ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Asheville officials have released a draft action plan for what they plan to do with $225 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds — and they want the community’s feedback before final approval.

According to the plan, 6 percent — or $14 million — will go toward planning and administration for the grant. The largest chunk of the money — $130 million (58 percent) — will be used for infrastructure and $50 million for business/economy.

The plan, released Tuesday, can be found on the Asheville Recovers website. The open comment period lasts until April 3. The public is urged to read the plan and submit feedback through a link on the page. Staff is expected to present the final plan to the Asheville City Council for approval on April 8 before submitting it to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for final approval by April 21.

A look back

In January, Gov. Josh Stein and Secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Adrianne Todman announced $1.65 billion for Helene recovery in Western North Carolina through two CDBG-DR awards.

“Western North Carolina communities have been impacted by devastating disasters — damaging homes, destroying infrastructure, and stretching local capacity to recover,” Todman said in a statement at the time. “This $1.65 billion in disaster discovery funds will help rebuild homes, develop affordable housing, assist impacted small businesses, and repair roads, schools, water treatment plants and other critical infrastructure. The impacts of these funds will be felt for years to come — especially for disaster survivors and communities in the most impacted areas.”

The awards included $1.4 billion to the State of North Carolina and $225 million to the city of Asheville, which is an “entitlement community” within the CDBG program. The funding comes from the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2025, enacted on Dec. 21, 2024.

City officials then asked the public for feedback on recovery needs, which they used to craft the draft action plan.

Asheville’s recovery priorities, informed by community input, focus on people, housing, infrastructure/environment and economy, with the City Council aiming to address unmet disaster-related needs.

How it breaks down

  • Administration: $11,250,500
  • Planning: $2,759,500

Total: $14,010,000

  • Affordable multi-family housing construction: $26,000,000
  • Reconstruction and rehabilitation for owner-occupied units (state-delivered): $3,000,000
  • Infrastructure: $130,000,000
  • Commercial district revitalization: $30,000,000
  • Workforce development: $5,000,000
  • Small business support: $15,000,000
  • Housing and economic security support services: $2,000,000

Total: $211,000,000

Grant total: $225,010,000

What’s next?

Three public feedback sessions are planned for this month. Each session will discuss the whole plan as well as one of the three categories of programs: housing, economic revitalization and infrastructure.

The public session schedule is as follows:

March 19 – Housing – Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville, Banquet Hall, 6-8 p.m.
March 24 – Economic Revitalization – Radical Hotel, Golden Hour Restaurant, 10 a.m.-noon
March 26 – Infrastructure – A-B Tech, Ferguson Auditorium, 10 a.m. noon

The city expects to begin launching projects funded by the $225 million CDBG-DR recovery funds in the fall. The CDBG-DR money must be used within six years from the date of the allocation, which was announced on Jan. 7, 2025, meaning the funds must be used by Jan. 7, 2031.