A follow-up meeting to discuss the Downtown Master Plan and how it relates to the African American community will be held on Monday, September 15 at 6 p.m. at the Asheville Public Works Building, 191 S. Charlotte Street.

The meeting will cover several topics and provide citizens the chance to offer input on the future of downtown.

The community will be able to provide ideas and input for concrete changes during the facilitated session of the meeting. Participants will also learn about the history of downtown in relation to the African American community, and discuss the relationship between the Downtown Master Plan and the African American community.

Presentations will be given by the Eagle Market Streets Development Corporation and the Mt. Zion Community Development Corporation on their current development projects. The input from this meeting will be included in the draft plan to be released in several weeks.

“There was a meeting in July with good attendance” said Brenda Mills, minority business program coordinator, “but we need to receive more concrete and actionable ideas from the community and make sure that everyone knows what is already happening in downtown.”

The Downtown Master Plan is an initiative proposed by the Asheville Downtown Commission and funded by Asheville City Council; the Downtown Commission hopes that the plan will help citizens, elected officials, and City and County staff more clearly address the most pressing issues facing downtown today.

September 18 Meeting Postponed

The Downtown Master Plan public meeting planned for Thursday, September 18 at the Civic Center has been postponed until a later date. The Advisory Committee for the Master Plan decided that the draft plan needed additional work before it could be released to the public.      

For more information, contact Brenda Mills, (828) 232-4566 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it