Support Asheville’s Open Space Amendment

What Is the Open Space Amendment?

The Open Space Amendment is a small revision to the city’s zoning code.

It will allow people that build homes a little more flexibility, specifically in building apartment buildings on small lot sizes.

“Open space” describes the parts of a lot where there are no buildings or parking lots. Currently, the city’s code makes it near impossible to build apartment building on small lots, because of an onerous requirement where lots need 500 square feet of open space per unit. This makes reasonably-sized multi-level apartment buildings nearly impossible to build.

The image below, taken from a Citizen-Times article, illustrates well how the amendment will solve a problem with Asheville’s current zoning code:

You can find the current city code’s “Open Space Standards” here, and the proposed Open Space Amendment here.

Click “Next” to read about why you should voice support for the Open Space Amendment.