Commissioners Defy Staff to Push Lot-Size Reform; Habitat Homes Advance

Asheville's Planning and Zoning Commission overrode staff objections on Sept. 2, 2026, to hold an unscheduled debate on shrinking minimum lot sizes. Commissioners want to influence reform before City Council committees take up the issue this month. The commission also unanimously recommended a 23-home, all-affordable Asheville Habitat for Humanity project in Shiloh.

---

• Lot-size debate: One commissioner's analysis found only 129 starter homes built in a decade.
• Staff vs. commission: A unanimous vote added the discussion despite staff concerns about public notice and mixed messaging.
• 23 affordable homes: Habitat's Shiloh rezoning heads to council with unanimous backing.
• Annual report: Commissioners flag a stalled flood ordinance and infrastructure costs blocking infill.

---

1 Big Thing: The Case Against Big Lots

The basics: Minimum lot sizes set how much land each home must sit on. Asheville requires 16,000 square feet in RS-2 zones, 8,000 in RS-4 and 4,000 in RS-8. The city reduced those standards in 2017.

Why it matters: Council's Housing and Community Development committee reviews RS-2 on Sept. 15. Its Planning and Economic Development and Environment committee takes up lot-size minimums on Sept. 29. Commissioners want their input on the record first.

Where things stand: Commissioner Jonathan Anzollitto used Buncombe County assessor and GIS parcel data. He defined starter homes as 800 to 1,400 square feet and under $300,000.

"These are starter homes. It's 11% of the single-family homes in Asheville," said Jonathan Anzollitto, Commissioner. "Over the last 10 years, during that same time period, only 129 starter homes were built."

His other findings:
- Median lots run roughly double the required minimums.
- RS-2 and RS-4 zones use too much land for too few houses.
- RM districts mostly produce single-family homes.
- Minimum lot widths push lots larger than they need to be.
- 22,423 lots could fit a second starter home without demolishing the existing house.

"Takeaway number 3, our minimum lot sizes are too large. They're inflating land costs," Anzollitto said. He pointed to other places that have loosened lot rules:
- Austin cut its minimum to 1,800 square feet, and a realtor analysis showed homes selling for half the price.
- Durham created a compact district with 1,250-square-foot lots.
- Texas capped lot minimums at 2,500 square feet statewide.
- Asheville's own 1920s plan had no lot minimums at all.

Chair Geoffrey Barton placed the rules in historical context. "This is an extension of explicitly racial restrictive covenants that are, of course, no longer legal," said Geoffrey Barton, Chair.

Barton said reform could shrink the subsidy gap on affordable home sales and grow the tax base. He noted state bills that would replace minimum lot sizes with units-per-acre standards have not passed. He also questioned RS-2 directly: "Is there a utility of 16,000 minimum square foot lots in the city of Asheville with 35-foot front setbacks, 10-foot side setbacks, 25 rear setbacks?"

The other side: Commissioners pressed on the methods. "And it doesn't consider topography or other potential limiting factors," one commissioner said of the yard calculation. Vice Chair Jason Seickel asked whether the doubled lot sizes reflect Asheville's mountain terrain. Anzollitto acknowledged one profit-margin comparison was "completely conceptual."

Commissioner Anna Zuevskaya questioned whether more supply leads to affordability. She said her work requires $200,000 to $250,000 in subsidy per home to serve households at or below 80% of area median income. "Supply is not the only answer, and we can't talk about affordability and only talk about supply," said Anna Zuevskaya, Commissioner.

What's next: No action was taken. Commissioner Jane Margaret Bell asked whether some changes could come early "so it's not trapped in the 3-year process or so?" She was referring to the rewrite of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), the city's zoning code. Staff said the next concrete step is the Sept. 15 committee meeting.

---

The Fight Over Who Frames Reform

Why it matters: The clash tested how independent an advisory commission can be while the city tries to speak with one voice during its comprehensive plan and UDO rewrite.

Where things stand: Anzollitto moved to add his analysis to the agenda. Planner Sam Starr-Baum objected. "Staff does have some concern about the noticing and conformance with state statutes," said Sam Starr-Baum, Planner 3. He said staff planned to bring the topic forward on Oct. 7.

Starr-Baum said Anzollitto had shown the analysis to staff in July as a private citizen, not as a commissioner. He argued that going ahead without notice was unfair to stakeholders who were not present.

Another staff member worried unvetted data could leave council members unsure whom to believe. "Maybe to the casual viewer out there, they don't always know the difference between P&Z commissioners and staff," the staff member said.

The other side: Barton rejected the objection. "Isn't that our role to advise council?" he asked.

"That is your role, but we also have a role and a responsibility in representing the regulations," Starr-Baum replied.

Barton said the pushback "feels like an overreach of — or an overreaction to having a conversation starter." He also said waiting would not work: "I honestly feel that may be too late to have some productive feedback from this body to help inform those."

