Buncombe County steering committee narrows scope for Swannanoa small-area plan, debates boundary and resilience coverage

Buncombe County staff and members of the Swannanoa steering committee met to review public input on boundaries and next steps for a Swannanoa small-area plan aimed at guiding land use and resiliency after damage from Hurricane Helene.

Jillian Phillips, long-range planning division manager for Buncombe County, told the committee that a small-area plan is “a document that's used by local governments to make recommendations about a lot of different things,” and that the county expects the plan to run on a 10- to 20-year horizon and focus on growth, conservation, hazards and resilience.

The meeting centered on results from a public boundary poll and how staff will use that choice. About 100 people completed the boundary poll; roughly 45% of respondents selected the historic Swannanoa township boundary as the best area for collecting existing-condition data, staff said. Of those respondents, staff reported that about 85% said they live in Swannanoa and about 72% said they own property there.

Phillips and other county planners emphasized a technical distinction the committee must resolve: the “existing condition” study (used to pull census and agency data) will follow a…