Asheville, NC Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

Section 7-9-3 of the Asheville Code of Ordinances establishes the Downtown Design Review District, mapped by metes and bounds from Chestnut and Furman Streets south through the core commercial area to Biltmore Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, bounded by Interstate 240. The Asheville Downtown Commission divides the district into three sub-areas: the core area, gateway corridors, and periphery, each of which can carry different design guidelines covering new construction, rehabilitation, illumination, signs, color, painting, cleaning, and landscaping. Any work requiring a building, sign, zoning, or demolition permit, or a variance, must go to the planning and development department for review before the permit issues; routine maintenance is exempt, but exterior cleaning and painting, illumination changes, fence and wall erection, and parking lot modifications all trigger review.

Minor works (as defined in Sec. 7-5-10(a)(1)) are handled by planning department staff, while new construction over 5,000 square feet, significant rehabilitation, site design, and demolition go before the full Downtown Commission at its next regular meeting without a public hearing requirement. The Commission issues recommendations based on its adopted guidelines, and the code states that applicants are 'strongly encouraged' to follow those recommendations, meaning the design guidelines function as advisory input layered on top of the mandatory permit and review steps rather than as independently enforceable design mandates. The district map itself is kept on file at the planning and development department and the permitting center rather than printed in the code.