Adaptive reuse and infill housing are code words for the rehabilitation of exiting urban buildings where the former use is no longer viable or the buildings are damaged and abandoned. You are looking at an urban land use program which I doubt applies to your project unless you have bought an abandoned building. You should be looking at the City of Ashville Zoning ordinance as linked below. Sec. 7-5-4. "Uses by right, subject to special requirements" says in an RS8 district you can built a single-family dwelling on a min. 5,000 s.f. lot with a min, 50 ft lot width, a min. front setback of 15 ft, a min. side setbacks of 6 ft, a min. rear setback 15 ft, and a max. height of 40 ft. There are other requirements regarding open space and landscaping as well. The dwelling can have one accessory apartment with a max. gross floor area of 500 s.f. or 25% of the area of the principal single-family dwelling, which ever is greater. But the apartment area cannot be greater than 50% of the principal single-family dwelling area. It appears a duplex is allowed but it s a Conditional use requiring an unusual amount of review by the Planning and Zoning Commission as well as public hearings and approval of the City Council. You are treating this issue as if it were uncomplicated and not worthy of expert assistance at this point in the project. I do this for a living and I assure you that your approach is a serious mistake. If you want to go this route hire a zoning lawyer or an architect and avoid the inevitable red herrings and wild goose chases. I make no representation of the accuracy of the above information; that costs extra. Here is a link that might be useful: Ashville Zoning Ordinance

Some folks keep a mean looking dog in their apartment as a security measure. They feel that break-ins are less likely if a burglar (or intruder) knows he will find a snarling, barking dog on the inside. Personally, I like dogs but I have not owned one for 60 years since I left the farm. An appropriate dog is ok in an apartment, but for many cases, I've seen too much trouble and messes with dogs and apartments. I don't think an apartment building is a good environment for a dog particularly if he is larger than a lap dog. Many owners (who live in apartments) do not, or can not, properly care for dogs. I also beleive that a dog is happier and healthier if he has a chance to run free over a goodly distance several days of the week. Also, when you live in an apartment, one must consider others nearby who might be alergic to your dog. When you mention this to some owners, they get defensive and can not relate to the impact their pet may have on others. Yah, trouble with human relationships. It's not the dog's fault, but it is friction in the neighborhood anyhow.

A secondary living space designed for an older occupant needs way more thought about whole property accessibility than it does about sunlight. And Sunlight is important. It’s just less important than the whole. It’s part of a whole. Are you putting in an elevator? How will she access her basement apartment otherwise? Stairs? Really? If she still drives, where will she park? Bring in groceries? What is the route from entering the property to getting to her space? Is she expected to never leave that space and be with the family upstairs? How will that happen? You need better design help than you’re currently getting if you’re just concerned about a deck for the upper floor occupants.

Sam, I'm constantly in Florida, they building a few homes near me in the price ranging from 12-25m give or take... Every time I'm down there I walk past them all the time and nothing is moving very little progress in the last 2 years, so if I walk on the street no progress at all, if I walk on the beach in the back of the property you see a few guys on scaffolds doing god knows what. you see some HVAC ducts up, some plastering on the back done and that's it... Some homes have windows in, etc and it's been like this the last few years. Being directly on the ocean we had to replace some windows and sliding doors, it took 1 year to do that from permit to completion, the stickers have to be up for inspection, it's been a month since it was completed and the inspector didn't come out there yet. I guess this is how it is down there, they work the same way they drive...nice and slow and not a worry in the world. I hope things for you move a little faster. Good luck