Seickel summed up the staff position: "So what I'm hearing is the goal is to be in lockstep."

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: The amendment passed on a unanimous voice vote (Against: 0, Absent: 1, Commissioner Brenton Faircloth). Members attached a caveat: the content was unvetted and does not represent a city position. The vote signals that commissioners intend to set their own timing on interim zoning reform.

---

Habitat's 23 Affordable Homes Clear Commission

Why it matters: "100% of these 23 units will be affordable," said Starr-Baum. The project replaces a 2017 plan for 20 single-family lots that was never built.

Where things stand: Habitat's site sits off Tried Street and 990 West Chapel Road in Shiloh. The plan includes:
- 18 attached homes and five detached homes, with the detached homes placed along the edges.
- Tree canopy and open space preserved along a stream to the south.
- Smaller lots than standard: a 3,742-square-foot minimum and 32-foot widths.

No traffic study was required because the project falls below the threshold. Staff found the plan consistent with the Living Asheville Comprehensive Plan and the Shiloh Community Plan, and recommended approval.

Engineer Will Bowie of WGLA Engineering represented the applicant. He framed the attached units in response to Shiloh residents' concerns about long rows of townhomes. "We see these as duplexes, so it's 2 single-family units that are attached," said Will Bowie, applicant representative.

Bowie requested added permission to disturb land inside the stream's protected buffer zone. He said the net effect would benefit the buffer. "We would be removing 2,551 square feet of impervious surfaces that would be inside that aquatic buffer," he said. The project would add about 490 square feet of sidewalk there. "This is not a variance. Variance is only Board of Adjustment," Starr-Baum clarified.

Reggie Jones of Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity described the homes:
- Roughly 1,500-square-foot duplex units.
- Up to six age-in-place units planned.
- Accessible design, though not ADA-certified.

The other side: Bell asked whether fill would be placed in the buffer to build the sidewalk. Seickel asked whether the sidewalk could move across the street. Bowie said the current side likely avoids numerous driveways. Seickel also suggested replacing the underground stormwater system with surface treatment to cut Habitat's costs. Bowie said either approach "would and could meet the city's ordinance."

Decisions and stakeholder impacts: Barton disclosed that his employer, Mountain Housing Opportunities, sold the land to Habitat about three years ago. He said he has no financial stake and participated in the vote.

Bell moved to recommend approval, including the buffer modification. The motion passed on a unanimous voice vote (Against: 0, Absent: 1, Faircloth). No one spoke at the public hearing. The Shiloh Neighborhood Association submitted a written letter of support.

What's next: The applicant will study the sidewalk and stormwater alternatives. A City Council hearing date has not been set.

---

Flood Rules, Infrastructure Top Annual Report Wish List

Why it matters: The annual report tells council what commissioners think the city has left undone.

Where things stand: Barton called the flood ordinance the biggest miss. "Kind of the one stark thing that has not yet happened in a meaningful way is updating the flood protection ordinance," he said. The only change so far has been a post-Helene clarification of freeboard rules, which set how high buildings must sit above flood levels. Seickel said it was hard "to sit and watch all the communities around us update their flood development ordinances while we stood static."

Barton also listed recent wins:
- New Level 1 through 3 review thresholds.
- The end of parking requirements.
- Updated flag lot and cottage rules.
- New duplex and ADU standards.

Bell urged broader resilience efforts, including evacuation planning. She mentioned the WNC Know Your Risk mapper, a tool she has helped develop with Nimbus Sky. She also said infrastructure costs block infill housing. "We have a lot of unopened right-of-ways, and in many cases, it's cost prohibitive for a small developer to build that road," said Jane Margaret Bell, Commissioner. She floated bonds or tax increment financing as possible fixes, and Seickel agreed.

Commissioner Lindsay Broughel asked that economic development and industrial land be central to the UDO rewrite. She also proposed sharing development data with regional transportation planners, citing the Caribou Commons project. "Can we share that with the MPO? Can we share that with the DOT?" said Lindsay Broughel, Commissioner.

What's next: Barton will draft the report with staff and bring it back next month.

---

Minor Items

• Code changes adopted: Council unanimously adopted the ADU, parking and townhome amendments on Aug. 25.
• Rezoning approved: Council rezoned a split-zoned parcel at 23 Heritage Drive from RM-16 to HB.
• Consultant contract: The comprehensive plan and UDO rewrite contract goes to council on Sept. 8, with public engagement possibly starting in October or November.
• Minutes approved: The commission approved its Aug. 5 minutes with minor wording fixes.

---

Looking Ahead

The commission next meets Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. in the first-floor north conference room at City Hall. Annual officer elections are expected. Before then, council committees take up RS-2 zoning on Sept. 15 and lot-size minimums on Sept. 29.