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MILLS RIVER
imagine
QUESTIONS
frequently asked
This page provides answers to some basic questions about the Imagine Mills River project. This page will be modified as new questions arise over the course of the project. If you have a question that is not answered below, please post your question in the textbox at the bottom of the page and include your email if you would like a Town staff member to respond. If enough people ask the same or similar question it will be added to this list of FAQs
01 WHAT IS IMAGINE MILLS RIVER?
Imagine Mills River is an effort undertaken by the Town of Mills River, with assistance from CodeWright Planners, to prepare a new Unified Development Ordinance (or “UDO”) and updated Official Zoning Map to implement the Town’s adopted policy guidance and to establish new development rules. The updated UDO is expected to bring greater procedural clarity and predictability to the development review process, easier administration, greater protection of rural character and agricultural activity, more direction on the desired kinds of land uses and their preferred locations, and increased protection for property values.
02 WHY IS THE PROJECT CALLED “IMAGINE MILLS RIVER”?
“Imagine Mills River” is a unique name and logo for the Unified Development Ordinance project to help ensure that project documents and community engagement efforts are easily recognizable to Town residents and business owners. Mills River has a deep agricultural heritage and connection to the Blue Ridge mountains. Imagine Mills River honors the Town’s agricultural past and mountain setting while encouraging Town residents and newcomers to imagine a brighter future with new ideas about how to protect the Town’s cherished rural setting and sensitive environmental resources in the face of mounting growth pressures and increasing land values.
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03 WHAT IS A UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE?
A Unified Development Ordinance (or a “UDO”) is an integrated set of laws governing the use of land within the corporate limits of the Town. The UDO establishes the kinds of land uses that may be permitted, where those uses may be permitted, the process used by the Town to consider requests to establish allowable uses, how uses and land development activities may be operated, how sites and site features supporting land uses are to be configured, and how violations of the Town’s land use rules are determined and addressed. In addition to the written rules, the UDO also includes the Official Zoning Map, or the graphic distribution of zoning districts (and thus allowable use types).
04 WHAT IS THE TOWN’S ADOPTED POLICY GUIDANCE?
The Town’s adopted policy guidance is a set of goals, objectives, and policies for future land use and development in Mills River. It represents a generally agreed-upon or shared vision and direction for the future. Adopted policy guidance is based on sound research and practice that seeks to understand current needs, project those needs into the future, and make recommendations about how to optimize future outcomes based on shared desires and goals. The primary piece of adopted land use policy guidance in Mills River is Making Mills River, the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. This document expresses the Town’s vision for its future in terms of land use and outlines the goals and actions necessary to realize this vision. Also included in the Town’s adopted policy guidance is the Go Mills River 2023 Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan.
05 WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE MAKING MILLS RIVER?
Making Mills River was adopted by the Town Council in 2021 to establish a vision for the future development of land in Mills River. Page 3 of the document sets out the following vision statement for Mills River:
The Town of Mills River will have choices for housing, jobs, and recreation while being a community that is open to new ideas, supportive of community building efforts, and focused towards common goals.
Page 3 of the plan also lists the following goals:
More detail on the comprehensive plan may be found in the Mills River Policy Guidance Summary Table document found in Task 1 on the Documents tab of this website.
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Protect and enhance the rural and small town character of Mills River
Promote preservation of agricultural and natural lands while respecting property rights
Manage growth and invest in Mills River to promote land stewardship, community development and fiscal responsibility
Provide and maintain exceptional public facilities and services
Build infrastructure to support local needs and diverse economic development
Encourage housing choices for persons of all ages and different income levels
06 WHAT ARE THE PROJECT GOALS FOR IMAGINE MILLS RIVER?
Imagine Mills River updates the Town’s development rules and zoning map to make them more user friendly, predictable, and focused on the pace and timing of new development. The rules are intended to protect agriculture and open space while encouraging new development in the optimal locations for protecting community character and ensuring efficient development patterns. The project includes the following seven goals:
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Protecting rural character.
Implementing the Town's adopted land use policy guidance (like Making Mills River).
Preserving farms and agricultural activity.
Identifying the optimal location for new homes, businesses, and open space.
Protecting sensitive natural environments (like waterways, steep slopes, and habitat).
Providing an adequate range of housing choices for people of all ages and incomes.
Promoting sustainable development and property values.
07 WHY IS THE TOWN DOING THIS PROJECT NOW?
Mills River is a desirable mountain community proximate to the Asheville airport and the urbanizing suburban areas between Asheville and Hendersonville. The community’s desirable location and pleasing rural character make it a popular location for new development. At the same time, changes in agriculture and the farming industry are combining to make farming less lucrative and desirable as a continued family endeavor. Growth pressure, combined with waning agricultural activity, are leading to increased rates of development, escalating land costs, and more concern over loss of cherished community character in Mills River. Changes in climate (like those leading to Hurricane Helene) are underlining the need to protect sensitive environmental areas and moderate the pace and location of new development in order to protect public safety. The Town’s current regulations have been in place since incorporation and need more refinement to address growth pressure, character protection, public safety, and the need for attainable housing.
08 HOW LONG WILL THE PROJECT TAKE?
The project is expected to take 17 months to complete (by June of 2026). Interim deliverables, like the Code Diagnosis (provided in Task 2) and Annotated Outline (provided in Task 3) will include insights on the proposed changes to be made and how the UDO will be structured and be completed by the summer of 2025. Drafting and revision of the new UDO and the associated zoning map will take place after the summer, and the adoption process will start in the Spring of 2026.
