Buncombe County moves toward $70 million housing, conservation bonds
Buncombe County is moving toward a November vote on $70 million in bonds, split between housing and conservation. The package mirrors the county's 2022 ballot questions.
Buncombe County voters could decide this November whether to authorize $70 million in new borrowing, with $40 million aimed at affordable housing and $30 million set aside for land conservation. Commissioners unanimously approved the legal documents that begin the ballot process, putting the county one step closer to asking residents to take on debt that would be repaid over time with interest.
If approved, the housing side could help subsidize more than 500 affordable rental units, while the conservation money could protect about 700 acres a year, county staff have said. Officials have also pointed to at least $10.7 million more needed for parks work at Deaverview Mountain and Ferry Road, two sites that would need additional capital beyond the bond package now moving forward.
The proposal is not starting from scratch. Buncombe voters approved nearly identical bond questions on Nov. 8, 2022, backing $40 million for housing and $30 million for open space. The county also created a General Obligation Bond Oversight Committee in August 2022 to track those dollars and bolster transparency. Strategic Partnerships Director Rachael Sawyer told commissioners at a work session that the county had already planned spending for all but $3.5 million of the earlier funds, a sign that the current request is part of a longer capital pipeline rather than a one-off ask.
The new bond concept also fits inside Buncombe’s 2030 Strategic Plan, adopted by the Board of Commissioners on Nov. 4, 2025. That plan, shaped by input from more than 2,600 residents, emphasizes affordable housing and environmental protection after Tropical Storm Helene disrupted planning priorities. County materials tie the conservation side to farmland, forests, greenways and water quality, issues that carry extra weight in a county where development pressure keeps colliding with land protection.
Commissioners had previously discussed a much larger November 2026 package, as much as $225 million across schools, housing and conservation, but the latest action focused only on the $70 million housing and land-conservation questions. The county first began laying groundwork in February with a letter to the Trust for Public Land asking for help developing the proposal.
For Buncombe residents, the November vote will be about more than a financing mechanism. It will test whether the county keeps using debt to steer growth, widen the supply of affordable rentals and preserve land, or whether those projects will have to find another way forward if voters say no.
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