BENTONVILLE — A revised North Walton Boulevard redevelopment plan will go before the Planning Commission today without the recommendation to extend Northwest Fifth Street through to Walton.
The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. at the Community Development Building, 305 S.W. A. St.
The commission approved a version of the plan a month ago, but the City Council sent it back to planners after pushback from residents who live on Fifth Street. If approved, the revised plan will be considered by the City Council on Feb. 26.
At A Glance
North Walton Boulevard Plan
Improvements advocated in the plan include:
• Public green space and an extended trail system
• Reduced visual impact of utility lines
• Street tree canopy
• Decorative light fixtures
• Continuous sidewalks
• Public art
• Gateway and wayfinding signs
Source: North Walton Boulevard Corridor Enhancement Plan
The plan still calls for commercial activity centers at the location where Fifth Street would have met Walton Boulevard, a node at Tiger Boulevard and a node at West Central Avenue. The Walmart Transportation and Logistics offices are at the proposed commercial center where Fifth Street would have gone. Decision Point is across Walton Boulevard to the east.
“Staff still finds that a concentration of commercial activity is needed in the general area of the Walmart Transportation and Logistics offices due to the high number of people working at that location,” said Troy Galloway, director of community development.
The city strategy for developing these nodes includes adding transit stops, creating green space with public art and improving pedestrian crossings, according to the plan.
The revised plan also mentions a traffic study that will guide future decisions on improving east-west connections around North Walton Boulevard. The connection issue is added as a weakness under the plan’s circulation heading, noting the “lack of an effective east-west connection for nearly a mile between Northwest Second Street and Tiger Boulevard.”
Also on today’s agenda is a conditional use permit for Arkansas Helicopters, a helicopter tour business. The business would operate from a vacant lot west of the former Clarion Hotel and Convention Center at Southeast Walton Boulevard and Southeast Macy Road.
A ticket trailer with a banner advertising the helicopter tours would be located on the lot, according to the agenda. Hours of operation would be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and from noon to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Sree Akshar Inc. plans to reopen the old Clarion Hotel as a Four Points Sheraton later this year. Kunal Mody, president of developer Sree Akshar, said the company has agreed to lease 10 parking spaces to Arkansas Helicopters on a yearly basis for a fee as long as the spaces are not required by the city for the hotel to operate.
Mody wrote a letter to the city planning staff outlining the proposed agreement.
Anderson Holdings is requesting a rezoning from the commission for a lot at 201 S.E. A St., two blocks southeast of the downtown square. The property is zoned downtown edge, and owners are requesting a downtown core designation.
Plans for the property include building five townhomes, each with a two-car garage. The townhomes will have a brownstone style with a small front yard and garages in the back, according to agenda documents.