeting Materials
2019 Meeting Materials
2018 Meeting Materials

Membership and Resource Documents

Member contact: Bryan Moffitt, Chair – Bryan.moffitt@arca-design.com 


Contact Information

Dana Frankel, Downtown Planning Manager
828-273-5248