Parkside: Flippant Coleman Lies About Opposition

After ducking City Council in his hell-bent effort to build his condominiums on public park land, Stewart Coleman said this in the AC-T:

“I think that City Council is political, and unfortunately this town listens to the noisy 80 people that jump around and dance around trees and do foolish stuff,” he said.”

Who is Stewart Coleman referring to?

Pack Square Conservancy, who opposes the building because it violates the Pack Guidelines for building on the park?

David Gantt, Nathan Ramsey, Bill Stanley, and Carol Peterson who have all called the sale a mistake?

Old-timers from Shindig On The Green who have been under that magnolia for a hundred years?

The Downtown Association, who voted unanimously to oppose it?

A certain middle class blogger who really would look foolish if he danced around a tree?

Republican candidate for County Commission Don Yelton?

Asheville’s Chapter of Democracy For America?

Former Democratic candidate for County Commission Cecil Bothwell?

Half of the Planning and Zoning Committee?

Nope. Stewart Coleman, who looks down his nose at all of the above, is referring to a year-old protest led by the effervescent Lady Passion. He insults this group then asks the citizens of Asheville to believe that the Wiccans are standing alone in their opposition to building a condo highrise on our public parkland.

At what point will people stop treating Mr. Coleman as a reliable source? He told the Planning and Zoning Committee that he couldn’t take even one floor off his building without rendering it prohibitively unprofitable. Then he chopped two floors off to dodge the public and City Council. He altered the PSC view corridor drawings. He repeatedly said that the County hadn’t offered him a buyback deal on the land even though Commissioner Gantt and Chairman Ramsey made it explicitly clear that Wanda Greene had offered about $1.5 million and that Coleman countered with $4.1 million.

While it’s ultimately the County Commission’s responsibility to get our parkland back, Stewart Coleman’s contempt for the citizens and institutions of Asheville is breathtaking. Truth has become a casualty of Coleman’s strongarm efforts to force his Parkside condominiums onto our park.