09 WILL THE ZONING ON MY PROPERTY CHANGE, AND HOW WILL I KNOW?
All development within the Town of Mills River is subject to the Town’s current rules for development. While many of the rules in these current documents will likely be revised or amended as part of the updated UDO, lawfully established development that predates the new UDO will instead be subject to the Town’s prior rules. The new UDO will include a series of details about how development applications in process at the time of the adoption of the new UDO will be addressed. Generally speaking, most development applications in process at the time of adoption may choose to follow the new rules or the prior rules. Land that is vacant and not subject to a development application at the time the updated UDO is adopted will be subject to the rules and requirements in the updated UDO. Every effort will be made to ensure that lawfully-established existing development is not impacted in a negative manner by the adoption of the updated UDO. Some changes to the Zoning Map may be proposed but not before several opportunities to learn more about them and weigh in on their desirability.
10 WHAT PARTS OF TOWN ARE MOST APPROPRIATE FOR DEVELOPMENT?
The answer to this question is still being pursued, and the answer will be based on the input provided by the community. To date, many residents and stakeholders have highlighted the strong desire to maintain the Town’s rural character, which in many cases means maintaining open space as a part of new development. Lands along the main roadway corridors naturally lend themselves to easier development, but at the same time are also the most visible lands in the community subject to the strongest desires to retain open space. There are also several natural features of Mills River that impact development potential such as the water supply watershed designation that exists in the middle of Town, as well as the floodplains that line Mills River and the French Broad. There are also potable water service delivery and minimum pressure concerns related to the development of lands at 2,250 or more feet above sea level. The lands in the north of the Town, but south of the airport, have traditionally been the locations for non-residential development, and that trend may continue. In addition, the Town currently lacks a discernable “center” which may be identified as a part of this project. The community has also been considering potential changes to the range of residential densities in the southern half of Mills River as part of the Rural Residential zoning district initiative. While the new Rural Residential zoning district has been adopted by the Town Council, the zoning district designation has not been applied to any land area as of yet.
11 HOW DOES IMAGINE MILLS RIVER RELATE TO THE RURAL RESIDENTIAL REZONING INITIATIVE?
The Rural Residential rezoning initiative is a project started by the Mills River Planning Board that seeks to re-imagine the range of allowable uses and maximum residential densities for eight square miles in southern Mills River. This area is currently zoned Mixed Use, which allows a fairly wide range of use types with limited setbacks, and minimum lot sizes for single family homes of 30,000 square feet. This mixed-use zoning was applied when the Town incorporated as a means of ensuring landowners had sufficient latitude in developing their land absent overly-restrictive development regulations. Part of the calculus in making the decision to apply permissive mixed-use zoning was a recognition that the State’s water supply watershed rules limited development potential in this area. However, since the Town’s incorporation, the State’s watershed rules have evolved to permit more dense development subject to more advanced stormwater management techniques that may be integrated into new development. Some in the community have expressed concern that the lot sizes and densities permitted in the mixed-use zoning district are somewhat less limited than they used to be with the advent of new stormwater management technologies that permit development on smaller lots. This new development on smaller lots (like the 30,000-square-foot lot size allowed in the mixed-use district) in seen as being incompatible with the desired rural character of the community. The new Rural Residential zoning district anticipates lot sizes closer to 60,000 square feet per dwelling, deeper setbacks, and a somewhat reduced range of allowable uses. The application of the Rural Residential zoning district to established development has been made somewhat more complicated by new legislation limiting downzoning by the General Assembly in late 2024. Imagine Mills River will continue to monitor changes in State law and continue the engagement efforts with the community regarding the options for balancing investment-backed expectations for land against the desire for maintenance of rural character.
12 HOW CAN I GET MORE INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS?
Public engagement is critical to the success of Imagine Mills River. Town staff and the consulting team are devoted to making sure that anyone who wishes to be involved and share input or feedback on the project may do so at numerous points throughout the process.
Public engagement during the early phases of the Imagine Mills River is targeted to technical experts and interested parties and broadens to the general public after initial draft materials are ready for consideration. The project web page is built to share information about the project, includes draft work products, status updates, and many other elements designed to keep folks informed about our progress. This webpage will be maintained and updated throughout the course of the project.
The project is overseen by the Town’s UDO Steering Committee (a group of Planning Board and Board of Adjustment members) who will be meeting at least six times throughout the course of the project to consider draft work products and provide initial reactions to project concepts.
Imagine Mills River includes a series of at least four public forums at key stages in the process (review of Code Diagnosis, review of Annotated Outline, review of Initial Draft Text and Zoning Map, and review of Revised Draft Text and Zoning Map). Public forums are structured as open houses where a summary presentation is given and there is time for informal questions and answers. Some public forums (like those associated with the new Zoning Map) may be set up as public workshops with numerous different “stations” where residents and interested individuals can speak directly to Town staff or the consulting team. All public forums will take place in person and be located in Mills River. Details on public forums will be posted on this webpage as the project progresses.
There are also a series of office hours available for anyone to request a meeting during one of the consulting team’s trips to Mills River over the course of the project. Office hours are an opportunity to have a one-on-one meeting with members of the consulting team, or a brief presentation to a Town group. Office hours are conducted during scheduled consulting team visits to Mills River, and are 30-minute meetings held at Town Hall.
Office hours must be scheduled in advance by contacting the Town at (828) 890-2901. Presentations to Town groups may also be scheduled in advance, and may be virtual, depending upon timing.
The adoption process includes at least two public meetings for interested individuals to attend and share input on the proposed regulations with the Planning Board or the Town Council during the Adoption task anticipated in Spring of 2026.
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