Residents, faculty and students urge Buncombe County commissioners to oppose UNC Asheville stadium plan

Dozens of residents, faculty members and students pressed the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on July 15 to oppose a proposed development that would replace the woods adjacent to the University of North Carolina Asheville with a 5,000-seat stadium, retail and market-rate housing.

Speakers told the board the university moved the project forward without public engagement and urged county leaders to signal opposition or support alternatives such as a land swap, conservancy or public forest. "By all appearances, a decision was made about what they wanted to do no later than November," said Woody Davis, a 5 Points neighborhood resident, describing what he called an opaque process and asserting the university had been "evasive, opaque, and just plain dishonest."

The request for a resolution opposing the project was grounded in several lines of concern: environmental services provided by the urban forest, loss of an outdoor classroom used by UNCA faculty and students, neighborhood quality-of-life impacts and the use of public funds.

Jonathan Horton, chair of the UNCA biology department, described the woods as an active research and teaching resource. He said the area had been used for course-based research experiences, grant-funded student research and long-term ecosystem monitoring. Horton said the roughly 45-acre forest previously had about 91% canopy cover and an estimated 20,000 trees, and that those trees stored more than 3,500 tons of carbon. "If cut, most of the stored carbon would return to the atmosphere," Horton said, adding that the forest sequestered an estimated 75 tons of carbon per year and helped absorb runoff the community experienced during Tropical Storm Helene.

Speakers also raised economic and public-finance questions. Chris Gauteta, president of the 5 Points Neighborhood Association, noted UNCA had asked for $29 million in public funding and said the university had not provided details supporting a claim of $250 million in projected economic activity. A student speaker, Matthew Zimmerman, and others said the proposal had unified students and neighbors in opposition.

Residents emphasized quality-of-life concerns including night lighting, noise, parking and traffic. Psychologist Dr. Sandy Newis described the woods’ benefits for mental health and said a stadium would bring light and noise that would affect nearby homes. Several speakers proposed adaptive alternatives that would preserve the forest while creating educational and economic opportunities, such as a restored urban forest, donor-supported conservation programming, or siting stadium and housing elsewhere on campus.

Speakers named local entities and studies to support their arguments, including comparisons to McCormick Field renovations and economic analyses that question stadium subsidies. Several described damaged but recoverable areas after Helene and urged active forest management, invasive species removal and community-based restoration.

Commissioners listened during the public-comment period but did not vote on a resolution at the July 15 meeting. Multiple speakers asked the board to consider adopting a formal statement opposing the development and to press state decision-makers to evaluate alternatives.

The public comment period on this item ran across multiple speaker turns beginning with Woody Davis and continuing through remarks by faculty, neighborhood leaders, students and conservation activists. Many called for county engagement despite acknowledging the university owns the land and that some decisions fall under state authority.

The board did not take formal action on the UNCA proposal during the meeting; speakers requested commissioners consider a resolution and other advocacy steps in subsequent communications or meetings.

Ending

Speakers concluded by asking the commission to press for alternatives that preserve the urban forest and to coordinate with city and state officials. Commissioners thanked the public for comments and moved on to other agenda items.