In a post on its blog, the Asheville Grown Business Alliance has defended the controversial proposal for a downtown Business Improvement District:

In a climate where downtown Asheville is experiencing significant growth both as a tourist destination and an influx of people choosing to live here, we have to be prepared to manage this growth. The city provides downtown with a baseline of services, but there remain challenges and issues that the city cannot or will not solve for us. Much of a BID’s power comes from its ability to carry out projects over an extended period of time being somewhat insulated from the changing whims of politics. The proposal would bind city government to maintain its current level of total spending on downtown. Through extensive research the committee resolved that assessment dedicated to a BID can offer a potential solution to help the city help us.