BENTONVILLE — The City Council sent the North Walton Boulevard redevelopment plan back to city planners Tuesday night after weeks of opposition from homeowners along Northwest Fifth Street.
The plan calls for extending Fifth Street from Bella Vista Road through to North Walton Boulevard. The street now dead ends two blocks east of North Walton.
City planners will come back with conceptual drawings of the extension and alternative options for traffic flow if the street isn’t extended.
“I don’t think any of us want to vote against a good plan,” said Chris Sooter, Ward 1 alderman. “And for the most part, this is a really good plan.”
The plan aims to invigorate North Walton, which a city study showed is lagging in economic development with dated facades and patchy sidewalks. It proposes to create activity nodes with shopping, restaurants and pedestrian crossings along the corridor. The city will encourage development while investing in sidewalks, street lights and landscaping, according to the plan.
The sticking point for the City Council was Northwest Fifth Street — one of the proposed activity nodes in the plan. It’s not the first time the street has been a stumbling block for aldermen. Sooter pointed out several council members didn’t support a street extension when it was proposed in 2009.
Troy Galloway, director of community development, told council members planners focused on Fifth Street because it reaches into nearby neighborhoods and could funnel residents to shopping and dining on North Walton Boulevard.
Several aldermen said they were worried about impact of extending the street. Alderman Roger Thomas, Ward 2, said his wife grew up on Northwest Fifth Street and his mother-in-law still lives there.
At A Glance
State Of The City
Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin presented the State of the City address at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. He said the city is financial sound, with a fund balance of more than $9 million. He cited several articles in national magazines touting Bentonville as a new cultural and culinary destination and touched on growth in city parks, departments and facilities. The full text of the speech is available at www.nwaonline.com.
SOURCE: Staff Report
“I’ve been on that street a thousand times,” he said. “I can’t find anyone who thinks this is a good idea that is directly involved with this street.”
Galloway said the street was always intended to carry through-traffic and would be extended if a business wanted to build a large-scale development at the corner of Northwest Fifth Street and North Walton Boulevard, he said.
“It was never intended to be a cul de sac,” Galloway said.
Mayor Bob McCaslin said he would be shocked if the engineering firm doing a traffic study for the city doesn’t recommend that the street be extended.
“We’re not picking on anybody on Fifth Street,” McCaslin said. “We’re saying that makes the most sense for circulating traffic.”
About a dozen residents turned out to hear council members discuss the plan, which was approved at a Jan. 15 Planning Commission meeting. They applauded when aldermen mentioned removing the Fifth Street extension.
With a vote of 6-2, the council voted for the city’s Planning Department to create drawings of an extended Fifth Street and alternatives to the street extension. Bill Burckart and Leah Williams, both of Ward 3, voted against the motion.