1. Bricks-And-Mortar

2. Public Education

3. Planning, Survey and Designation

This article has all the information you need to register to vote, vote, and/or participate in the 2022 Primary Election. Scroll down for information on:

• How to register to vote/update your voter information
• Fine your Sample Ballot
• Find Early Voting Locations
• The Three Ways to Vote:
  • Early Voting
  • Absentee Ballot by Mail
  • Election Day Voting
• How to be a Paid Poll Worker
• Resource Links and Contact Information at Bottom

Just a reminder, to get election updates and reminders via our mobile text notification system, text BCAlert to 99411, or sign up at buncombecounty.org/codered and select “Election Reminders.”

• Restoration
• Rehabilitation
• Adaptive Re-use
• In-fill Construction in Historic and Traditional Neighborhoods
• Research, Publication and Education
• Stewardship
• Preservation

The 2022 appeal period is open now. During the year of the reappraisal, or any year of the reappraisal cycle, a taxpayer may appeal the appraised value of their property. No matter how thorough and fair a reappraisal may be, there are still instances when only the property owner has all the information necessary for an accurate appraisal. Informal appeals for 2022 can be filed anytime between Jan. 1-April 20, 2022. Additionally, anyone receiving a change of value notice after April 20, 2022 has thirty days from the date of the notice to file an appeal.

Step One: Starting an Informal Appeal

An informal appeal is the first step in the appeal process.  Buncombe County Property Assessment has created a new suite of online tools to help make the appeal process easier. A taxpayer may begin the informal appeal process now by clicking on this link taxappeal.buncombecounty.org.

According to NC General Statutes, the property owner has the burden of proving that the property under appeal is incorrectly valued. The amount of your tax bill or ability to pay the tax cannot be used as a valid reason for submitting an appeal. The value of your property has been developed from sales and cost data within your local area. If the you believe this value is incorrect, please provide our office with a valid reason(s) to adjust the assessment (i.e. recent appraisal within the last 2 years, comparable sales of similar homes in the neighborhood or surrounding area, photos of the dwelling to show repair/maintenance issues, etc.).

A property owner appealing the property value of the property should start the appeal process online, or contact our office at (828) 250-4940 to request an appeal form by mail. The appeal form must be returned and/or postmarked, including your supporting documentation, within 30 days of the date listed on the appeal form. The appeal should include information to support the property owner’s opinion of value. Our appraisal professionals are here to help you through the appeal process. For appraisal purposes, Buncombe County is divided into multiple geographical areas. You can find the contact information of the appraiser for your area on the notice of value letter received in the mail, or by calling our office at (828) 250-4940.

The health and safety of our community and employees is our priority, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, assessment staff is available via Live Chat, or you can schedule a phone conference or virtual appointment by calling (828) 250-4940. Your concerns and questions are important to us, and our team is committed to handling your appeal as quickly as possible.

Should a property owner have any additional questions or need help with a property appeal, please contact our office at (828) 250-4940 or email [email protected].

As part of Buncombe County’s 2025 Strategic Plan, Permits & Inspections and Planning & Development are in the third phase of  the electronic plan submittal and review rollout for building permitting. “We started this process more than a year ago,” said Permits & Inspections Director Bob Haynes. “We’ve heard from our commercial builders that the portal has helped to streamline the permitting process and we are excited to offer this service to our residential builders as well.” The first phase of this implementation began in January 2021, and as of Monday, March 21, 2022, the residential permitting submittal process is also moving to the online portal. See details for submittal below.

Phase One (Complete)

• Planning & Development implemented a new permit case type called ‘Site Plan review’ (SPR) for all permit types (commercial and residential, etc.). Any development where there is new construction, or changes to the footprint of an existing structure now requires an SPR. The SPR permit must be approved prior to applying for your building permit.
• All commercial building plans must be submitted to the Building Permit Department in an electronic format and will be reviewed using electronic plan review software.

Phase Two (Complete)

• The requirement that SPR permits and commercial building plans be submitted through the Development & Permits Portal OR in person at 46 Valley St. Site Plan Permit applications will not be accepted through email to [email protected] after April 1, 2021.
• Please register for an account on the Buncombe County Development Permits and Licensing portal. Registration is required before submitting applications on our website.

