This, perhaps, is what growing pains sound like. Asheville, which struggled economically for decades after the Great Depression, is in the midst of a remarkable renaissance, one fueled by a burgeoning arts scene and a certain freewheeling, neo-’60s sensibility. Today, the city’s official tourism website promises visitors a “buzzing” atmosphere full of visual artists, forward-thinking restaurateurs and craft brewers it calls “foodtopians,” and street performers who enliven “nearly every corner of downtown.”

Regulating street musicians can be tricky for local governments. In St. Louis, a law forcing street performers to pass a talent test was rescinded in 2013 after the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri challenged it on First Amendment grounds. In Boston this month, performers at Faneuil Hall Marketplace balked at new annual administrative fees of up to $2,500 announced by the private company that manages the attraction. The Boston performers are also considering legal action.

Last year, Asheville officials considered issuing permits to street performers, but that proposal, widely criticized by musicians, appears to have lost support from the City Council’s three-person Public Safety Committee. The committee is now considering extending the mandatory distance between performers to 125 feet, from 40 feet. Buskers, meanwhile, say the police have begun more rigorously enforcing a law forbidding performers to sell CDs or other recordings.

“We’re pleased to have performers on the street — it’s part of what makes it an interesting experience,” said Councilman Cecil Bothwell, who serves on the Public Safety Committee. “But a lot of the people who visit here don’t like the looks of the people who perform on the street.”

The musicians have pushed back forcefully against the proposals, organizing a group called the Asheville Buskers Collective. At a recent public safety meeting, Andrew Fletcher, a stride pianist and member of the collective, argued that the problems with buskers could be solved by enforcing existing laws.

“Busking is a fundamental type of public art,” he said. “It’s the canary in the coal mine for the cultural vitality of a city.”