ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — After nearly two hours of public comment, the Asheville City Council unanimously denied a proposed affordable housing complex off Caribou Road—despite the city’s ongoing housing crisis.

The proposal, submitted by developer Pennrose, would have brought 100 affordable housing units to a nearly 10-acre site in the Shiloh neighborhood.

“I’m going to vote against affordable housing tonight, and that’s not a norm for me,” said Asheville City Councilmember Sage Turner.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS MOVE FORWARD ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

News 13 asked Vice Mayor Antanette Mosely why the city would deny this project amid a housing crisis in Asheville.

She said, in a statement, “I absolutely believe Asheville needs more affordable housing, and I have consistently supported housing projects across the city. But not every site is appropriate for every project.”

Residents who opposed the project said they were not against affordable housing itself, but believed the development was too large for the area.

“The access is too narrow, there was only one access point, the streets are too narrow, we’ve got a big problem with traffic here,” said Shiloh resident Scott Raines.

“Perhaps the only thing that I consider as a dead stop for affordable housing is if people are going to be injured or possibly die from the traffic that’s created,” Michael Boses, another resident, said.

ASHEVILLE PROPOSES PROPERTY TAX RATE INCREASE TO CLOSE $8.9M BUDGET GAP

The Shiloh neighborhood, established in 1870, is one of Asheville’s last historically Black communities. Several council members said preserving the area’s legacy factored into their decision.

“My vote for no is because I feel hyper protective of our legacy neighborhoods, I feel hyper protective of Shiloh,” Turner said.

Pennrose responded to the denial in a statement, saying: “While we are disappointed in the Council’s decision concerning the rezoning application at Caribou Road, we respect the community’s interest in preserving the character of legacy neighborhoods.”

ASHEVILLE – The city will consider shifting $19.2 million of its Tropical Storm Helene recovery funding to repair single-family housing after its initial plan would only repair about eight homes.

Across Western North Carolina, contracts for the repair, reconstruction or rehabilitation of single-family homes damaged by Helene have come in at an average cost of $276,285, according to slides presented to the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Western North Carolina Recovery on April 20. The repair program, managed through RenewNC, is funded by a $1.4 billion Community Development Block Grant delivered to North Carolina from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In 2024, the North Carolina Office of Budget and Management estimated that over 70,000 homes were damaged by the storm, which caused an estimated $60 billion in damages and killed over 100 in the state.

After the city received its own $225 million grant from HUD, City Council unanimously voted to only allocated $31 million to housing for both multi-family projects and single-family home repairs. Of that $31 million pot, it only allocated $3 million to the single-family home repair program. During a May 5 Housing and Community Development Committee meeting, the city projected costs for just single-family home repairs at $30 million to $40 million.

In late 2025 and early 2026, city staff had suggested moving millions into the single-family home program to meet rising demand, the Citizen Times reported. During an April 1 Helene Housing Recovery Meeting, Director of Renew NC’s Single-Family Housing Program Maggie Battaglin estimated the $3 million in funding would only cover around eight homes.

Under the city’s agreement with the state, Asheville is not able to access the additional $807 million allocated to the single-family home repair program, meaning remaining applicants in Asheville would not be served. The agreement was first reported by Blue Ridge Public Radio.

Staff are now suggesting reallocating $19.2 million from other areas of its CDBG plan to fund the single-family repair program. The reallocation, which would require an amendment to the city’s plan, would pull $9.2 million from its multi-family housing program and $10 million from its CDBG-DR Infrastructure Program, where the city would pull from the funds from a project at the North Fork Water Treatment Plant. The reallocation would set aside $22.2 million for the program and will serve 55-65 households, according to state estimates presented by city of Asheville staff.

As of May 5, 285 applications for the program were filed in Asheville with 132 being considered “active” and eight being “under review.” Of the city’s applicants, 124 households have been deemed eligible for the RenewNC program.