Phase Three

• The requirement that SPR permits be submitted through the Development & Permits Portal  OR in person at 46 Valley St.
• The requirement that residential building plans must be submitted through the Development & Permits Portal OR in person at 30 Valley St.
• To upload your plans, please register for an account on the Buncombe County Development Permits and Licensing portal. Registration is required before uploading documents on our website.
• Residential Site Plan Permit applications will not be accepted through email to [email protected] after March 21, 2022.

Find more information at buncombecounty.org/permits or call the main Permits line at (828) 250-5360. Permit applications are not accepted in person after 4 p.m.

Organic Growers School is partnering with Mother Earth News to jointly produce the OGS 29th Spring Conference March 18-20, 2022 at Mars Hill University. Attendees will enjoy the usual favorite array of robust workshops, with an added bonus of new speakers and vendors joining the community.

Friday’s pre-conference workshops consist of four deep-dive, all-day opportunities. Choose between “Carbon Farming and Agroforestry,” “Build It, Plumb It, Hack It: The Basics of Fix, Mend, and Make for the Farm and Garden,” “Mushrooms, Mold, and Mycorrhizae,” and “Water Resilience and Mitigation: Practical Adaptations for Farm and Home.”

Saturday and Sunday’s conference programming consist of a wide variety of short sessions and nine half-day workshops. Choose tracks that most align with your interests, such as Cooking, Forest Farming, Herbs, Living on the Land, Permaculture, and more. Presenters include Sandor Katz, Tyson Sampson, Angie Lavezzo, and more.

OGS and Mother Earth News, both organizations with deep roots in the region, are similar in mission, values, and both have deep roots in the region. This conference and partnership allows them to leverage our relationships for the benefit of their audiences.

Learn more and purchase tickets at organicgrowersschool.org/conferences/spring.

The Art League is excited to offer free virtual demonstrations.
Watch for the announcement of our soon-to-come virtual workshops and classes.

All demonstrations are available on-line and on-demand.  Simply click on the video link to participate.

The Board of Commissioners’ Regular Meetings take place on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 5 p.m. at 200 College Street in room 326 in downtown Asheville. To view the agenda, previous meeting videos, or to view future meeting agendas – you can visit buncombecounty.org/commissioners. Click on the agenda item below to jump to that section of the meeting. Click “Read More” to connect to a news article about the agenda item.

At the YWCA of Asheville, we eliminate racism and empower women by providing programs and advocacy for over 3,000 community members annually in Western North Carolina with services that support families, promote holistic wellness, and advance racial justice.

Thank you for wanting to share your time and talents with the YWCA! As a volunteer, you are integral to the YWCA fulfilling our mission, and we simply couldn’t do it without your help and support.

YWCA Asheville has volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups. We can design volunteer assignments to fit your schedule, experience, and team-building goals.

The YELP Assistant position is an 11 week paid internship between May 23 – August 5 for young BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) adults aged 18-22.

Interns are responsible for helping to lead an educational, environmental service work internship for BIPOC high schoolers. Interns work in the field locally in the greater Asheville area, as well as in the Great Smoky Mountains, completing environmental service work, learning from experts and relevant community partners, and developing their own group initiatives.

The intern does not need to arrive with these skills. Part of their internship will include learning to canoe and kayak, how to collect scientific data, hiking etiquette, and nonviolent communication leadership training.

More information can be found through the Job Description linked above.

Questions? Email [email protected] or [email protected]

Learn more about the YELP Program here.

1. Bricks-And-Mortar

2. Public Education

3. Planning, Survey and Designation

Asheville Gallery of Art
March 2022 Exhibit, New Members Show
“Color Dance”

Asheville Gallery of Art’s March exhibit, “Color Dance” will feature works by four new gallery members: Anne Marie Brown, Raquel Egosi, JoAnn Pippin, and Cindy Shaw. The show will run March 1-31 during gallery hours, 11am-6pm. An event to meet the artists will be held at the gallery on First Friday, March 4, from 5-8pm at 82 Patton Avenue.

