Large-Scale Development in Asheville
There is a lot of private land development happening in Asheville. This tool can help you:
- Understand the development process from the first permit application to breaking ground
- Understand your role in the process and how your voice can be heard
- Sign up to be notifiedwhen someone applies for a permit to build something near you
Do you have ideas for how this tool could be updated or refined to better serve our community? If so, please send us your feedback!
Types of large-scale development
The types of large-scale development are defined by the City of Asheville's Unified Development Ordinance. Projects located downtown are defined slightly differently in the ordinance.
- Not located downtown and contains 3 to 19 residential units or 500 to 34,999 square feet of commercial space
- Located downtown and is 500 to 19,999 square feet
- A new restaurant
- A new pharmacy
- A 15-unit apartment building
- Creation or extension of a road
- Usually creates new residential lots
- Neighborhood meeting
- Historic Resources Commission meeting (if in a historic district or concerning a historic landmark)
- A new neighborhood with a new road created
- Not located downtown and contains 20 to 49 residential units or is 35,000 to 99,999 square feet
- Located downtown and is 20,000 to 99,999 square feet
- Downtown:
- Neighborhood meeting
- Design review
- Planning and Zoning Commission
- Not downtown:
- Neighborhood meeting
- Design review (if on the river)
- Historic Resources Commission meeting (if in a historic district or concerning a historic landmark)
- A new grocery store
- A big box specialty retailer
- A medium-sized apartment complex
- Requires a change in zoning
- 50 or more residential units
- 99,999 square feet or larger
- Includes all projects previously designated as Level III
- Neighborhood meeting
- Design review (if downtown or on the river)
- Historic Resources Commission meeting (if in a historic district or concerning a historic landmark)
- Planning and Zoning Commission
- City Council hearing
- A large apartment complex
- A large office building
- A large department store
- Neighborhood meeting
- Design review (if downtown or on the river)
- Historic Resources Commission meeting (if in a historic district or concerning a historic landmark)
- Planning and Zoning Commission
- City Council hearing
- Cell phone towers
- Jails
- Government buildings
- Group homes
The development process
After the developer submits an application, it goes through a decision-making process that includes city staff, elected and appointed city officials, developers, and residents. Who is involved at what step depends on the type of project.
Sign up for notifications
You can receive an email notification when a developer submits an application for a new large-scale development. Visit notifications.ashevillenc.gov to sign up or change your notification settings.
Development details
All Permit ApplicationsSearch Nearby DevelopmentSearch Permits by Address or IDOpen Data Portal - Permits
The map and table below contain proposed, large-scale, private development projects for which a permit application has been submitted. You can also explore permit applications using the above links.
How to get involved
Depending on the type of project, there are a few different ways for community members to get involved in the development process.
Neighborhood meetings
Developers planning to submit applications for development that must go through the Technical Review Committee (including projects of types Level II, Major Subdivision, Conditional Zoning, and Conditional Use Permit) must hold a public meeting before submitting the application.
Currently, developers are not required by law to notify the City of Asheville when those meetings take place. Thus, the first record the city has of a proposed development is when the application is submitted, after the meeting.
However, in order to help ensure that residents can find out about developer-neighborhood meetings in advance, the city has asked developers to voluntarily notify the city. After those developers fill out an online form, those meeting dates are automatically added to a calendar that shows all developer-neighborhood meetings about which the city has been notified.
Committee and commission meetings
As described above, there are several committees and commissions that participate in the major development review processs. Depending on the size, type, and location of proposed development, it may go through the Technical Review Committee, the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Historic Resources Commission, the Asheville Downtown Commission, or the Asheville Area Riverfront Redevelopment Commission.
Visit AshevilleNC.gov to learn more about city boards, commissions, and committees.
Council meetings
Projects of types Conditional Zoning and Conditional Use Permit are reveiwed in a public hearing before City Council. Community members may speak as individuals for three minutes or on behalf of organizations for ten minutes (if three other people cede their speaking time) at a council meeting.
Information about City Council as well as minutes and agendas for upcoming and past council meetings can be found on the City of Asheville website.