WECAN Board Meeting November 5, 2015 at 64 Clingman Ave
Board Members Present were: Byron Ballard, Jessie Nell Coleman, Joe Fioccola, Rebecca Lance, Rachel
Larson and Luke W. Perry. Board Members not present were Tom Gibson, AnnaBeth Hardcastle, Mike
Kenton, Yuri Koslen, Floree Lowery, Rafael Rettig, Marc Schieferstein, JoAnn Skinner, Suzanne Willis and
Pattiy Torno. Also present were: CRO Lucas Lovelace and Marsha Stickford.. Chair Rachel called the
meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. MINUTES: Byron moved and Luke seconded a motion to approve the draft
minutes from November 5 as distributed. The motion passed. There was some activity on the treasurer's
report. Reimbursement has been submitted for the postage and printing of the WECAN News. APD/CRO
UPDATE: Rachel reported an I-pad stolen from an unlocked vehicle which was not reported to the
police. Lucas said that it should be reported because items like that are sometimes recovered and can
be returned. He noted that there have been 25 hours of extra patrols and 15 hours on Jefferson Drive.
He reported that a motorcycle was taken from Hunter Volvo and has not been recovered and that 2
homeless camps along the river had been moved. He also explained that 'Code Purple" was a situation
when the temperature is below 32 degrees a shelter will accept someone even if they have been
drinking or barred for other reasons if an officer brings them. The parking problem at the end of
Clingman Place has been resolved. The River Arts District is being hit with a lot of graffiti and in response
special operations are in place. He had no further information to share about the murder investigation.
He will forward information about car break ins and holiday packages and advises to keep reporting
because it helps. BLOCK JESSIE UPDATES: Byron remembered the old tradition of welcoming new
neighbors with a 'Welcome Wagon" small gift basket with food, coupons, important phone numbers,
etc. With the turnover in WECAN we often don't get to meet new neighbors when they move in. She
wants to restart the tradition and will propose something next month. Also that the designated Block
Jessies should update the mail or email list throughout the year but especially in September for the
annual newsletter. She also reported that the mother of past WECAN Chair Pattiy Torno had passed
away. Byron will get a card to send from WECAN. Finally, Byron has been thinking about past WECAN
Chair Geraldine. She has not been very active lately in WECAN but was an important part of the
community and needs to be acknowledged in these difficult times for her family. Byron volunteered to
send am appropriate and helpful card. Marsha announced that final street paving on Craven Street to
raise it to grade will take place this weekend. Friday, Saturday and Sunday the Smith Bridge will be
closed. Joe remarked that it is such a waste to put in curbing just to be torn out when the second bridge
goes in with the RADTIP improvements. Marsha explained that federal funds have to be spent as plans
are submitted and it would be too expensive to resubmit revised plans. He admitted that they are
getting better about the streets, water and utilities working together when there are street projects.,
but they are obviously not there yet. Luke announced that the pad for the bus stop at Haywood Road
and Craven Street would be poured soon and in January the Asheville Design Center would be seeking
public input online at their website. This may be a model for other bus stops in the city. He also has been
in contact with Mr. Poliak who owns the house next to his and several other properties and is not
wanting to sell at this time. 2015 ACTIVITY REPORT: Joe reported the activity for 2015 as follows: Jan:
Luke and Floree elected for 1 year renewable term as At-Large Members. Feb first meeting of
Community Garden Group. Mar: Community Garden Agreement signed, Festival of Neighborhoods
Workshops Asheville in Motion and Garden Club Wednesdays. Apr: Spring Fling/Community Garden
installation and City Wide Cleanup May: Settled Community Garden Funding Issue. Jun: General
Membership Meeting, RAD Form Based Code, Ice Cream Social, Community Garden Assessment,
Equitable Development Forum. Aug: Corn Feast, Watch for Me Campaign, Patton Place Apartments
announced, National Night Out, Sep: Livingston complete Streets; Oct: Mayor's State of the City,
Halloween Social, Nov: Neighborhood Plans Workshop, I-26 Connector hearing. Whew! I-26
CONNECTOR PUBLIC HEARING: NCDOT is accepting comments on the I-26 Connector until December
16. Luke pointed out there are aspects that directly affect WECAN but there is almost too much
information in the 9 potential plans. Some have a direct connection to Hillcrest and Montford, some
have a greenway starting on Trade Street, several will have an affect on highway noise that cannot be
corrected by sound barrier walls. Some people are also concerned with highway air pollution and its
affect on heart disease. Some people do not believe the projected traffic counts and others are
concerned with other neighborhoods such as Burton Street which will be sacrificed to eight unnecessary
lanes through West Asheville. Citizens are encouraged to comment. It was suggested that a loose
alliance be formed with Burton Street, Montford and EWANA to comment together. Luke will start a
document. The full Draft Environmental Impact Statement, video with animations, detailed design maps,
and other info are available on line at CLINGMAN AVENUE EXTENSION ONE WAY: Rachel
reported that this will not happen. Regarding a needed sidewalk on Roberts Street, it was noted that a
recently elected City Council member lives there and perhaps all new city councilors should be invited to
a future WECAN meeting. Byron volunteered to invite the councilors. NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING
WORKSHOP: Joe gave a rock star presentation.. There have been requests to see the power point he
used. Marsha noted that all the presentations were recorded and will be placed on the city website. The
new city Comprehensive plan will begin in January with the choice of the consultant. Then in the next 18
months there will be events to get input. In the mean time WECAN can continue efforts to update the
Citizens Master Plan (2001) or work on a small area plan (aka plan on a page) The comprehensive plan is
for 'big picture' planning and the plan on a page is for Planning and Zoning to have guidance for
development. RAD FORM BASED CODE: The draft report is available on the City’s Projects Page.
Comments and feedback are still being accepted. The collected feedback will go to Planning and Zoning
and then to council for approval. Luke would like for future budgets to include compensation for getting
feedback. NEWSLETTER: It went out on schedule and so far no returns. Just some bad email addresses
and a few 'unsubscribe' requests from residents who moved have been received. ADOPT A HIGHWAY
The quarterly litter pickup will be scheduled for some time in January. GARDEN CLUB WEDNESDAYS:
The 'group' cleaned out the community garden and due to rain and cold not much else this month.
COMMUNITY GARDEN: Joe submitted the annual report (see attached.) VACANT LOT ANALYSIS: Rachel
received a request for a place to locate a storage building and found out there are a lot of vacant lots in
WECAN. Jessie has also received requests for properties on Knoxville Place. GENTRIFICATION: Rachel
and Byron have been contacted by a student at Warren Wilson College doing a report on gentrification.
They will meet at Clingman Café on Sunday December 6 at 1 pm. others with opinions on gentrification
are welcome. NOMINATIONS: Joe nominated Byron, Yuri, Rachel and Pattiy to serve a second three year
term. Byron seconded and motion passed. Welcome back. ISSUES and GOALS for 2016: Some things
mentioned included: Welcome Wagon, Social Events, More Communication, Retaining Luke,
Reactivating Block Jessies with a welcome wagon, Continuing Community Garden, compiling info from
Simplicity into a single place with phone and email info. The meeting adjourned at 8:35 p.m. DRAFT
Minutes submitted by Joe Fioccola.
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