CAN Holds Congress of Asheville Neighborhoods

By Cathy Holt

After a welcome from Chris Pelly, president of CAN, Reverend Maggie Lauterer of Burnsville addressed the group, saying, “We can\’t move forward with an attitude of “But we\’ve always done it this way.\’”

Gloria Johnson, Barb Verni-Lau, and Teresa Mc Pherson representing Burton Street,  West Asheville.

Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy, the keynote speaker, praised Shiloh resident Norma Baynes, who has been nationally recognized by Neighborhood Works of America for her community service. In 2000 Baynes helped found the Shiloh Community Association, which has successfully arranged for two new homes to be built on a former commercial lot and partnered with A-B Tech. and Parks & Recreation to get a bus shelter built.

Shiloh Community Association.

“I want to share my vision for Asheville with you,” Bellamy said as she outlined goals of community building, economic development, land use planning, affordable housing ($70K-$110K), care for the natural environment, and improved transportation. Showing artists\’ sketches, she called for a Pack Square park, renovation of the Civic Center Arena, and a Parkside Performing Arts Center with 20% affordable residential units next to City Hall. She also endorsed Gene Ellison\’s vision of affordable housing and a hotel for

“Growth,” said Bellamy, “is the biggest issue in Asheville in ten years,” adding that her long-term goals include programs to support small businesses and job creation, and Smart Growth plans for the city. She highlighted plans for a College Street office building, upgrading the WC Reid Center into a Center for Performing Arts, and, on Patton Avenue , renovating the homeless shelter and adding an eight-story hotel.

Jacqueline Shade and Pastor Shade with Johnnie Walker, Shiloh Community Association.  All photos by Sarah Brown with Neighborhood Housing Services of Asheville.

Bellamy also applauded the developer of the St. Joan of Arc project in West Asheville for setting up a four-day charette with neighborhood residents to design a mixed-use development, and she praised River District plans for the Wilma Dykeman Greenway and the proposed Glen Rock Development, which would revitalize old Glen Rock Hotel and add 100 mixed-use units, including artist live-work spaces.

Afternoon workshops included, among others, “How to form a neighborhood association,” “How to understand the UDO,” and “How to communicate and connect with your neighborhood.” At the workshop attended by this writer — “How to affect progressive change in Asheville\’s development” — facilitators Suzanne Molloy and Hedy Fischer cited both successful and unsuccessful interventions by community groups.

In Kenilworth, a proposed Doctors\’ Park, which would have been quiet in the evenings, was blocked, and a noisy “Cheeseburger in Paradise” restaurant came in instead. Residents also defeated a proposed Kenilworth Retirement Community, which would have been LEED certified with green roofs and conveniently located near hospitals. Fischer cited several successful “progressive interventions” including Gerber VillageSouth Asheville (in place of a proposed Super Wal-Mart), which will include places to live, work, and shop in.

CAN Community Congress.

The session was not without controversy, as community activist Minnie Jones, who was a cofounder of CAN, raised questions about the poor that were not addressed. She brought up the “Weed and Seed” program, which Mayor Bellamy supports, as an example of “weeding out the poor and seeding it for the wealthy.”

“That Weed & Seed program does what it says,” Jones said. “I\’ve been to cities like Gastonia and Charlotte that have that, and they are beautiful. But where do the poor people go? That\’s the question that concerns me: the less fortunate people.”

In an interview, Jones said, “I left this organization ten years ago because it wasn\’t serving ALL the people of Asheville. But I\’m still involved with Community Action Opportunities. It\’s a low-income organization that helps all kinds of people, an equal rights organization. I believe that all people should be served and treated equal. CAN was designed to do that. But I asked questions today that weren\’t answered concerning what\’s going to happen to low income people, such as people in public housing. There was not one word about public housing.”

Jones also described official scapegoating that can hide underlying issues. “They say that the big problem in the public housing projects is drugs. But the real problem is lack of jobs for our young people. They arrest the youths, and they can\’t get a job after that. These are people just like you and me; they need to eat, a place to sleep, clothes to wear. I\’ve talked to these young people and I know that people won\’t hire them. Yes, drugs are a problem. But they need to make a living some kind of way.”

Another issue for Jones is the tendency of neighborhood groups to discriminate based on income. “The Housing Authority bought some property in West Asheville to build houses for low-income people, and [neighborhood activists] made out that there was no water, and all kinds of things, to keep us out. Some call it NIMBY-ism, Not in My Back Yard.” But, she suggests, the water and traffic issues disappeared when a different developer arrived. “Now, there\’s a beautiful high-end development there by a man from Florida. That\’s the kind of behind-the-scenes dealing that goes on.”

Almost wistfully, Jones added, “I wish I could live to see us all be of one accord. The poor will always be with us. We need to recognize that.”

On Tuesday, May 30 at 6:00 p.m., a second public Goals Forum will be held at Asheville High School where community input is invited. This will be a follow up to the first community meeting held in January.