Asheville Citizen-Times Editorial, 10/3/2005

Changing circumstances should prompt review of parking garage plans

Editorial from October 3, 2005 (Asheville Citizen-Times)

It's time to rethink the parking garage planned on Haywood Street behind the Battery Park Apartments in Asheville. Too much has changed since the structure first was envisioned.

Planning began in 1999 but the site wasn't determined until 2002 and the size and scope of the 650-space building were not fully understood until recently. When they were, protests arose, especially among residents of the one-time luxury hotel, which is now given over to subsidized housing for older residents. The garage has become an issue in the mayoral and City Council races.

As planned, the five-story structure will come within 15 feet of the apartment building, blocking the view from lower-story units. "All the fumes are going to gas us to death, and 46 apartments will be dark," tenant Wilma Martineau said. "There are health concerns because a lot of us, including myself, have asthma or bronchial problems."

Council members seemed surprised by the last-minute opposition, which became a major force only after they had approved the project last December. "Based on my last vote on this, I thought this was a done deal," Vice Mayor Carl Mumpower said last month.

It's true that public comment was sought as early as 2002, but it's hard to visualize a building's impact without final drawings of the structure. In any case, the city could not fully involve the Battery Park residents, many of whom are shut-ins, until last year. Mayor Charles Worley said previous owners of the building would not allow the city to make a presentation to residents there.

"Under the new ownership, we were allowed to do so and we did, and that's when the protests started," Worley said. The building was sold to National Church Residence in March 2004 and the residents' protests began in August.

In the face of the opposition, there is increased sentiment to modify the design. "Certainly there are things we can look at to mitigate their concerns," Worley said. He insists, however, that it is too late to cancel the project. "I think we are quite a ways down the road... and I think we've got close to $4 million already invested," the mayor said.

Regardless, there is still plenty of time to back away. Purchase of the necessary property has not been completed and construction could not begin until spring at the earliest. The soonest the structure could be completed is the fall of 2008.

That is nine years from the time the idea first was broached, and the situation today is far different from how it was envisioned then. The assumption then was that a restored Grove Arcade and a rebuilt Civic Center would generate the need for the new parking spaces.

The Grove Arcade has been open for three years now, and there is no sign of a significant parking problem.

As for the Civic Center, nothing has been done and now there is talk of building an arena elsewhere, possibly in the River District, and replacing the existing structure with a new center for the fine arts and exhibitions or conferences. That would lessen considerably the need for Civic Center parking.

In light of all of this, the council should put the project on hold until it has evaluated fully whether a garage is needed and, if so, how large it should be. As long as nothing is cast in concrete, plans should not be cast in stone.

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