Fayetteville neighbors get early look at Cleveland Street project

NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Paul Jeske, whose family owns about 4 acres north of Cleveland Street and Razorback Road, revealed plans for a 56-unit residential development during two neighborhood meetings last week. The land is across Cleveland Street from University of Arkansas residence dorms.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Paul Jeske, whose family owns about 4 acres north of Cleveland Street and Razorback Road, revealed plans for a 56-unit residential development during two neighborhood meetings last week. The land is across Cleveland Street from University of Arkansas residence dorms.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Ward 4 residents are cautiously optimistic about a proposed development on the north side of the University of Arkansas campus.

Paul Jeske, whose family has owned about 4 acres northeast of Cleveland Street and Razorback Road for decades, unveiled plans for the property during two community meetings last week.

At A Glance

Downtown General

Fayetteville’s downtown general zoning designation allows for a number of residential and commercial uses. Hotels, shopping centers and transportation trades and services are allowed with a permit. Buildings can reach heights of up to 56 feet. They must be built within 25 feet of the front property line with a minimum lot width of 18 feet. Planned zoning districts offer a custom designation where zoning and development plans are up for review at the same time.

Source: Staff Report

"We're trying to be respectful of the neighborhood," Jeske told a dozen or so nearby homeowners who came to hear his presentation Monday at city hall. "We want to contribute to the neighborhood. We want to help build the neighborhood."

Jeske and his three siblings grew up in the red brick house at 1326 W. Cleveland St. They've moved from the area. Jeske's mother died in 2005, and the house -- along with a white clapboard house next door -- have been rentals since.

The houses are just west of the Theta Tau engineering fraternity and across Cleveland Street from a parking lot for university dorms. The house where the Jeskes grew up is two lots down from another university parking lot where a 122-unit, 450-bedroom student apartment complex referred to as "Project Cleveland" was once planned.

The City Council approved zoning and development plans for the Specialized Real Estate Group project in June 2012. Before construction could begin, nearby residents Archie and Beverly Schaffer and Ken and Susan Gardner filed a lawsuit claiming council members acted in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner when they approved the planned zoning district. The University of Arkansas bought the property before a Washington County Circuit judge could rule in the case. A parking lot soon replaced the Sunshine Place Apartments, which had been owned by Fadil Bayyari.

Jeske is well aware of the turmoil Project Cleveland caused.

"I want to make very clear, our idea is not to do this," he said Monday, showing a rendering of the failed apartment project. "That's not consistent with what our family wants to do. I don't think that was respectful of the neighborhood."

The Jeskes want to build up to 54 units with 128 bedrooms in a mix of single-family houses and duplexes, according to Brian Teague, an engineer on the project with Fayetteville-based Community By Design. The project's density is about 13 units per acre. Project Cleveland would have had 45 units per acre on 2.7 acres.

Many of the structures would face a central courtyard, Teague said Monday. They'd have front porches and rear-access garages. On-street parking would be scattered throughout the development, and parallel parking spaces could be added on Cleveland Street, where a single access point would lead to the property.

Teague and Jeske said they're making an effort to appeal to families and university graduate students -- not undergrads.

"Our goal is not to create a mono-culture in an apartment building or even an apartment complex, but to build a range of unit types on a smaller, more neighborhood-friendly scale that would allow someone to move into the neighborhood when they're young and live out their entire lives there," Teague said.

He said the development would provide an appropriate transition between older, single-family houses to the west and higher intensity uses to the east.

Barbara Taylor, one of the attendees at Monday's meeting, said she appreciates what Jeske, Community By Design and project architects deMx Architecture are trying to accomplish. But she, and other neighbors, still have concerns. Taylor said Wednesday she thinks having one access point on Cleveland will funnel traffic into surrounding neighborhoods.

"If they could find a way to do another access point, it would improve it enormously," said Taylor, secretary of the University Heights Neighborhood Association.

Alan Long, Ward 4 alderman, said he's not convinced there's enough parking in the proposed development. Teague said Monday he's planning for roughly 100 parking spaces. In an email Thursday, he wrote another 15 to 20 parking spaces could be included and designers were seeing if the access point could be moved.

Jeske said the project is designed for people who may not do a lot of driving.

"I hope it would attract people who say, 'OK, I need my car once a week, but most of my time, I'm going to be walking to the university or walking to other places,'" he said.

Several attendees at Monday's meeting said they appreciated Jeske's effort to market houses to families, university professors and graduate students, but many were skeptical that could be accomplished.

"I think it's going to be moms and dads buying these houses for their kids to go to college," said Phillip McKnight, who lives down the Cleveland Street hill on Archer Drive.

Beverly Schaffer commended Jeske for meeting with neighbors.

"I really appreciate you all coming and showing and sharing this with us so early in the process," she said. "I hope that this gets built and that everybody is happy with what's built."

It's unclear what zoning designation project developers will seek. Beverly Schaffer and city planning staff expressed concerns about downtown general zoning, a designation Teague said allows a denser development on smaller lots than what's currently permitted.

Downtown general zoning also allows up to 56-foot-tall structures and a number of commercial uses, such as restaurants and retail stores, that wouldn't be compatible with residential areas, said Jeremy Pate, Development Services director.

Teague wrote in the email developers may ask for a bill of assurance, which could guarantee the land will be developed at a specific density or with a certain size of buildings.

Rezoning requests must be reviewed by the Planning Commission before being approved by the City Council. Development plans are typically submitted at a later point.

Teague said he hopes to submit a rezoning request to the city sometime in March, if not sooner.

"Things might change as we go through the process," Jeske said.

NW News on 01/31/2015

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