These four exciting artists have selected “Color Dance” as the theme for their show. Paintings are generally static, and are confined within a frame. The combined creative energy of these artists has seemingly moved beyond these limits, to create beautiful expressions of dynamic, moving shapes, captured within a spatial environment. They wish their works to evoke thoughts, emotions, and awareness to celebrate the sentient meaning of life.

Please join us for “Color Dance” to revel in the paintings presented by these new gallery artists. They will deliver dynamic color, vibrancy, and hue into scenes that will dance their way into your heart.

Anne Marie Brown
Anne Marie began painting when, as a florist, she would paint small watercolors of her floral designs. She has exhibited in outdoor shows for over ten years and has had exhibitions in numerous galleries. Now settled in the mountains, she is inspired to paint the sweeping vistas and flora and fauna within. Anne Marie works in watercolor, gouache, oil, and acrylic, and hopes the images that touch her heart and canvas will touch yours as well.
Color is music to my eyes. The song that is created on the canvas makes my heart dance.

Raquel Egosi
Raquel’s art career began in 1996 in Brazil. Studying with acclaimed artists and attending a variety of painting classes, she was active in her local art community, collaborating and setting up art shows. She currently participates regularly in gallery shows and museum exhibitions. Her art sells internationally and she leads workshops for mixed media techniques in both the United States and overseas.
Constructed using a variety of mixed media, my compositions are exceedingly rich in color and texture, with partial or fully figurative and abstract elements.

JoAnn Pippin
JoAnn’s passion is to explore different watercolor techniques, with her subjects. Her paintings have been exhibited in juried art shows throughout the US, and her focus is on color, composition, and texture, to create light and mood through technique.
The theme “Color Dance” is especially meaningful to watercolorists, because we literally watch color dance and blend when we add wet paint to wet paper. It is not simply mixing colors on the palette and placing them in our work, but the excitement of observing the action as they blend and mingle to create wonderful new hues.

Cindy Shaw
Cindy originally trained as an Architect and worked for many years on projects as well as teaching. However, when her husband’s career took her to rural Italy, she purchased art supplies and began to paint. While there, she enjoyed exploring the Italian countryside and capturing “le viste belle!”. Returning home to the USA, she has continued to grow and develop as an impressionist artist over the past decade.
“Color adds depth and meaning, not only to our paintings, but also to our outlook on life. Color can be joyful, dramatic, and exciting.”

For further information about this show, please contact the Asheville Gallery of Art at (828) 251-5796, visit the gallery’s website at www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com, or go to the gallery’s Facebook page.

In response to statewide demand for healthcare
professionals, Blue Ridge Community College announced today an
expansion of the Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) Program. The hands-on
nursing education program added 20 seats, now serving up to 74 students
each year. ADN students learn from highly qualified faculty in state-of-the-art
simulation labs at the College’s Health Science Center in Hendersonville or
Transylvania County Campus in Brevard. Blue Ridge is actively accepting
applications for qualified students. Scholarships and tuition assistance are
available, and more details can be found at http://blueridge.edu/nursing.
“Blue Ridge Community College’s team of experienced and compassionate
instructors plays a vital role in preparing aspiring nurses for jobs today and in
the future,” said AdventHealth Hendersonville Chief Nursing Officer Maureen
Dzialo, MS, RN, NE-BC. “They help students in our local community find
rewarding careers with endless possibilities for advancement. AdventHealth
values their exceptional program and the students that graduate from Blue
Ridge.”
Graduates of the two-year program are prepared and eligible to take the
National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN) to become registered
nurses and provide hands-on care in a variety of health care settings. In 2021,
Blue Ridge students’ first-time pass rate for this exam was 96%.
“Pardee UNC Health Care is proud to partner with Blue Ridge Community
College to help train the next generation of nurses,” said Carol Stefaniak, DNP,
RN, NE-BC, VP Clinical Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Pardee UNC
Health Care. “Their nursing program graduates are of the highest caliber year
after year, and as we work to recruit a qualified workforce while facing a
national shortage of nurses, we are grateful to Blue Ridge for actively working
to fill that pipeline.”
Educating and training the next generation of nursing professionals is a crucial
step toward meeting the needs of area residents. It also positions the
workforce to respond to increasing demand for healthcare workers.
Furthermore, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that 2.6 million
healthcare occupation jobs will be added between 2020 and 2030.
“Nursing is a rewarding profession that aligns the passion to make a difference
in our community with the desire for a dependable career path,” said Blue
Ridge Community College Dean of Health Sciences Leigh Angel, MSN, RN. “As
essential members of the interdisciplinary healthcare team, nurses use expert
knowledge and clinical reasoning to manage complex care needs – all while
compassionately caring for others during each stage of life.

