Tuesday, April 4, 2017

WECAN April 2017 Board Meeting Minutes • Draft


WECAN Board Meeting Minutes April 4, 2017  

Board Members present: Len Hall, Rachel Larson, Luke Perry, and Pattiy Torno
Members not present: Danny Aull, Byron Ballard, Jared Fischer, Rebecca Lance, Tom Gibson, Mike Kenton, JoAnn Skinner and Suzanne Willis.
At Large Members not present: Rafael Rettig and Floree Lowery.
Also Present: Matthew Bacoate, Jessie Coleman and Joe Fioccola.
INTROS:  Rachel called the meeting to order at 6:31 pm with a round of introductions..
MINUTES/ TREASURER”S REPORT: The draft WECAN minutes from March 2 were approved as distributed. No reported treasury activity.
APD/CRO Update: Email report from Justin Wilson:
03/09, 1 Roberts St- Graffiti was sprayed on the property of White Duck Taco.
03/10, 64 Clingman Ave- A bicycle was stolen from a bike rack. The bicycle was chained, which was apparently cut. There is no suspect information.
03/11, 83 Clingman Ave- This residence was broken into sometime between 3/10 and 3/12. I believe this house may be under renovations and was unoccupied. The suspect pried the door open and stolen tools.
03/27, 5:00PM, 56 Roberts St- A vehicle breaking and entering was reported. The victim left her car unlocked and a small amount of money was stolen. The suspect was not located. Some of the folks from the neighborhood shared this information with me in an email. Other items of interest that are not necessarily in WECAN;
--There is still a rise in car thefts in the city. 95% have been cases where the owner left a spare set of keys in the car and left the door unlocked. The majority of the stolen cars are recovered within a day or two. This is not any sort of organized crime, more so petty thieves checking door handles and getting lucky by finding keys.
--In the past week, there have been a couple reports of "shots fired" in Hillcrest Apartments. No one has been struck by gunfire. APD has increased patrols here and is working to identify the suspects.
--Shrubs and plants are being stolen out of the ground from residences and neighborhoods in North Asheville. This is normally occurring the same week the shrubs are planted. I haven't heard of this occurring elsewhere in the city, but keep an eye out for suspicious late night "landscaping".
Officer Justin Wilson Community Resource Officer Asheville Police Department Cell: 828-450-3719
Lynn also noted campers/drinkers across from Park Avenue, in the back shed at Hunter Volvo and Joe noted debris left behind the crabapple trees at the NW corner of Hilliard and Clingman.
DUKE SUBSTATION LOCATION UNDER CONTRACT- Rachel, Luke, Jessie and Joe attended a meeting with representatives from Duke, SFB, IDES and the City about a potential location under contract at the site of Hunter Volvo 225 Patton Ave. Rachel gave a brief history of the effort, the first attempts to locate a substation at Isaac Dickson or the old Hayes and Lunsford site at Hilliard and Asheland Ave met resistance from IDES parents and SFB neighbors. A meeting was held in June of 2016 to set a new path. A second meeting was called in January 2017 to articulate principles, concerns and issues with the Asheland site. A third was called in April 2017 to identify a new site that became available. The new site under consideration still has similar problems such as proximity to residences, affect of property values, noise, and community push back. There are also some advantages such as eliminating the need for power lines across Hilliard (since the Volvo site is next to the transmission lines already), and the site is flexible so the standard substation design has plenty of room to fit in different potential arrangements. There are also unique considerations such as the location at the gateway to downtown, potential development to the west when I-26 creating a boulevard Patton Avenue, and a possible storm water catchment park. The meeting was a start of an open dialog or conversation about the guiding principles to see if the site works. They were asked for some illustrative elevations to give an idea of scale, relationship to the residences, setbacks and sidewalks and storm water ideas. Nothing is final yet but the property is under contract and after due diligence on potential problems with the site they proposed a site visit in early May. They are working with the group to mitigate community concerns, are open to discussion of the use of the Asheland site and will be relocating poles off the sidewalk on Hill Street. Rachel proposed meeting with the SFB neighbors who have already done research on options of what could be done as a substation also that we need to push for the smallest footprint possible. Matthew asked about some transmission lines on Haywood Street behind the Rescue Mission. Jessie may be interested in selling but doesn’t want to move from the neighborhood. Pattiy observed that the city has offered relocation money in the past. Joe already shared with Jessie his concerns that since the start in 1994 of the WECAN Plan the reasons included Future residential development pressures as a result of riverfront revitalization and Commercial development pressures along Clingman Avenue. When the WECAN organization was formed on 1997 one important goal was to stop commercial encroachment on the residential areas. Also our Citizens Master Plan from 2001 called for infill placement of two story buildings in the block of Clingman north of Hilliard with residential above. Now it looks like that will never happen and the proximity of the substation makes puts pressure on the residences on Knoxville Place. So, it makes some sense to relocate the residences on Knoxville Place but on the other hand, if the residents of Knoxville Place want to stay WECAN should keep pressure on Duke for them to remain. (Not that Duke is proposing that at all. They say they want to be good neighbors.) The decision should be up to Jessie and her neighbors. With these conflicting principles it’s not an easy decision either way.  It is very complicated.  
