By Rian Stockett
MountainTrue hosted an event on June 24 to talk to residents about a push for affordable housing in Asheville. The group spoke with residents about how a middle housing push could expand affordability. (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — MountainTrue hosted an event with residents on June 24 and looked at the impacts of building middle housing in Asheville.
MountainTrue hosted an event on June 24 to talk to residents about a push for affordable housing in Asheville. (WLOS)
“Things like duplexes, triplexes, small apartment buildings, townhomes… those kinds of housing choices are not currently allowed to be built by right or without having to go through a complicated conditional zoning, permitting process,” said Susan Bean, the Housing and Transportation Director of MountainTrue.
Bean says that right now, over 60% of the city’s residential land only allows single-family homes to be built, meaning middle housing would require a conditional zoning permit. She says they’re asking residents to help change this by engaging with city leaders.
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“Those types of housing units are typically more affordable than single-family homes, so not only does it increase affordability, it increases accessibility for people to get to the stuff that they need to get to,” said Bean.
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People at the event said that middle housing is not only a better use of this land, but in the long-term, it will make housing in the area more affordable.
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“Right now we’ve got a limited supply of housing and a whole lot of demand for it, so that makes prices high. Obviously when you build more supply, that can temper the price for it,” said Scott Adams, who is the land development planner with Compact Cottages.
News 13 also spoke with Asheville resident Erik Quirk-Garvan, who attended the meeting. He says housing and transit are both topics he cares about.
“I am fortunate to be able to afford housing and a lot of my peers are struggling to afford housing. Having more housing around is going to allow more people to be able to ride their bikes to things, more people being able to walk to things,” said Quirk-Garvan.