Buncombe County is seeking project ideas to help the community recover from and respond to COVID-19 and its negative economic impacts. Nonprofits and public organizations can submit projects now for consideration to be funded by federal COVID Recovery Funding. This is the second Request for Proposals issued by the County as part of COVID Recovery Funding, which Buncombe County was allocated $50.7M through the American Rescue Plan Act. So far, the county has awarded $23.1M to 27 projects, leaving $27.6 M available still to award. Buncombe County Commissioners have selected ten categories for this round of proposals: Affordable Housing Aging/Older Adults Business Support/Economic Development Environment/Climate Homelessness K-12 Education Infrastructure and/or Broadband Mental Health/Substance Use NC Pre-K Expansion Workforce If you are interested in applying, the deadline is Tuesday, April 12 at noon. Learn more here. The county is also holding a workshop that will help you better understand what projects the County is looking to fund and best practices on creating a successful application. Learn more about the scope of projects Buncombe County is looking for and have a chance to ask questions. All questions and responses from the session will be posted in the form of an addendum, and a recording of the session will be published. The virtual funding workshop will be held on Monday, March 14 from 1:30-3 p.m. Register here.

As part of the East Asheville Library’s LEED certification, the library has two level 2 (240 volt/30 amp) electric car chargers and special parking spots for both electric and other clean air vehicles, such as hybrids. The chargers add about 25 miles of range per hour of charge time and should be able to charge all types of electric vehicles. Tesla vehicles do require an adapter that comes with the vehicle when purchased.

These features are part of Buncombe County’s long-term plan for sustainable and eco-friendly facilities. To learn more about the Library’s LEED certification, stop by the library and ask for more information.

This article has all the information you need to register to vote, vote, and/or participate in the 2022 Primary Election. Scroll down for information on:

• How to register to vote/update your voter information
• Fine your Sample Ballot
• Find Early Voting Locations
• The Three Ways to Vote:
  • Early Voting
  • Absentee Ballot by Mail
  • Election Day Voting
• How to be a Paid Poll Worker
• Resource Links and Contact Information at Bottom

Just a reminder, to get election updates and reminders via our mobile text notification system, text BCAlert to 99411, or sign up at buncombecounty.org/codered and select “Election Reminders.”

Learn More About the New Online Playbill

We’re going green!

Flat Rock Playhouse is now producing online playbills! View the online playbill at your leisure before and after the performance!

You can view the online playbill ahead of time by clicking the link in your concierge email, which will be sent approximately 7 days before your performance.

The below instructions are for viewing the online playbill once at the theatre.

This month, Asheville GreenWorks will deploy four new self-serve clean-up stations at area libraries. Each station will be stocked with supplies that individuals can check out to run their own clean-ups.   Locations: Enka/Candler Library 1404 Sand Hill Rd, Candler, NC 28715   Swannanoa Library 101 W Charleston Ave, Swannanoa, NC 28778   Weaverville Library 41 N Main St, Weaverville, NC 28787   Skyland/South Asheville Library 260 Overlook Rd, Asheville, NC 28803   Library staff will NOT maintain these boxes. Please direct all questions or requests to [email protected]

Stories from the House is a virtual tour of our 1840s-era brick mansion as seen through the eyes of many of the people who walked these same hallways over a century ago and whose stories represent a microcosm of the history of western North Carolina. In 1918 vs. 2020, we took an in-depth look at the 1918 influenza epidemic in Western North Carolina through newspaper clippings, advertisements, ephemera, photographs, and oral history and place the events of 1918 into context with our present-day response to the coronavirus pandemic. Old Shiloh was one of Asheville’s first communities established by emancipated people. The community moved to its present-day location – New Shiloh – after George Vanderbilt, in an effort to expand his land holdings as he planned to build his Biltmore Estate, purchased the land and buildings and agreed to relocate the Shiloh church and cemetery.

