FAYETTEVILLE — 11:40 a.m. update A new section of Rupple Road will be built as a four-lane boulevard with a landscaped median, a sidewalk and trail and traffic roundabouts at three future intersections.
City Council members reaffirmed their commitment for making Rupple four lanes between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Wedington Drive during a meeting that extended past NWA Media's print deadline Tuesday.
Alderman Matthew Petty said the new, 1.5-mile section of Rupple could be built with two lanes until a wider street is needed. He suggested putting about $1.7 million in savings from a scaled-back version of the Rupple Road project to new sidewalks, buried power lines and street trees along College Avenue — at Rolling Hills Drive, Poplar Street, and 15th Street. The College Avenue improvements would draw new residential and commercial development to Fayetteville's main thoroughfare, Petty said.
Other council members agreed that more improvements are needed on College Avenue. But they said they didn't want to sacrifice longstanding plans for Rupple Road in favor of College Avenue work.
The council voted unanimously in favor of the four-lane cross-section on Rupple. City Engineer Chris Brown said construction should begin in early 2015.
Original Story
City Council members spent much of Tuesday's meeting debating whether to make Rupple Road a four-lane boulevard amid objections from Alderman Matthew Petty.
The council also approved an "urban agriculture" ordinance and enacted rules for mobile vendors. Aldermen didn't decide on the Rupple Road issue by press time Tuesday.
AT A GLANCE
Council Action
Fayetteville’s City Council met Tuesday and approved:
• Rezoning of 5.1 acres south of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and west of Razorback Road where a mix of shops, offices and apartments could be built.
• Paying the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department $580,000 for the city’s share of Razorback Road widening.
• A one-year contract with the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission for stormwater education.
Source: Staff Report
Petty said he wanted to see a new, 1.5-mile section of Rupple built with just two lanes. About $1.7 million in savings from a scaled-back version of the project could be put to new sidewalks, buried power lines and street trees along College Avenue, Petty said.
"Let's put that money into a place that gives us a faster payoff," he said.
Other current and former council members and Mayor Lioneld Jordan noted a four-lane Rupple Road was part of a $65.9 million bond program voters approved in 2006.
Alderwoman Adella Gray said she realized more improvements are needed on College Avenue. "But we can't do everything at once," Gray said.
Former Alderman Bobby Ferrell said the idea of a four-lane boulevard was a promise city officials made to voters nearly 10 years ago.
Regardless of the decision on Rupple Road width, the street will be extended from where it ends outside Owl Creek School to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Preliminary designs show four lanes with a landscaped median and roundabouts at three future intersections. A 5-foot sidewalk on the east side of Rupple and a 12-foot trail on the west side are planned. The new section will connect to King Boulevard near the Ozark Mountain Smokehouse, making a future trail connection with Mount Kessler land possible.
City Engineer Chris Brown said he expects construction to begin in early 2015.
The new urban agriculture laws go into effect April 17 and allow goats, beehives and more chickens and ducks in residential areas depending on the size of the property. Residents will also be able to sell produce they grow from their homes.
The mobile vending rules allow snow cone stands, fried chicken shacks and thrift stores run out of Airstream trailers to be in one spot for six months each year with a permit from the Planning Division. Current law limits vendors' stays to 90 days.
Vendors who plan to stay open longer than six months could apply for an annual permit from the Planning Commission. Or they could move to a "mobile vendors court" such the Yacht Club on College Avenue.
Commissioners could require court owners to improve their property, such as installing landscaping or providing on-site restrooms. The requirements are similar but not identical to rules owners of brick-and-mortar stores must abide by. Potted plants could go in instead of permanent landscaping, for example. Portable restrooms would be allowed.
Roving food trucks that can move from one place to another will be allowed in public parking spaces and in parks through a lottery system. The trucks will not be able to set up shop in front of restaurants or parking kiosk and must move after four hours.
Suzanne Clark, an attorney representing Cynthia Morris, owner of the Yacht Club, thanked City Council members and staff Tuesday for changing an earlier proposal. Clark said the changes give vendors and vendor court owners greater certainty about what is required of them.
NW News on 03/19/2014