City Council appointed a task force to create a vision for the "Pit of Dispair" and now they are ready to report their findings.



The good news is that when the group sought community input, most residents said they wanted green space on that site. That accords with previous polls, with the thousand of petition signatures for a park, and with the results of the last election.





The bad news is that the developers have not given up on putting a commercial building on that site. The Asheville Downtown Association has weighed in with its opinion that the site should have a development, and their members on the committee are working hard to make that happen.





























This is a diagram of what some members say they want on the site, including retail, private sector, housing, and parking.



Some members of the task force say they don't feel obligated to use the data from their own survey and think they can substitute their own desire for a commercial building or for parking.



Business interests are heavily represented on the task force and some task force members have said that, because of the make up of the group, that City Council wanted them to recommend a mixed-use building on the site.



Residents have told Council over and over that there are plenty of hotels, plenty of bars, and what we lack is green space. After awhile it becomes a matter of simple democracy: Will we do what the residents want and put a green space on the site for the Vanderbilt and Battery Park residents, for all of Asheville, to enjoy, or will we do as the developers say?





We will find out what the task force says on Wednesday, March 8th at the US Cellular Center when the they present the draft version of their findings.



Please save the date and plan to attend:

Wednesday, March 8; 5:30–7:00 p.m., US Cellular Center, 87 Haywood Street.



(There's a regular meeting of the Task Force tonight, Wednesday March 1st, at 5:30 at the Boiler Room, Grove Arcade.)



This issue is heating up again. We still have some yard signs left. If you want one send us your name and address and we'll drop one in your yard.









--The folks at PARC



