Historic Preservation Master Plan for Asheville and Buncombe County, North Carolina
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Historic Preservation Master Plan for Asheville and Buncombe County, North Carolina Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County March, 2015 Historic Preservation Master Plan for Asheville and Buncombe County, North Carolina Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County March, 2015 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County Brendan Ross, Chair J. Ray Elingburg David Nutter David Carpenter Woodard Farmer Tracey Rizzo Nan Chase Richard Fast Jo Stephenson William Eakins Bryan Moffitt Capi Wampler (former Chair) Asheville City Council Buncombe County Commissioners Mayor Esther E. Manheimer David Gantt - Chairman Vice Mayor Marc Hunt Holly Jones - District 1 Councilman Cecil Bothwell Brownie Newman - District 1 Councilman Jan Davis Mike Fryar - District 2 Councilman Chris Pelly Ellen Frost - District 2 Councilman Gordon Smith Joe Belcher - District 3 Councilwoman Gwen Wisler Miranda DeBruhl - District 3 Historic Preservation Master Plan Advisory Committee John Cram Brendan Ross, Chair Curtis Walk Roy Harris Jo Stephenson Austin Walker Chuck Pickering Jack W. L. Thomson Darin Waters Asheville-Buncombe County Historic Resources Commission Staff Stacy Merten, Historic Resources Commission Director Peggy Gardner, Historic Review Specialist Jannice Ashley, Assistant City Attorney WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO: CITY OF ASHEVILLE: Cathy Ball and Marsha Stickford, City of Asheville; Jessica Bernstein, Christy Edwards, Blake Esselstyn, Julia Fields, Alan Glines, and Patti McFarland, Department of Planning and Urban Design; and Stephanie Monson-Dahl, Sam Powers, and Jeff Staudinger, Department of Community and Economic Development STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA: H. Wayne Martin, North Carolina Arts Council; Alex Cole, Andrew Edmonds, and Michele Patterson McCabe, North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office; and Jennifer Cathey and Annie Laurie McDonald, North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office–Asheville DONORS OF MEETING SPACE AND REFRESHMENTS: Basilica of St. Lawrence, Cathedral of All Souls, Grand Bohemian Hotel Asheville, Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County, Harris Teeter, Trader Joe’s, and Ann Perkins, Land of Sky Chorus DONOR OF THE MAPS OF CERTIFIED HISTORIC TAX CREDIT PROJECTS, CHAPTER 4: North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office DONOR OF THE MAP OF BUNCOMBE COUNTY, CHAPTER 7: Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy and its supporters AND THE FOLLOWING CONTRIBUTORS: Scott Riviere, Albemarle Park; Kitty Love, Asheville Area Arts Council; Stephanie Pace Brown and Marla Tambellini, Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau; Chris Joyell, Asheville Design Center; Sharon Gruber, Smith McDowell House; Bill Alexander, Chuck Pickering, and Darren Poupore, Biltmore; Ron Thomas, Biltmore Property Group; Angie Chandler, Blue Ridge National Heritage Area; Steven Kidd, Blue Ridge Parkway; Debbie Truempy, Buncombe County Planning Department; Maria Wise, Buncombe County Soil and Water Conservation District; Steve Rasmussen, Coven Oldenwilde; i Bruce Hazzard, Downtown Commission; Heidi Reiber, Economic Development Coalition of Asheville and Buncombe County; Janelle Wienke, HandMade in America; Tom Gallaher, Jr. , AICP, MCIP, Heritage Directions LLC; John Ager, Hickory Nut Gap Farm; Linda Dishman, LA Conservancy; David Patterson, Montford; Steve Sreb, Montford Hills; Mountain Housing Opportunities; Robert Todd, Public Art & Cultural Commission; Bill Goacher, River Arts District; Norma Baynes, Shiloh; Matt Sprouce, Site Works Studio; Caitlin Edenfield, Mike Green, and William Hamilton, Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy; Hunt Mallett, The Weinhaus; Darin Waters, UNCA; Grace Pless, Urban Trail; Tammy Walsh, Vance Birthplace State Historic Site/Weaverville; Joe Fioccola, WECAN; Dick Graham and Gwin Jones, Western North Carolina Historical Association; and Becky Anderson, Mark Brooks, L. DeWayne Brown, Mickey Clemmons, Hillary and Wes Cole, Martha Fullington, Ashley Gaylord, Clay Griffith, Allison Hewatt, Ryan and Cassie Israel, Bruce Johnson, David Larsen, Tammy and Ian Leino, Jonathan Lucas, Deborah Miles, Joe Newman, Ellen Nutter, Bob Orr, John and Sallie Parker, Gary Ross, Marsha Shorter, Glenn Stach, Ruth Summers, and Maria Thomson. THE HISTORIC RESOURCES COMMISSION ALSO WISHES TO THANK THOSE WHO ATTENDED PUBLIC WORKSHOPS DURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS PLAN. THEIR CONSIDERATE PARTICIPATION PROVIDED IMPORTANT ENCOURAGEMENT. Consulting Team Heritage Strategies, LLC, Chestertown, MD A. Elizabeth Watson, AICP, Project Manager Peter C. Benton, RA, Preservation Planner This preservation plan is financed in part with a federal Historic Preservation Fund grant from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. The contents and opinions expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the granting agency. