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
