FAYETTEVILLE — Residents in the Bridgeport neighborhood saw a small victory Tuesday night when the City Council removed the possibility of attached homes adjacent to their neighborhood.
The move by the council was only part of the approval process of the Oakbrooke Phase III planned development district. Final approval of the plan is yet to come.
However, Bridgeport residents would have clearly liked the council to ask more of the Oakbrooke project.
“It’s a great concept the way it is now,” said Peter Futterknecht, a resident in Bridgeport. “But the end result is that it could change. It could be completely different from the concept that’s being suggested.”
“You’re putting an experiment next to an already established neighborhood,” said Tom Fetner, another resident in the area. “And that’s a concern for me.”
Oakbrooke is a 29-acre, 174-unit subdivision planned for west Fayetteville off of Rupple Road. Developer Tracy Hoskins plans for a small part of the project to be mixed-use with live-work flats mixed into cottage homes of about 1,600 square feet. The plan outlines how many lots the project will have, along with their size. Home size is determined by the builder and or purchaser.
The size of the homes has come up as an issue for Bridgeport residents who want a development closer to the scale of their own. The homes around the edge of Bridgeport and adjacent to Oakbrooke average just over 2,000 square feet, said Paul Johnson, president of the Bridgeport Property Owners Association.
The idea of possibly smaller homes — which anyone agrees could become rentals — is opening the door to having a houseful of rowdy students as neighbors, Johnson told the City Council.
“We want some kind of assurance that we’re not going to get the frat party next door every night,” Johnson said.
That’s not an assurance the council said it could grant. The city cannot dictate house sizes or whether they be owner-occupied, said Kit Williams, Fayetteville city attorney.
Bridgeport homes must be at least 1,800 square feet because its development covenants require a size minimum. Hoskins has said he does not want to be tied to that limitation.
“Right now, to build a 2,000 or 2,500 square foot house is a death sentence,” Hoskins said, noting the market is asking for smaller homes.
Repeatedly, Hoskins said his homes are not cheap and should not be viewed as student party pads.
The per square foot cost of Hoskins’ cottages on streets with names such as Best Friend Lane is about $125, said Nicky Dou, a real estate agent with Century 21, who is associated with the project. The per square cost of homes in Bridgeport is $91, she added.
Development in Oakbrooke — where infrastructure is already in place — is coming, say council members.
“Change is coming,” advised Bobby Ferrell, a councilman. “This is a mixed idea that frankly, I really like.”
“I guess I can understand why people are apprehensive,” he added. “I think we need to put our best foot forward.” More debate will come at the next council meeting.
The council tabled a change to residential parking policy which could limit the number of events a homeowner might hold if the party attracts a large number of cars to the neighborhood.
“I don’t know how I feel about this ‘10 events per year,’” said Brenda Thiel, a city council member. “Ten is not very much.”