A proposal to remove a 13th street extension on the Rogers Master Street plan will go before the City Council on Tuesday.
Fellowship Church officials oppose the extension from Price Lane to Pleasant Grove Road. Officials have said the road would cut through church property. More than 70 people attended multiple meetings on the subject.
Meeting Details
The Rogers City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Rogers City Hall, 301 W. Chestnut St.
Source: Staff report
The Planning Commission voted to take the extension out of the street plan with a 4-2 vote during a meeting in May. Commissioners Brian Jackson, Mark Myers, Jim White and Don Spann voted to remove the road. Tony Noblin and Myra Moran voted to leave it.
Mickey Rapier, church directional leader, has said it would limit activities the church could hold on its property. These include sports events for children.
The master street plan was last updated in 2008, said Derrel Smith, city senior planner. He said the plan works as a placeholder for expected street expansions and improvements.
City staff have responded to concerns about the 13th street extension in writing. Documents say staff believed the road was needed for growth in the region. It provides "connectivity and is part of the city's grid network," the document says.
The document notes that emergency response time could be hindered without the road if the population increases in the area.
Rapier has argued a traffic study done by the city shows otherwise. He said the study showed traffic counts have been the same on South 13th Street and Price Lane since 2005.
Myers felt the overall benefit for the street extension wasn't needed, he said prior to voting at the Planning Commission meeting. Noblin said he notices traffic backed up in the area on a regular basis when dropping his son off at a nearby school.
Mayor Greg Hines said he can see both sides of the issue. He said he understands the concern for the road in the future, but also the thoughts of church members. It is likely the City Council will approve the plan the way it was recommended from the Planning Commission, Hines said.
"I think the Planning Commission generally gets it right," Hines said. "More often than not, the council listens to their wisdom and follows along. I would expect that it's likely the amendment to the plan will pass, but I don't have a crystal ball so we will have to see."
The 13th Street extension has been on the street plan for about 10 years, Smith said.
The church purchased the property in 1991, Rapier said. He said officials were unaware of the proposed extension until recently.
Two public workshops and a public hearing have been held on the master street plan. The first meeting was in March.
NW News on 06/08/2015