Comprehensive Plan Rewrite Contract

At a glance

What: Contract with Opticos Design, Inc. to update the Living Asheville Comprehensive Plan and rewrite the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and the Standard Specifications and Details Manual.
Where it stands: Approved on the consent agenda September 8, 2026 (Resolution 26-181 and Ordinance 5258), not to exceed $1,403,000: $1,200,000 from CDBG-DR disaster recovery funds and $203,000 from stormwater enterprise funds. Consent agenda motion by Councilwoman Roney, seconded by Councilwoman Turner, unanimous.
Next: Comprehensive plan and UDO work finishes in October 2027; the Standard Specifications and Details Manual update in March 2028. Total schedule about 2.5 years including training after adoption.

Chosen after a competitive selection process; scope covers project management, community engagement, a data-driven plan update, and a comprehensive review and redraft of the UDO.
To fit available funds, three tasks were moved to optional additional tasks that would need a contract amendment: adoption and implementation support, updates to the Downtown and River District design guidelines, and publishing draft and final versions of the specifications manual.
The process was previewed at the September 3 agenda briefing (2026-09-03 - Council Agenda Briefing Worksession) under "Comprehensive Plan and UDO Update Process".
Related: the housing text amendments approved August 25, see Housing Zoning Text Amendments.

Consent agenda approval of the Opticos Design contract and budget amendment.

Briefing discussion listed "Comprehensive Plan and UDO Update Process" among other topics; no detail recorded.

The Commission's agenda includes a report on the Comprehensive Plan and Development Regulations update.