The reallocation would set aside $22.2 million for the program and serve roughly 55-65 households, the city’s CDBG-DR Program Manager Elma King said during City Council’s May 7 Agenda Briefing. It’s still not enough to serve everyone, though, King said.

“Additional CDBG-DR programs, outside of infrastructure, may need to be re-evaluated to support single-family home repair,” King said.

As Western North Carolina continues to recover from Helene, lawmakers and regional leaders have pushed for more funding from the federal government. Despite high damages, Congress and FEMA have only distributed roughly $7 billion to the state, according to estimates from the Governor’s Office for Western North Carolina Recovery. Gov. Josh Stein has requested an additional $13.5 billion in federal aid, which would go through HUD’s CDBG-DR program.

Estimated damages in Asheville from Helene are far above the $225 million provided by the federal government, City Council member Kim Roney noted during the May 7 meeting.

“I keep coming back to the point that we don’t have enough funding, because $225 million sounds like a lot but it’s not $1.1 billion,” Roney said.

City Council will vote on the $19.2 million reallocation on June 23.

More: Asheville reviews Shiloh affordable housing proposals amid opposition

More: Could the key to Asheville’s Costco lie in an unfunded I-26 Connector section?

Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com or message will_hofmann.01 on Signal.

A proposal to limit property tax increases is set to go before state lawmakers Tuesday — an effort that could culminate with North Carolinians voting on the issue as early as this year.

The state House of Representatives’ Finance Committee is scheduled to discuss a proposed state constitutional amendment restricting how much city and county governments could raise property taxes each year. 

Amendments to the state Constitution must be approved by North Carolina voters. If the idea is approved by a supermajority of legislators, North Carolinians would be asked to decide the issue through a ballot vote, likely in November.  

The legislation, House Bill 1089, doesn’t outline a limit for property tax increases. It calls on state lawmakers to come up with specific restrictions at a later date — if the referendum is approved by voters.

The bill is part of a broader push by legislators in the Republican-controlled General Assembly to address affordability issues ahead of the midterm elections. 

Republicans in the state Senate last week approved a bill that would temporarily block county governments from applying appraisals conducted during this calendar year to property tax bills. Reappraisals often lead to higher property tax bills. Republican Senate leader Phil Berger has referred to that proposal as a “moratorium” that could bring temporary relief to taxpayers in a number of counties scheduled to reappraise properties this year — including Guilford and Harnett. Berger has framed the idea as simply buying time for the legislature to come up with more sweeping reforms.

The proposed constitutional amendment moving forward in the House could be that more sweeping idea, although it’s unclear if the Senate will go along if the idea passes the House.

Tax reduction has been a stated goal of Republican lawmakers for decades, but the proposed reappraisal moratorium and constitutional amendment are not guaranteed to pass. Neither Berger nor House Speaker Destin Hall has committed to supporting the other chamber’s idea for addressing rising property taxes.

Democrats have expressed skepticism over both plans. Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, chided Senate Republicans last week for failing to take up an amendment to Berger’s bill that would have lowered the state’s income threshold to qualify for property tax exceptions.

Rep. Lindsey Prather, D-Buncombe, said Monday — during a press conference calling for higher taxes on millionaires — that the property tax changes being proposed by GOP lawmakers seemed aimed more at gathering political credit than solving a problem.

“We can be the quote-unquote ‘good guys’ down here in Raleigh and say we’re going to lower your property taxes,” Prather said. “But all that means is that the local governments are going to have to be the ‘bad guys’ to raise revenue in other ways.”

Closing a loophole

The House Finance committee on Tuesday is expected to consider a proposal that could help municipal governments recoup more property tax revenue. The committee is expected to discuss House Bill 1042, which would tighten rules for nonprofit organizations that receive property tax exemptions.

The state currently allows certain organizations to avoid paying property taxes if they use their property entirely for charitable purposes and are not run for profit — a law that kept nearly $750 million worth of property out of Wake County’s tax base in 2025. The proposed change seeks to winnow down the list of who qualifies, especially nonprofits that provide affordable housing for low- or moderate-income people.