Asheville City Council
Regular meeting
HousingHomelessnessHelene recoveryOther City businessWaterStreets and transit
23 decisions: 21 approved together in one consent-agenda vote, and 2 voted on separately.
Council voted to rezone 50 Coxe Ave for 203 affordable homes.
Passed. Everyone present voted yes.
The short version is picked by a fixed rule, never by the order of the minutes: split votes and failed motions first, then changes to a program, a service or who qualifies, then the largest amounts, then budgets, zoning, laws and fees. Schedules, appointments, event permits and tax refunds come last.
These times and titles are the City's own, copied from the video description.
Only what the record supports for each item, and what's still pending.
This allowed a 203-unit development with every unit affordable for at least 30 years, with the lowest tier set at 20% of area median income, the deepest affordability in the reviewed record.
This gave the federal tax-law public approval for $18.02M in housing-authority revenue bonds behind 126 income-restricted rental homes with a 30-year affordability period.
Code Purple keeps shelters open in life-threatening cold. This covered the cost of daytime openings during the February 2026 storm, split between the city and the county.
Helene-related budget amendments had reached $28.8M at this point. This added $7.2M, including a temporary bridge for Gashes Creek, funded by reimbursements rather than local taxes.
Helene activated the auxiliary spillway at the plant that holds part of the city's drinking-water supply. This is the repair contract for that damage.
The Continuum of Care's 2026 Point-in-Time Count found a slight increase in homelessness with continued Helene impact; the count occurred February 10, 2026, with 137 volunteers. Code Purple was not called on the night of the count, so up to 95 people counted as unsheltered might have been in shelter otherwise. The division manager named lack of affordable housing as the determining factor for the community rate.
The division manager noted the count is an annual snapshot used to inform national and local understanding, that the community continues to experience Helene impacts, and that the homelessness system was under-resourced before the storm.
The topics public speakers raised, as the minutes list them. These are residents' comments, not findings.
Each of these had its own motion and vote.
Council rezones 50 Coxe Ave for 203 affordable homes.
Passed. Everyone present voted yes.
Who it's for: Households earning up to 20% of the area median income: up to $20,480 a year for a family of four, or $14,340 for one person (HUD's 2026 income limits for tax-credit housing in the Asheville area).
Council voted to rezone 50 Coxe Ave for 203 affordable homes.
What this changes: This allowed a 203-unit development with every unit affordable for at least 30 years, with the lowest tier set at 20% of area median income, the deepest affordability in the reviewed record.
Passed. Everyone present voted yes.
Council voted to adopt Ordinance Number 5208, ordinance amending Article VI, Regulation of Graffiti, of Chapter 10, Nuisances, of the Asheville Code of Ordinances, to amend the definition of graffiti, on its second and final reading.
21 items, approved in one vote without separate discussion. Any member can pull an item out for its own vote.
Council approves financing step for 126 affordable homes on Pine Lane.
Who it's for: Households earning up to 60% of the area median income: up to $61,440 a year for a family of four, or $43,020 for one person (HUD's 2026 income limits for tax-credit housing in the Asheville area).
What this changes: This gave the federal tax-law public approval for $18.02M in housing-authority revenue bonds behind 126 income-restricted rental homes with a 30-year affordability period.
Council accepts county funds for Code Purple winter shelter.
What this changes: Code Purple keeps shelters open in life-threatening cold. This covered the cost of daytime openings during the February 2026 storm, split between the city and the county.
Council adds $7.2M to the Helene recovery budget.
What this changes: Helene-related budget amendments had reached $28.8M at this point. This added $7.2M, including a temporary bridge for Gashes Creek, funded by reimbursements rather than local taxes.
Council repairs Helene damage at the North Fork Dam.
Council voted to repair Helene damage at the North Fork Dam.
What this changes: Helene activated the auxiliary spillway at the plant that holds part of the city's drinking-water supply. This is the repair contract for that damage.
Council voted to accept grant money in fiscal year 2025.
Council voted to approve a contract with Bolton & Menk, Inc. for design and engineering services for one of three City-wide recovery projects to repair or replace damaged stormwater infrastructure.
Official title
Official title
Council voted to approve a contract with Ardurra Group North Carolina ("Ardurra" for design and engineering services for one of three City-wide recovery projects to repair or replace damaged stormwater infrastructure.
Council voted to approve a contract with TRC for design and engineering services for one of three City-wide recovery projects to repair or replace damaged stormwater infrastructure.
Council approves a contract with RTI International to provide lead and copper testing.
Council voted to amend a contract Chonzie, Inc. for predictive modeling service line inventory with the Water Resources Department.
Council voted to change its contract with Ardurra Group, Inc. to provide engineering services for North Fork Transmission Main No 3 Project.
Council approves applying for the funding of repairs on Federal-aid routes in the City of Asheville.
Council voted to approve applying for the funding of repairs on Federal-aid routes in the City of Asheville from the Federal Highway Administration - Emergency Relief Program (FHWA-ER). It also lets the City accept the money if the grant is awarded.
Still pending: This is a request. The City gets the money only if the grant is awarded.
Council approves a contract with ECS Southeast, LLC.
Council voted to approve a contract with ECS Southeast, LLC for On-Call Industrial Hygienist Services to provide professional industrial hygiene and environmental consulting services to the City of Asheville for an initial one-year term with the option to renew up to 2 additional one-year periods.
Council voted to approve a contract with FlashParking Inc. for Parking Access Revenue Control System software and maintenance for an initial term of one year, with two optional one-year renewals.
Council voted to approve, after the fact, the City’s February 2026 Application to the North Carolina Department of Transportation - Integrated Mobility Division for Section 5303 Metropolitan Planning Program annual funding for fiscal year 2027.
Council voted to ask HCA Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Sam Hazen to Engage Directly with Stakeholders in Western North Carolina. This states Council's position.
Council allows beer and wine at the Asheville Veganfest.
Council voted to let people have and drink beer and wine at the Asheville Veganfest on June 7, 2026.
Council reappoints Carol Goins as chair of the Civil Service Board.
Council voted to reappoint Carol Goins as chair of the Civil Service Board.
From the minutes, in the order the City lists them. Each item's first lines are the minutes' own words.
21 consent-agenda items, approved together in one vote.
Public hearing to consider a conditional zoning request for the property located at 50 Coxe Ave from Central Business District to Central Business Expansion - Conditional Zone
“Principal Planner Will Palmquist said that this is the consideration of a conditional zoning request for the property located at 50 Coxe Ave from Central Business District to Central Business Expansion - Conditional Zone for the purposes of constructing a 209-unit mixed-use development.”
Second reading and final reading of
“Mayor Manheimer said that public comment on this item was accepted on April 14, 2026, and it is being voted on its second and final reading since it includes a criminal penalty.”
Public comment
Summaries are written by hand from the minutes, and every number and name in them is checked against the minutes' own words. An item not written yet shows a summary built by fixed rules from its official title. Every item shows its official title. Procedural motions, like approving the agenda or adjourning, are left out.