RAD FORM BASED CODE: Pattiy explained the change from a ‘use-based’ code to a ‘form-based ‘code and the first was created for Haywood Road from Patton Avenue in West Asheville to the Riverlink Bridge. Rachel reported that there was a problem with proposed building heights on the West side of Roberts Street. Originally the limit was up to 5 stories which would block view from Park Square. Now it has been amended to 4 stories or 55 ft on the west side except in the neighborhood transition zone which directly abuts residential properties or right of ways can now only be 3 stories or 45 ft. Now it goes on through the process P&Z, AARC, RRDC and City Council by June.
BACOATE BRANCH GREENWAY RE-NAMING: Pattiy was the first to offer the name of Bacoate Branch to rename Clingman Forest Greenway. Bacoate Branch is on the consent agenda for City Council and has not received any negative responses. WECAN Forest was suggested but the greenway commission prefers to name greenways after geographic features such as mountain, river, creek, etc. and have no problem re-naming the Clingman Forest Greenway to the Bacoate Branch Greenway. Matthew was asked to be at the ribbon cutting when it is completed (2018?) He humbly said Wow! He had no idea, and never thought but learned in his life when good working minds get together, they make things happen. You all have done a mammoth job to make it happen for a little guy like me—because very seldom unless pushed he never talks about what he’s done and wonders how he did do many of the things he made happen! He’ll remain quiet and accept the honor and make you all look good. Thank you all, he said.  Pattiy said we are thanking him for his 40 years of service to the community. She offered to video tape his memories of the neighborhood history with JoAnne some Sunday afternoon in the near future. He also offered to get copies of a SBA film and an ABC news story from the 70’s featuring his business. He will get it to Rachel ‘fasterly.’
NH LEADERS ROUNDTABLE: Not a lot of activity but the RADTIP contract for the suite of projects should officially be awarded in June. Work will begin in August from the Railroad trestle working south with lane closures expected for the following year.
ADOPT A HIGHWAY: Joe set a date for the quarterly litter pick up for Tuesday April 11 at 10 AM.
KUDZU HILL: A work day was set for Sunday April 23 from 10-2 to clear the next section. 
CLINGMAN TRIANGLE: Pattiy has fertilized and says the edibles are looking good.
SOCIAL: SPRING FLING: May 28 Memorial Day Sunday afternoon will be a cook out and pot luck on Birddog Lane to celebrate Jessie Coleman’s Birthday.
COMP PLAN ISSUES: Joe read his feedback on 11 outstanding issues with the City’s Comprehensive Plan. He is the liaison from the Neighborhood Advisory Committee to the Comp plan Advisory Committee. (A copy of hid feedback is attached)  There was some discussion about short term rentals pros and cons.
NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS RIGHTS WEEK is April 2-8. Byron offered to mark an observance on Face Book: Remembering crime victims Alex King and Tatiana Diz.
WECAN HISTORY: Joe read items from a WECAN Timeline from twenty years ago:
January 1996       WECAN 2010 Plan Adopted by City Council,
February 1997     Walking Tour of WECAN and planning meeting to begin implementation of the plan
April 1997:          30 residents and volunteers participate in neighborhood cleanup.
May 1997            Residents successfully rezone Pioneer Welding Supply Company
    from Industrial to Residential.
June 1997                Residents vote to form an incorporated nonprofit neighborhood association                                                                 Planning committee formed.
Meeting adjourned at 8:27 pm
Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola,
Secretary Emeritus

Important Upcoming Dates:
April 2-8            National Crime Victims Rights Week
April 11            Community Garden Workday/meeting 6 pm
                                Adopt-A-Highway 10 am
April 13            Stand Against Racism 6:30-8 Eagle Street
April 11-17            Wood Chipping @ Queen Carson et al
April 16            Easter
April 18            Community Garden Workday/meeting 6 pm
April 21            NH leaders Roundtable 8:30 @ Riverlink           
                        FBR Greenway Tour/ Ribbon Cutting 3:30-4:40
April 22            Earth Day
April 23            City of Asheville Earth day Celebration at Dr Wesley Grant Center 1-5 pm
                        Learn how to compost! Take a walk on the future greenway! Enjoy tasty treats!
Plant a tree! Discuss the draft historic markers! Fun for the whole family!                                               
April 23            Kudzu Hill workday—Next section 9-12
April 25            Community Garden Workday/meeting 6 pm
RADBA meeting FLS Conference Room 4-6 pm
May 4              Next WECAN Board Meeting Thursday 6:30 pm


WECAN Board Meeting Minutes 4January 2024