Springdale Zoning Controversy Has Community Members Talking About City Development

SPRINGDALE -- A controversy involving industrial rezoning near residential areas and a school isn't a first in Springdale, according to officials.

Springdale City Council chambers were packed with residents Tuesday. They were there to hear an appeal from Signature Bank of Arkansas representatives about a Planning Commission decision not to recommend 140 acres next to Shaw Elementary School be rezoned for industrial use.

Web Watch

Zoning Map

To see an interactive zoning map of Springdale, go to http://gis.springda…. Click on the white oval icons to make a link appear. Click on the link to read details about the zone.

At A Glance

Planned Industrial District Zone

Uses Permitted:

• City-wide uses by right

• Trades and services

• Warehousing and wholesale

• Limited manufacturing

• General industrial

• Parking lot

• Temporary Buildings

• Self-supporting tower or antenna structure or monopole

• Transportation services

Requirements:

• A unified site plan must be submitted to and approved by the Planning Commission and City Council.

• Buildings on the site plan cannot cover more than 50 percent of the site.

• No part of any building or accessory structure can be closer than 100 feet of any residential district boundary.

• There must be a landscape buffer, no less that 10 feet wide, along the front property line.

• No maximum height limits, but any building that exceeds 20 feet in height needs to be set back from any residential district boundary line by one foot for each foot of height that exceeds the 20 feet.

Source: library.municode.com

Aldermen tabled the appeal until Sept. 9. The land on Grimsley Road is zoned residential. Bank officials want a planned industrial district.

Many of those who attended the meeting live near the property, and don't want it zoned industrial.

This type of controversy has happened before in Springdale, said Patsy Christie, director of planning and community development. Residents have been upset about areas being zoned for high-density residential or commercial uses.

She recalled a controversy about zoning of property near Lowe's at 4233 W. Sunset Ave. The request was to zone the property for high-density residential, which would allow 24 units to be built on each acre.

People were concerned about multifamily dwellings being built close to nearby low-density residences, Christie said. They were concerned about noise, traffic and property values.

It was eventually zoned for planned unit development, which allows for a mix of commercial and residential, Christie said. The area now has about 12 units per acre.

Many such controversies result from people not knowing the details or what will happen next, Christie said. A similar situation occurred when residents feared what would happen when Interstate 49 was in the planing and building process.

"It's a fear of not knowing what's going on," she said. "That's human nature."

Staff members in the Planning and Community Development Department write a report for all zoning requests, Christie said. In the report involving the land near Shaw, Christie recommended the City Council approve the zoning. She explained she thinks it's aligned with the city's goals of environmentally sensitive economic expansion.

John Shuler, a resident in the Legendary subdivision, said before Tuesday's meeting he's against the property becoming an industrial zone because it's next to a school. His opinion hadn't changed as of Thursday.

Shuler said he isn't against industrial growth in the city, but chemicals used in facilities there could pose a risk to children.

"I don't want low risk," he said. "I want no risk."

Creative Things, a company making plastic components and products, planned to develop part of the area into a manufacturing facility, said Kathy Jaycox, alderwoman, on Tuesday. Company representatives alerted the bank Monday afternoon they had decided against building a facility on the property. The company chose a location in Bentonville instead, she said.

Shuler said changing the zone to industrial is also a bad idea, because there's no way to know what will be built there. He said it would be like "opening up Pandora's box."

It's the job of city officials to approve zoning of areas, but only the owner of the property can control what is built there, Christie said. The best way for people to ensure properties are developed the way they want is to buy the lots themselves.

"Cities don't build cities," she said. "Developers build cities."

There are other areas in the city where industrial zones are near residential areas or schools, Christie said. Jones and Bayyari elementary schools, and their surrounding neighborhoods, are near industrial zones.

"Look around the country," she said. "This is not unique."

Signature Bank officials also created a unified site plan for the property, Christie said. This type of plan allows the property owner to detail what can and cannot be built on the property.

The plan would only allow warehouses and limited manufacturing to be built, Christie said. The facilities would be required to have a limited environmental impact and only use previously prepared fabricated material. The property would also have buffer zones, such as trees or fencing, on the north and west sides of the property.

Shaw and Legendary subdivision are south of the property in question. Most of the land to the north and west of the property is zoned for agriculture, according to the city's zoning district map.

Implementation of zoning and zoning types vary from city to city, because they are local laws, said David Morley, senior research associate for the American Planning Association. Most cities have some sort of zoning, while some don't.

Houston is an example of a city that doesn't use zoning ordinances, Christie said. Most cities that don't have zoning use building permits and deed restrictions to manage property development.

Zoning usually doesn't stay the same forever, Morley said. Despite changes in cities over time, zoning should be closely aligned with city goals. Christie said cities in Arkansas must develop a land use plan before determining zones.

Another concern Shuler expressed involves transportation and road access. Many of the streets in the area, including Grimsley Road, are two lanes wide.

A bypass around Springdale will go through the area once it's built, according to a map of the project on the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department website. It will be between the school and the property, but there's no interchange planned near Grimsley Road.

Trucks serving the facilities would have to drive by the school, an area already crowded with cars during pickup and drop-off times, Shuler said.

Christie said bank representatives have spoken to officials at the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department about building a street that would link the area to North Maestri Road, which is also Arkansas 112. An interchange off the bypass would be built to serve North Maestri.

Highway Department officials hope to have a construction contract for the portion of the bypass between Interstate 49 and North Maestri Road awarded in late 2014 or early 2015, said Randy Ort, public information officer. The goal is to start work on the bypass in the spring of 2015. There is no estimated time of completion, but Ort estimated that portion of the bypass will take two to three years to complete.

The bypass will change the nature of the area in question, Christie said. It's common for commercial and industrial zones to be located near highways and major roadways, so trucks have access for moving goods and products.

"The character of that whole area now is going to change," she said. "The bypass is a reality now."

NW News on 07/13/2014

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