Buncombe County outlines development overhaul, warns of property-value appeals after reappraisal

Buncombe County planning staff presented a package at a March 5 board meeting, and county commissioners later moved on a targeted zoning change when they unanimously approved an Aug. 5 ordinance allowing property owners in Beaverdam Township to build more than one home per lot. The Beaverdam action was first approved by the Buncombe County Planning Board on June 16 and was presented to commissioners by county planner Shannon Capezzali on Aug. 5.

The Beaverdam amendment was framed against the county’s 2043 Comprehensive Plan, adopted May 16, 2023, which states that “The general residential category does not represent changes to zoning. Instead, the characteristics for each category are meant to guide decision-making for development proposals, such as rezoning requests and future text amendments, to better manage growth in alignment with the Growth, Equity, and Conservation Framework.” The plan’s chapter headings include “Commit To Sustainability,” “Achieve Livability & Affordability,” “Focus On Conservation,” and “Root Efforts In Community,” and the document explicitly urges renewable energy development and “more sustainable development patterns and designs and more resilient siting and green construction of buildings.”

County planners and commissioners cited housing supply and affordability concerns in advancing the Beaverdam change. The Citizen-Times reported the amendment “quashing the last remnants of mandatory single-family zoning in unincorporated Buncombe County.” Capezzali told commissioners the prior Beaverdam rule had created practical barriers, offering this example: “For example, residents cannot convert a basement into a mother-in-law suite or put a second home on their property no matter how much acreage they have.” The Citizen-Times also noted that this is the first zoning change in Beaverdam “for the first time in over 20 years,” while recording that Beaverdam Township passed zoning reform in 1981 and that the county adopted similar rules county‑wide in 2009.

Names surfaced repeatedly in county materials tied to the March 5 presentation and subsequent process. Planning Director Nathan Pennington and County Attorney Curt Euler were identified among county personnel in the fragment describing the March 5 meeting, and Commissioner Parker Sloan appears among county leadership referenced in meeting materials. Randall Barnett is named as chair of the Board of Equalization and Review; his role and any statements about valuation appeals were not included in the packet excerpts provided.

Buncombe County Planning & Development Department materials underline the operational side of this work: the department “develops and enforces ordinances, policies, and procedures related to the use of land” and administers programs tied to zoning, subdivisions, affordable housing, transportation, sustainability, E-911 addressing, floodplain management, stormwater and erosion control. The department website lists public services such as “Change the Zoning on my Land,” “Find, Build & Learn About Affordable Housing,” and “Apply for a Variance or a Special Use Permit,” and it posts upcoming meetings including an Affordable Housing Subcommittee meeting on Thu, Mar. 5 and a Planning Board meeting on Mon, Mar. 16. The Citizen-Times coverage accompanying the Beaverdam story included a portrait credit for Will Hofmann.

City-level efforts intersect with county moves: the City of Asheville’s 2024 Affordable Housing Plan sets building more homes as a major goal and estimated a net increase of 14,000 households by 2050. In March the city approved text amendments intended to reduce regulatory barriers for missing middle housing and speed development along transit corridors.

Key records to obtain to track implementation include the full packet presented at the March 5 board meeting, the complete ordinance text for the Aug. 5 Beaverdam amendment, minutes and audio of the June 16 Planning Board and Aug. 5 commissioners meetings, the full Buncombe County 2043 Comprehensive Plan, and any Board of Equalization and Review materials from chair Randall Barnett on reappraisal and appeals. As county staff move from plan language to permitting and ordinance text, those documents will determine how the county’s “Achieve Livability & Affordability” goals translate into buildable projects in Beaverdam and elsewhere in unincorporated Buncombe County.