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW Introduction 1 Why Preserve? 2 Economic Benefits 2 Tourism and Placemaking Benefits 4 Sustainability and Community-Building Benefits 4 Environmental Benefits 4 The Process for Developing this Plan 5 Goals for Historic Preservation 7 CHAPTER 2: HISTORIC PRESERVATION CONTEXT Introduction 9 The Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County 9 Certified Local Government Program 11 Preserve America Community Designation 11 Other Local Governmental Agencies 12 Other Local Partners 12 NC State Historic Preservation Office 14 Historic Resources in Asheville and Buncombe County 15 Historic Resource Surveys 15 Federal Heritage Documentation Programs 16 National Historic Landmarks Program 17 The National Register of Historic Places 18 Local Historic Districts 19 Section 106 and North Carolina Environmental Review 20 Issues, Opportunities, and Recommendations 21 Preservation Surveys and Historic Districts 21 Strategies 21 Loss of Listed and Contributing Historic Buildings 22 Strategies 22 Conflicting Uses on Historic District Edges 23 Strategy 23 Conflicting Public Policies and Practices in Asheville 23 Strategies 24 Section 106 and NC Environmental Review 24 Strategies 25 Operation of the Historic Resources Commission 25 Strategies 26 CHAPTER 3: PUBLIC OUTREACH AND ADVOCACY Introduction 27 Why Reach Out? 27 Strategies 29 CHAPTER 4: HISTORIC TAX CREDITS Introduction 31 How the Historic Tax Credit Works 32 Why the HTC Is Important 33 Strategies 34 TABLE OF CONTENTS, cont’d CHAPTER 5: ASHEVILLE’S HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOODS Introduction 37 Neighborhood Planning in Asheville 38 Issues, Opportunities, and Recommendations 39 Neighborhood Character and Quality of Life 39 Strategies 42 Housing Repair and Affordability 45 Strategies 45 CHAPTER 6: ASHEVILLE’S BUSINESS DISTRICTS Introduction 47 Background 48 Downtown 49 Biltmore Village 51 River Arts District 52 West Asheville 53 Issues, Opportunities, and Recommendations 54 Historic Preservation in Downtown Asheville 54 Strategies for Strengthening Downtown Design Review 56 Promoting the Economic Health of Downtown Asheville 58 Strategy for Strengthening Downtown Economic Vitality 59 Historic Preservation in Other Commercial Areas 60 Strategy for Biltmore Village 60 CHAPTER 7: UNDERSTANDING AND PRESERVING BUNCOMBE COUNTY’S HERITAGE Introduction 61 Background 64 Issues, Opportunities, and Recommendations 65 Developing Improved Information about Buncombe County’s 65 Historic Resources Strategies 65 Coordinating Historic Preservation with Agricultural Land Protection 67 Strategies 67 CHAPTER 8: BUILDING PUBLIC APPRECIATION AND ENCOURAGING HERITAGE TOURISM Introduction 69 Background 70 Existing Conditions – Presenting Stories from Asheville’s and 71 Buncombe County’s Heritage Existing Conditions – Heritage Tourism 71 The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority 72 Issues and Opportunities for Interpretation 73 Approach 73 Assessment 74 Issues and Opportunities for Heritage Tourism 76 Assessment 76 Funding 77 Strategies for Interpretation and Heritage Tourism 78 CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW INTRODUCTION Asheville and Buncombe County possess a historical legacy of considerable value to the region’s economy and quality of life as the region grows in the 21st century. This plan describes that legacy and the progress made in caring for it to date. It furthermore asks the region’s leaders, organizations, business owners, and residents to focus on the ways in which they can nurture this legacy. In the years ahead, through the careful practice of historic preservation in its broadest sense, this legacy can continue as a long-term asset for community-building and sustainability. In 1979, Asheville and Buncombe County established the Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County (the HRC). That decision took place at a turning point for Asheville, in particular. Nationally, the growing movement for historic preservation had recently gained a new tool, the historic rehabilitation tax credit. Locally, in 1981, city voters turned down a bond referendum that would have provided funds to demolish eleven blocks of the downtown for replacement by a downtown mall larger than the Asheville Mall. The 2-to-1 vote was an affirmation of the value of Asheville’s historic commercial core, even before conditions were ripe for millions of dollars of investment in revitalization. Over the past thirty-five years, the HRC and city and county elected leaders, other agencies, community organizations, property owners, and developers have addressed many opportunities for preserving and building upon the region’s legacy. Buncombe