Chris Pelly’s third bid for a seat on Asheville City Council was successful, and the longtime neighborhood activist (who’s also president of the Haw Creek Community Association) has some big plans.
“I intend to try to work to advance the ideas on which I based my campaign,” he reveals. “That includes expansion of our sidewalk system to give Asheville pedestrians greater safe walking options. I also will be trying to promote a home-weatherization program to help middle-income homeowners make energy-efficiency improvements.”
But Pelly’s most ambitious goal is an attempt to Asheville’s neighborhoods more clout in city affairs.
“Specifically, I will be asking the full Council to support creating a Neighborhood Advisory Committee charged with advising Council on ways to support and enhance neighborhoods and give them a more formal voice in growth-and-development issues,” Pelly explains.
The committee, he notes, could serve as a platform for calls to allocate public resources, encourage the development of community associations, “establish a communications system capable of reaching every Asheville household,” and “improve the development process — and residents’ ability to access the process.”
