Housing and Community Development Committee (Virtual) (Dec 16, 2025)

The Housing and Community Development Committee of the City of Asheville held a virtual meeting on December 16, 2025. The primary focus of the session was an informational update on the City’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) housing programs, specifically regarding the state’s Renew NC program for single-family home repairs. The committee also reviewed and approved the minutes from its previous meeting.

The only formal vote taken during the meeting was the approval of the minutes from the November 18, 2025, meeting. Sheneika Smith moved to approve the minutes, and Sage Turner seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously with a 3-0 vote. No other formal votes were recorded, as the CDBG-DR update was designated as an information-sharing item.

The bulk of the discussion centered on a significant funding gap within the CDBG-DR housing programs. Staff presented data indicating a potential shortfall of approximately $12 million for single-family home repairs, despite the program only being allocated $3 million. This gap stems from higher-than-anticipated costs and demand within the Renew NC program. In response to these figures, the committee discussed the potential reallocation of funds from the multifamily housing construction program to single-family repairs. Committee members and the Housing Recovery Board raised concerns about the impact of such a shift on renters and the potential loss of leveraging tax credits for multifamily development. Councilwoman Sage Turner also initiated a discussion on revisiting the city’s missing middle housing initiatives and legacy neighborhood protections, emphasizing the importance of exploring a bond initiative to address ongoing housing needs.

Public comment was provided by David Greenston from People's Plates/GAP AVL, who emphasized the need for more data collection regarding multifamily housing needs and encouraged the committee to learn from other municipalities' experiences with Renew NC. Additionally, a pre-submitted public comment from Mountain Housing Opportunities, Inc. (MHO) was received, arguing against cutting $17 million from the multifamily affordable housing development program (reducing its budget from $28 million to $11 million). MHO highlighted that the program had not yet launched its Request for Proposals (RFP) and urged the City to explore alternative funding sources, such as supplemental state resources or reallocation from larger programs like Economic Revitalization or Infrastructure, before making drastic changes.

Staff members explicitly agreed to several follow-up actions to inform future decisions. These include gathering detailed data on damage assessments for single-family homes, analyzing why applicants are opting out of the Renew NC program, and seeking a clearer understanding of unmet needs for multifamily housing using alternative data sources like FEMA information and market analysis. Staff also agreed to incorporate feedback from the Housing Recovery Board, provide data on the Archer Collaborative’s efforts, and schedule a presentation from SECU and LNC, likely in January. Furthermore, staff will provide an update on the status of the multifamily housing program, including information about a potential Notice of Funding Opportunity.

This discussion matters to residents because it addresses how limited federal disaster recovery funds will be allocated between repairing existing single-family homes and constructing new affordable multifamily housing. The committee established a plan to revisit the CDBG-DR funding allocation in January 2026, with a potential vote by the Housing and Community Development Committee in March 2026. The item is scheduled for further discussion with the committee on January 20, 2026, and with the Housing Recovery Board on February 4, 2026.