SWOT poll: 397 respondents; 72% favor resilience changes — steering committee to draft three vision options for public vote

Buncombe County planning staff told the Swannanoa steering committee that 397 members of the public completed the project’s recent poll and that 72% of respondents said the county should make changes to prepare for future disasters.

Staff summarized the poll’s top priorities as: creating early‑warning systems, evacuation plans and disaster resources; building more parks and recreation; making roads, bridges and utilities safer; protecting wetlands, rivers and streams; and strengthening stormwater rules to reduce flooding. The planning team asked steering members to draft three short vision‑statement options that will be presented for a public vote in the next engagement phase.

“72% said they want the county to make later changes to prepare for future disasters,” a planning staff presenter said while reviewing public poll results. Staff also noted the public outreach methods used to gather responses: pop‑ups and tabling at community events, targeted Facebook ads, CodeRED/Echo notifications, pop‑up events such as “pizza with the planner,” and postcards to neighborhoods (for Riceville the planning team mentioned sending a postcard).

Why it matters: Those poll and SWOT results will shape the vision statement that guides Swannanoa’s small‑area plan, which in turn will influence recommendations about land use, hazard mitigation, housing and public infrastructure.

Committee discussion and process concerns - Steering committee members raised concerns that 397 survey responses may not represent all demographic groups in the study area. One member said she was “concerned about writing a vision statement when we don't have input that's representative of our community,” and urged staff to keep targeting underrepresented groups as the process continues. - Staff replied that outreach is iterative: the team will use each engagement phase to target demographic gaps and will bring vision options back to the public for validation. - The committee agreed on process steps: members will each draft a proposed vision statement, work in small groups at the next meeting to consolidate options, and then select up to three options staff will take to the public for voting.

Poll and SWOT details - Poll period: staff said the public survey ran roughly a month (late July through late August) and produced 397 responses used in this round of SWOT synthesis. - Top resilience priorities from public responses included early‑warning systems and disaster planning; parks and recreation; safer roads, bridges and utilities; riparian and wetland protection; and stronger stormwater regulation. - The SWOT synthesis also surfaced concerns about transportation, pedestrian connectivity, vacant/damaged buildings, limited food access and uneven provision of public services in some neighborhoods.

Logistics and next steps - Homework: steering committee members were asked to draft vision‑statement options before the next meeting and bring them to small‑group work sessions. Staff said they will assemble those drafts and the steering committee will select three alternatives for a public vote. - Scheduling: the committee discussed a schedule change; a member asked to move the October 13 meeting to October 20 to avoid conflicts and the group agreed to the date change. - Staff indicated additional organization‑level SWOT responses remain under compilation and are not included in the 397‑response public total; those organizational inputs will be folded into later engagement summaries.

Ending: Staff framed the vision‑statement exercise as iterative: the steering committee will draft options informed by the public SWOT and then test the preferred language with the broader community before finalizing direction for the small‑area plan.