Editor’s note: This is a complete update of an earlier version.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — There were four people curled up in sleeping bags in the doorway of Harrah’s Cherokee Center late Tuesday night when the Asheville City Council wrapped up a marathon meeting in the banquet hall upstairs.

The sleepers seeking shelter might not have attended the meeting, but the discussion was all about them.

A public hearing into a proposed downtown Business Improvement District (BID) centered on a direct – and sometimes indirect – discussion about homelessness, public safety, panhandling, mental health, substance abuse, crime and more, as the council heard emotional arguments from multiple sides.

The still-unresolved issue is whether the council should authorize the creation of a special district to collect taxes from property owners to be used for safety, cleanliness and hospitality services that supplement, but do not replace, city services.

The proposal, enthusiastically backed by downtown business organizations, could raise a projected $1.25 million per year, with a portion of the money used to fund downtown “ambassadors” to talk to visitors, serve as “eyes and ears” for the district, and call in other authorities for issues that need attention.

Conceivably, that could include cleanliness, maintenance or social service issues, but a growing chorus of residents opposed to the plan worry it’s all about pushing out people who are experiencing homelessness.

Among dozens of speakers Tuesday, resident Jordan Garmon said the ambassadors could try to “push the most vulnerable out of sight.” He told council members it was “Yet another roadblock for the most needy.”

“I question how this is ‘hospitality,’” speaker Calvin Herrera said, equating the “ambassadors” to “a privately-owned police force.”

That’s not how proponents of the Business Improvement District describe it.

Eva Michelle Spicer, whose family has been in the jewelry business downtown for generations, said a BID is “to make sure downtown is safe and clean for the enjoyment of everyone in the city.”

It’s not just for tourists, but for downtown residents, residents from elsewhere in the community, businesses, workers and everyone, she said.

With the ambassadors, “Most importantly (it) puts more eyes and ears on our sidewalks,” she said.

Other backers emphasized how such an entity could be more “nimble” in shifting resources to cleanliness and beautification efforts, compared to a municipal government which often has to make spending priorities in a protracted process.

Scott Fowler, who represents a group of property and business owners in the Lexington Avenue area, described a BID as a “quick and nimble” way of making downtown enhancements.

Still, again and again on Tuesday night, speakers returned to the issue of homelessness and whether ambassadors really would try to marshal resources to help  individuals living on the streets, or if they’d harass them with calls to law enforcement.

Herrera called the idea “gentrifying by nature.” And salon owner Madison Hayse said she worried that the talk of public safety and cleanliness was to get the downtown “cleansed” of certain people.

The rhetoric was so emotional at times that Council Member Maggi Ullman lamented how much deep distrust people were expressing over the intentions of those backing the BID plan. She said she appreciated the business leaders for identifying problems like safety and cleanliness and then coming up with a plan saying “we can help.”

Neither she nor other council members voiced outright support or opposition to a BID district, which must be voted upon at two upcoming council meetings if it is to be created.

“I haven’t come to a point of support yet,” Council Member Sage Turner said.

Although the City Council would have a fiduciary role in overseeing such a district, its governance would be left to a 15-member board under the version being proposed. Since the largest downtown property owners would control the most seats on a board, Turner said, “I’m concerned about using property tax value as a criteria for leadership.”

The City Council would have discretion to change the governing structure if it votes to create the plan.

Since concerns first were raised at a meeting last month, backers of the BID have adjusted their proposal to add an additional community representative to the proposed board, and they gave assurances Tuesday that the board would be for a diverse collection of city residents, not outsiders.

But that hasn’t satisfied everyone.

“Please, please don’t privatize downtown and give it over to an unelected body,” downtown resident Clare Hanrahan said.

She asked council members if the definition of “stakeholders” in the matter depended on the amount of money in a person’s pocket.

The proposal to create a Business Improvement District has been percolating since the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce commissioned a feasibility report in June 2023 by Progressive Urban Management Associates.

As the consultants explained in the feasibility report, such a district is meant to supplement, not replace, city services. The city government would have fiduciary oversight, but a district would be self-governed and make its own decisions on spending priorities.

As a staff report by Assistant City Manager Ben Woody explained, the council’s initial decision is on whether or not to move forward with a BID and to set a tax rate. Backers have hoped it could be done before the start of a fiscal year in July, although critics claim that is too rushed and want more time for input.

Under the plan presented Tuesday, the proposed levy within the downtown boundaries would be 0.0919 per $100 of taxable value. On a property with a taxable value of $500,000, for example, the annual BID assessment would be $459.50 — a cost that could be passed along to customers or tenants.

Advocates believe that would raise enough for a $1.25 million annual budget. They’ve proposed spending $700,000 on safety and hospitality services; $300,000 on enhanced cleaning services; $150,000 on administration, and $100,000 contingency fund.

In an online “Quick Facts” file, backers describe “safe and clean” services as the primary initial focus. It said the “hospitality and safety ambassador” program could include:

  • “Offering information, assistance and safety escorts to downtown workers, residents and customers.”
  • “Outreach and connection to local service providers for downtown’s homeless and transient population.”
  • “And referral to APD for management of nuisance and vagrancy issues.”

The plan also discusses enhanced maintenance, such as sidewalk sweeping, scrubbing and spot cleaning, litter removal, trash can cleaning and landscaping maintenance.

Several local business people touted the BID Tuesday as an engine for local economic development. “This investment will pay dividends for years to come,” said Rick Bell of the Asheville Buncombe Hotel Association. Other supporters told horror stories about vagrancy and crime. One person talked about an employee being mugged downtown and said a BID would improve public safety.

However, even prior to the meeting, critics said they were very skeptical about the way a BID would be used.

Some raised concerns that the ambassadors would be used to target panhandlers in a quasi-official role.

Ben Williamson, executive director of the Asheville Poverty Initiative, questioned why the city could not address issues in the downtown without creating a separate, unelected board to oversee spending taxpayer dollars.

“The idea that we need more business control and more business representation, and more business power, is frustrating,” Williamson said.

Williamson was advocating for fully-funding and expanding the Community Paramedics program instead.

Local resident Paul Tay, who sometimes goes by the name “Blunt Man Bob,” said, “I represent the interests of panhandlers as it relates to free speech.”

“They will use the ambassadors to get rid of panhandlers, people like me asking for money,” he said.