Dear Chancellor Kim Van Noort,

We deeply value UNC-Asheville as a cornerstone of Western North Carolina’s academic, cultural, and civic life. We are committed to the UNC-Asheville’s long-term success, and our County’s long-term vision as detailed in our Comprehensive 2043 Plan. Due to significant strong opposition regarding the proposed lease and development of 45 acres of the university’s designated Millennial Campus, we initiated conversations with UNC-Asheville’s leadership to learn more. While we are pleased the plans have been temporarily paused, we respectfully request that you do not proceed with approval of any project at this time, meaningfully engage the community, and work alongside local government. These Millennial Campus projects represent a major development with lasting implications for our county's identity and economic future. Yet, to date, Buncombe County has not been meaningfully engaged as a planning partner. As the local government responsible for long-term land use and economic development, we bring deep experience and a forward-looking vision for growth. Our Buncombe 2043 Comprehensive Plan, built on extensive public input, outlines a 20- year strategy for development, environmental conservation, infrastructure, and hazard resilience. The university and the Millennial Campus projects should align with that plan, not move ahead in isolation. We share UNC-Asheville’s interest in mixed-use development that strengthens enrollment, enhances academics, and supports regional economic goals. We share two goals for our community: ecological sustainability and increased available housing options, especially in walkable, higher-density neighborhoods in our urban growth areas. Increasing mixed-use housing options, like those that UNC Asheville is proposing, could provide much-needed housing for both young adults (including students) and seniors if affordable to our residents. This can strengthen enrollment and support regional economic development. However, we do not see that the plan includes options for supporting our community's ecological sustainability when contemplating development on this site. Also, while we do not oppose Asheville City Soccer Club's growth as a business, we are concerned that the site chosen is not suitable for stadium development due to incontrovertible facts: the site is hilly and heavily wooded. Further, the site is within a residential neighborhood that will experience a significant reduction in quality of life if a professional stadium designed for both night games and concerts operates there. We understand the real fiscal pressures facing UNC-Asheville: state and federal cuts, declining enrollment, and the need to diversify revenue. These are complex challenges, but how the university responds matters. We believe there is a better path that builds on the university’s strengths, preserves its natural assets, and involves its local government partners from the outset. Our request is urgent and clear: as the process has been paused, bring the local government to the table. Let’s hold a transparent community dialogue and explore alternative proposals together that could involve new development and plans that could strengthen UNC-Asheville and our community as a whole. We believe that with trust, collaboration, and shared vision, UNC-Asheville and Buncombe County can build something truly lasting, academically, environmentally, and economically. We stand ready to partner. Let’s work together to get this right. Amanda Edwards Chair Buncombe County Commission

Statement by the Friends of the Woods

UNC Asheville’s 45-acre urban forest has been a cherished community resource and wildlife habitat for decades. It’s now under threat of development, despite its status as one of the last remaining urban forests in Asheville.

On January 13th, 2025, with no advance notice to faculty, staff, students, or community members, a mini excavator began clearing tracks as wide as traffic lanes in the UNCA urban forest. In this destructive process, animal habitats were disturbed, long-term ecological research plots maintained by UNCA professors and students were destroyed, and the many Asheville community members who walk the trails daily were alarmed at the sudden and shocking development. Just a week later, heavy boring equipment arrived and began drilling to assess the sustainability of specific locations for construction. 

The lack of transparency from UNCA has raised questions and anxiety from a wide range of stakeholders including UNCA students, faculty, staff, neighbors, local businesses, and citizens of Asheville. We understand and accept that this land is owned by UNCA and may be used in a variety of ways. However, we believe it currently provides such a rare and unique range of benefits both to UNCA and to the city of Asheville that any construction on the land would lead to a dire loss for the community and a detriment to Asheville’s climate resilience. Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, which damaged or destroyed an estimated 40% of trees in Buncombe County, protecting this forest is of even greater importance to our community at large. 

UNCA states that it cares about maintaining this “critical part of the green infrastructure that makes up the city and campus ecosystem” (UNCA website). But, as longtime stakeholders in the fate of this land and unrecognized stewards of the land until now, we are gravely concerned about the direction these activities are headed. Furthermore, part of the university’s vision for the future includes deeper community engagement and greater connectivity to the city of Asheville. Through that lens, the lack of transparency around the project is concerning to many community members.

We understand that UNCA is in a difficult situation and is seeking creative solutions to weather the current financial crisis. As a coalition of neighbors representing hundreds of interested supporters, we hope to work in partnership to develop a long-term plan for the use of the UNCA urban forest that benefits the university and our community, aligns with the Five Points Neighborhood Plan, and honors the City of Asheville’s vision for investing in climate resilience and supporting healthy communities. 

We are eager to collaborate with university leadership to explore how we can work together to advance the university’s mission while ensuring the long-term sustainability of green spaces like the UNCA urban forest. 

The Friends of the Woods respectfully and urgently ask that UNCA PAUSE ALL WORK until it takes measures to listen to and address the cares and concerns of affected stakeholders, including UNCA students, faculty, and the entire Asheville community.