The city of Asheville is tweaking its street closure policy, which has caught the interest of various groups, including the Asheville Zombie Walk folks, which is where I found this posted. The proposal below will be discussed at 10:30 a.m. today (Tuesday, Oct. 26) at City Hall, according to a Facebook post. (I haven’t confirmed that.)
Asheville loves a parade/protest. These proposed moves are interesting, and will likely be seen by groups as moves to hem them in.
From the city:
The City of Asheville in cooperation with the Asheville Downtown Commission is seeking input from you on a proposed new policy for street closures associated with outdoor special events in downtown Asheville . This policy would not apply outside of the CBD at this time. As a recent event organizer of an outdoor special event or a stakeholder in Asheville , your feedback is critical at this juncture.
The City has adopted the following policy that will apply for future events in Asheville (CBD ONLY):
1. No closures of DOT roads
2. No street closures along bus routes
3. If a park is adjacent to the event area and available for use, the event applying for a street closure will be required to utilize the park rather than the street
In addition, several other items of criteria are being considered such as:
1. Fee increases to make closing a street in-line with the costs of reserving park property
2. Limit a street closures for event purposes to 1x monthly (Exempted for next two years: Downtown After 5, Shindig on the Green, Goombay Festival, Asheville Holiday Parade)
3. Establish a hierarchy of streets (larger events on larger streets, higher fees for more heavily used streets, etc.)
4. Create a list of preferred streets for special events
5. Consider an appeals process for decisions relating to special events 6. Provide permitting data to assist organizations in the development of community calendars for special events in Asheville