If you’re behind on your water bill or afraid your water might get cut off, a new resource might be able to help you. On Jan. 4, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved more than $450,000 in federal funding for the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP). The initiative is aimed at preventing water disconnections and helping reconnect drinking and wastewater services.

The LIHWAP will be administered by Buncombe County-based Eblen Charities. The nonprofit will make payments directly to utilities on behalf of qualifying households. The program is slated to run through Sept. 30, 2023 or until funds are exhausted.

Eligibility requirements

Households that currently receive Food and Nutrition Services (FNS), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Work First services, or those that received Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) services from Oct. 1, 2020-Sept. 30, 2021, are automatically eligible to receive this benefit if their water services have been cut off or are in danger of being cut off.

For additional eligibility information or to apply, please contact Eblen Charities at (828) 255-3066.

The Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County (PSABC) was formed in 1976, with interest in preservation sparked by observance of the U. S. Bicentennial, and in response to threats to local buildings and sites posed by neglect, insensitive alteration, and large-scale transportation projects. Disinvestment in downtown, plans for the open cut through Beaucatcher Mountain, and a proposal to turn Montford Avenue into a through street connecting to U.S.19-23 spurred formation of the volunteer group, which quickly incorporated and initiated work as a community non-profit.

Online Education Programs

If you are able, consider making a donation to our Community Funded Ticket program, which provides no-cost tickets to our live events to those who could not afford to attend. Donate Here Vaccines and Public Health in WNC: Past and Present In this two-hour event, three historians discuss previous epidemics, pandemics, and public health campaigns in WNC and Appalachia, including the 1918 flu, smallpox, and polio, as well as the community and government efforts to combat these crises. These historians are followed by an immunologist and a virologist—both professors of biology at Appalachian State University— who present information on Covid-19 variants as well as data on lives saved by vaccines. Watch Now The Brevard Rosenwald School Betty J. Reed discusses her research into the Brevard Rosenwald School and other segregated schools in WNC. This school, also funded by Julius Rosenwald, served African American students in Transylvania County from c1923-1966 and, according to Reed, represents “a microcosm of Black education in southern Appalachia.” Reed, a native of Western North Carolina, is an independent scholar who has spent over twenty-five years researching the history of schools in the region, especially those functioning during the era of segregation. Watch Now Buncombe Co. Remembrance Project This project acknowledges the personal and community trauma inflicted on individuals of color after the Civil War, the Equal Justice Initiative’s research related to lynchings, and the three lynchings of record that occurred in Buncombe County, NC. Dr. Joseph Fox is a life-long educator, mentor, and community advocate. He has advocated for students of a darker hue for more than 30 years in his role as a community college instructor, as well as his role as a former Department Chair of Business Administration at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. Watch Now

Pisgah Area SORBA is excited to announce a community collaboration project with Pisgah Coffee Roasters and Asheville Tea Company to help raise money to support local trails.

Asheville Tea Company and Pisgah Coffee Roasters have collaborated to release a limited bundle set featuring Pisgah Area SORBA’s exclusive Trailblazer Roast, a box of Pisgah Breakfast tea, and a custom vinyl commemorative Trailblazer sticker exclusively designed for the collaboration.

Bundle sets will retail for $30 with a portion of proceeds being donated directly to Pisgah Area SORBA. Bundles are available online at www.AshevilleTeaCompany.com, www.PisgahRoasters.com, and at Pisgah Coffee Roaster’s retail location starting March 1.

Additionally, Pisgah Coffee Roasters will have our Trailblazer roast available online and in store individually, 12oz ($14) or 5lb ($75), and 50% of proceeds will be donated to Pisgah Area SORBA.