Bella Vista council passes zoning district ordinance

BELLA VISTA -- Aldermen on Monday voted 5-0 to approve an ordinance planners hope will spur development in the city.

The ordinance amends the zoning code regarding variance review criteria, building height restrictions, planned zoning districts and landscape maintenance bonds.

Planners said last fall introducing zoning districts into the code could ease the burden on developers.

"Everything is touched by residential in some form or fashion," said Daniel Ellis, chairman of the Planning Commission. "Straight rezoning gives us very little input as to what happens on that project as long as the zoning code is being followed. (Planned zoning districts) also give the public the information that it wants to know about exactly what is going to be built in Bella Vista."

Ellis added, in his experience, getting a zoning district approved has been easier than a "straight rezone" because developers and city officials have more flexibility.

Linda Lloyd, chairwoman of the Board of Zoning Adjustments, backed zoning districts. "I strongly recommend PZDs," Lloyd told the City Council. "Bella Vista needs the innovative and progressive development that PZDs allow and promote."

The Zoning Board on April 15 voted down a request from Cooper Communities for its Country Club Villas project. Cooper was seeking a variance to adjust setbacks for about 25 homes it was planning to build near the 10th and 18th fairways at the Bella Vista Country Club.

The units are each about 2,000 square feet and resemble the houses found in the Garden Villas at Cross Creek in Rogers, said Jody Latham, president of Cooper Land Development. They would be built on a cul-de-sac splitting from Dogwood, which Cooper also would build. The outside of the homes would be of brick and include a small courtyard, sidewalk and limited common property,similar to townhouses around Bella Vista.

The notion of having Cooper submit the project under a zoning district was discussed during the board's April 15 meeting. If Cooper submitted Country Club Villas as a zoning district, then the setbacks wouldn't be bounded by strict adherence to the code, said staff attorney Jason Kelley.

"A PZD is a custom rezone," he explained to the board, noting if the Cooper's project was submitted as a zoning district it would bypass the board and go directly to the Planning Commission.

Latham said after the meeting that using zoning districts could rejuvenate the Country Club Villas.

"(The BZA's vote) did not kill the project," Latham said. "We're excited about the possibility of a PZD and what type of growth it might bring to Bella Vista."

NW News on 04/28/2015

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