Asheville Leaders Eye Stricter Rules for Vacant Properties Tied to Crime

When contracted cleanup crews arrived at the former Mountaineer Inn on Tunnel Road on March 23, they found a pool choked with dirty water and debris, motel rooms strewn with syringes, and evidence that squatters had been lighting fires inside the building. City Attorney Brad Branham described conditions plainly: "People have been in those rooms starting fires for cooking purposes or otherwise. There's obviously been certain drug usage. We're finding things like needles, and human excrement."

The Mountaineer Inn's owner, Radify Asheville LLC, purchased the property for more than $6 million in 2023 and has since had its North Carolina business license revoked by the Secretary of State. The company owes $27,694 in unpaid Buncombe County property taxes, prompting the county to hire outside counsel to pursue collection. In February, Buncombe County Superior Court Judge Alan Thornburg ordered Radify to clean up the site or face a lien covering the cost of city-contracted work. Crews completed exterior cleanup under that court order, but city staff said its legal authority to do more ends there.

That gap in the law is precisely what Asheville City Council will address on April 14. Council members are set to vote on a proposed ordinance that would give code enforcement staff expanded powers to secure buildings that are structurally sound but deemed unsafe or a public nuisance because of squatters and fire risk. Securing a property would mean requiring the owner to erect fencing or board it up. City staff already maintains a running list of roughly 30 residential and commercial properties they plan to target if the ordinance passes.

Council Member Bo Hess, who worked with Branham on the proposal, identified the core problem: "We did not have the right ordinances on the books to address these abandoned properties." Under existing code, officials say their enforcement authority activates only when buildings show traditional building code violations, not when an owner simply walks away from a structurally intact structure.

The ordinance would give property owners 90 days to comply after receiving a notice of violation. If they fail to act, the city would step in to fence or board up the building and could attach the cost as a lien against the property. A city compliance official described the goal: "Our hope is we can create a safe site for the public, whether that means the buildings are boarded up or fully fenced."

Residents in several neighborhoods said the need is urgent. James Liner, who lives in Montford, said vacant structures are drawing growing numbers of people. "We're seeing more and more homeless people coming here, and some of them have been in some of these houses," Liner said. In West Asheville, neighbor Steve Ehly lives across from one property on the city's target list and supports giving compliance staff broader authority. Community members near an abandoned house on South French Broad Street in the River Arts District have raised similar alarms.

Councilwoman Maggie Ullman, who has tracked the Mountaineer Inn case closely, said pressure from constituents has been building for years. "There are so many neighbors who are really concerned," Ullman said. Branham added that Tunnel Road has become a concentrated corridor for the city's unsheltered population partly because of the vacant motel, and fire risk remains the most immediate safety concern as the April 14 vote approaches.