Planning Board Meeting | Oct. 19, 2026

Buncombe County Planning Board briefing on the Swannanoa Small Area and Resilience Plan, October 19, 2026. The board lacked a quorum and conducted no official business, motions, or votes. Staff reviewed the plan’s community engagement, more than 100 recommended actions, and proposed land-use, flood-resilience, sidewalk, bicycle, and transportation priorities. A public hearing and recommendation vote are scheduled for November 16, followed by a commissioners’ public hearing and anticipated adoption vote on November 17.

Staff also reported a procurement-related action: funding was included in the most recent budget to seek outside assistance with rewriting the county’s stormwater ordinance, and an RFQ has been published. The anticipated scope is research, stakeholder-feedback analysis, and ordinance drafting; staff estimated about four months for the RFQ process and 12–15 months for consultant work. No award, vendor, or dollar amount was identified. Staff additionally noted that public art funds were used to purchase two works by a local Swannanoa artist, without stating the cost. Other planned ordinance updates include watershed, parking, transportation-road standards, lighting, and manufactured-home-park regulations.