Asheville Greenway Commission

As you may know, January 8th kicked off an important ten-day period of focus group and public input to the planning process that will influence open space, greenways, parks, public arts, festivals, and other facilities and operations overseen by the Asheville Parks and Recreation Department for decades to come.

The meetings are part of the master plan revision that is being conducted his year by the Asheville Parks and Recreation Department. For more information on that process, please contact Debbie Ivester at (828) 259-5804, or [email protected].

The Asheville
Greenway Commission provides the attached position statement, which
outlines its considered view and formal comments to the process, for
release to the press. We on the Commission clearly regard this as a
critical moment for open space planning for the City of Asheville and
indeed the broader region, and we invite exposure from the news media.

Position Statement and Formal Comments

2008 Asheville Parks and Recreation Planning Process, January 7, 2008

Whereas,

Expansion
of Asheville’s greenway system represents the best available
opportunity to assure that open space and green space are available and
accessible to citizens and visitors, and;

The development of an expansive and well-designed greenway system will be a source of strong community pride, and;

An
expanded and well-planned greenway system will result in improved
quality of life for the community as a result of its aesthetic,
recreation, and health benefits, and;

A
completed and connected greenway system will be an important component
of neighborhood revitalization and community redevelopment, and;

Expansion
of the greenway system of Asheville will yield strong economic benefits
in the form of increased tourism and from greater attraction/retention
of businesses, and;

Greenways represent a meaningful and cost-effective form of alternative transportation needed by the Asheville community, and:

Greenways
represent an important means to connect neighborhoods with each other,
with downtown, with schools, and with other areas of the community, and;

Such neighborhood connectivity is especially important in the interest of affordable housing and social diversity, and;

Sidewalks
and bike lanes are important components along with greenways in a
comprehensive approach to healthful recreation, alternative
transportation, and neighborhood connectivity, and;

Greenways serve to protect water quality, and support other aspects of environmental protection and land conservation, and;

Open space protection is important to all citizens of the community and the region; and
Many other comparable communities have outpaced our community in the advancement of open space and greenways, and;

The
citizens, business leaders, and political leaders of Asheville have
vocally advocated for expansion of the greenway system in recent years,
and;

Despite
the creation in 1999 of a Greenways Master Plan, the Asheville
Greenways Commission, and the Asheville Parks and Greenways Foundation,
the City’s greenways initiative has resulted in less progress than
desired by the citizens of the community,

Therefore, the Asheville Greenway Commission urges adoption of the following policies:

The City
of Asheville will establish the goal of developing fifteen miles of
greenways in the next five years, and thirty miles of greenways over
the next ten years;

The City
of Asheville will develop and publicly articulate a sufficient and
reliable multi-year funding strategy to assure the implementation of
the greenways system, and that funding strategy will assure optimum
leverage of city taxpayer funding through collaboration with private
and public sector funding partners;

The City
of Asheville will adopt documented design and construction standards
that establish a level of quality befitting the community’s needs and
interests, with the design standards also assuring environmental
protection, especially in water quality and stormwater runoff;

The City
of Asheville will actively collaborate with nonprofit partners such as
the Asheville Parks and Greenways Foundation, RiverLink, and The Trust
for Public Land so as to more effectively raise funds and develop
projects;

The City
of Asheville will collaborate with Buncombe County government and with
other nearby municipalities so as to promote a broader regional open
space and greenways initiative;

The City
of Asheville will establish a clear and firm protocol for greenway
project conceptualization and approval that assures consistency with
master plan priorities, cost efficiency, and adherence to design and
construction standards;

In order
to serve the broad community interest, the City of Asheville will
opportunistically incorporate affordable housing and community
redevelopment initiatives into planning, acquisition, and design of
greenways segments and other open space initiatives;

The City
of Asheville will advance policies, where appropriate, that encourage
and/or enforce outcomes whereby new development and subdivisions
incorporate inclusion of greenway and/or open space development;

Similar
to the advancement of greenways planning and implementation, the City
of Asheville will advance its system of sidewalks and bike lanes as
part of the initiative for alternative transportation and neighborhood
connectivity.

To support the above policy goals, the Master Plan for Greenways should be updated to accomplish the following:

Indicate
a rough chronological order for development of greenway segments and
extension of existing segments based on priorities outlined above, and
with emphasis on early establishment of a connected “core” of the
system near the French Broad River and downtown Asheville;

Gather public input and identify any new segments that should be included in the Greenways Master Plan;

Develop
cost estimates for acquisition and construction of greenways segments
most likely to be developed over the next five years;

Advance
the use of GIS technology at the parcel level/scale to develop data and
map greenway routes that would be targeted for development over the
next five years, clearly indicating specific (within 10 feet)
geospatial alignment; beginning and end points; proximity to roads; and
proximity to streams, stormwater, floodplain, and floodway boundaries;

Highlight
opportunities to integrate connectivity between the greenway system and
key community areas such as neighborhoods, schools, downtown, public
parks and recreation centers;

Indicate opportunities for connections between greenway routes and existing or prospective sidewalks and bike lanes;

Develop an outline for design standards for development and construction of greenways;

Highlight opportunities for the incorporation of public art into greenway plans and designs; and
Highlight ways that development of the Asheville greenway system can
enhance and encourage broader regional open space initiatives.

For More Information Please Contact:
Linda Giltz, Asheville Greenway
Commission Chair, (828) 251-6622 x138
-or- Marc Hunt, Asheville Greenway Commission Vice-Chair, (828) 273-2172