Here’s a letter from loyal reader Laura, an opponent of the Mountain Housing Opportunities’ Larchmont development in north Asheville
Dear City Council Member,
I wrote to you last month about my concerns regarding the 60-unit Larchmont apartment complex proposed for the former Naval Reserve site. I consider myself to be VERY progressively minded. I chose this neighborhood because of its walkability and I ride my bike or walk for my errands whenever possible. I am a believer that communities must take care of one another. I am a former graphic designer turned special education teacher for goodness-sake. So please recognize that I am a believer in the ideal that Mountain Housing proposes with this development.
However, as a person who is very close to the project I have looked hard at ALL that it is. I hope you will really try to wrap your head around what I have to say…
Although I would love to have residential homes adjoining my home, and I would love to see more people like myself (as in struggling to make ends meet) in this neighborhood, I cannot see how a project of this size can be considered appropriate for the small space on which it will rest. Now listen closely… I do not like the idea of looking out onto the building and its roof from my house, BUT even worse I abhor the idea of looking at it from all angles of Merrimon Avenue. Aesthetically, three stories with a hipped roof will be terribly out of place. The southwest corner of the building (the one everyone will see) will be 60 feet tall… 60 feet. How tall is Staples? Not even close. So that’s the visual side of me saying, “This ain’t right.”
So, “Okay” you say, “who cares how bad it looks?” Well, consider a few other things which I as the neighborhood walker know to be fact. There is an abundance of vacant housing within blocks of the Larchmont, but I will point out only affordable options. Winston Heights (on Long Street) has an apartment that has been available for at least a month. The Garden Apartments on Clairmont Ave has several vacancies. Mountain Housing is already building a large complex on Depot Street, which will certainly have even more rentals than the Larchmont. Where are all the people that need a place to live? Isn’t the “need” for affordable housing supposedly what the developer has been pitching to you? I mentioned that I ride my bike… well, not on Merrimon! And the bus… try catching the morning bus downtown. If you are lucky you might get a seat, and if you are luckier you might get to where you are going on time. So please rethink the idea that this hip apartment complex could possibly cater to hard-working, eco-minded folks. And then there’s the traffic issue… I know the Fire Chief told P&Z it won’t be a problem, but some of the guys who actually work out of #7 on Larchmont do not agree. You can ask them, but don’t tell them who you are before you ask… I think they like having a job.
So there it is … my final plea. Open your eyes and look HARD. Don’t be deceived by your first or second glance or your own ideals.
8 Comments
I find it bizarre that someone is listening to and recording what I have to say. I hope the Council members are as diligent as North Asheville 77.
Well, Drifter, a long, long time ago but in this same place, North Asheville was noticeably affluent (Beaver Lake, Kimberly Ave., Macon Ave, etc) when compared with some other parts of the town. I keep picking up tones of resentment that have drifted down through the ages. If nothing else proves that this project is too big for the site and neighborhood, the "yeah, put that big old thing in N. Asheville, that’ll show ’em" attitude certainly does. You haven’t heard anyone saying, please come and put a 62 unit complex on my street, have you?
Why don’t you clowns debate about the fact at hand and not Laura Burk. If you think the scale for the location of this project is a good idea you are high. What the hell does "North Asheville has had its way for entirely too long" mean????
Build it! North Asheville has had its way for entirely too long, what is good for the rest of us applies to them too.
I do not live in North Asheville. However, the proposed 60-62 unit apartment complex is too big for the site and too big for the neighborhood. I’ve followed the comments on Ashvegas and Scrutiny Hooligans and the folks in the neighborhood are not resisting an apartment complex but they are trying very hard to point out the obvious – the proposed unit is too big.
What is the point of zoning and attempting neighborhood preservation (read "livability") if the zoning is changed when a developer wants an out-sized project? Why not a 30-32 unit complex that comes closer to fitting the property and the neighborhood, etc? Does anyone really think that the tenants of this proposed complex won’t have cars? Have you driven up that street to see for yourself what a problem the fire department already has with the street?
Monstrous buildings cause monstrous problems.
Dump ideology and just use common sense.
I’ve been giving serious consideration to living in the general neighborhood of Larchmont but I’m backing away from that. If a hulking 60-62 unit goes in, I don’t want to be there. I could live with something on a more reasonable scale.
Is this another "follow the money" moment?
Yep, same Laura. She says, "I consider myself to be VERY progressively minded…. I am a believer that communities must take care of one another…. and I would love to see more people like myself (as in struggling to make ends meet) in this neighborhood…."
But then she actually says, "Don’t be deceived by … your own ideals."
I love it. Hearing these neighbors is such good entertainment. Asheville’s sophisticated self-styled liberals and progressives kill me. Who else can slice it so thin and keep a straight face?
As the guy said in the movie Roxanne, I would rather be with the people of this town than with the finest people in the world.
It’s the same Laura Burke, and the debate has been raging here on this blog for a couple of weeks now. Click on the tag at the bottom of the post to see all posts. Thanks.
Laura Burke posted this same letter last night on Scrutiny Hooligans using her full name, as part of a four-day debate on that blog. I’m wondering if this is the same Laura Burke who said on WLOS on February 18:
“History shows that you shouldn’t build these big places like this. That’s usually, um, you’re more likely to create trouble, hassle, less people who perhaps care about where they live.”
I’m not trying to make a point here, just wanting to know if this is her, so I can know where people are coming from.