FAYETTEVILLE -- It's back to the drawing board for the owners of 4 acres just north of the University of Arkansas campus.
Members of the Fayetteville Planning Commission on Monday unanimously rejected rezoning the land, northeast of Cleveland Street and Razorback Road, where 54 houses, duplexes and apartments are planned.
Fayetteville Planning Commission
In other business Monday, planning commissioners:
• Approved plans for a used car showroom, expanded service area and more parking at Adventure Subaru, 2269 N. Henbest Drive;
• Approved preliminary plans for a 12-unit apartment complex at 3203 N. Warwick Drive; and
• Permitted a mobile vending kitchen out of a 20-foot-long shipping container at Fossil Cove Brewing Co., 1946 N. Birch Ave. According to a letter from Fossil Cove’s owners, the kitchen, called “The Board,” will serve American-style tapas from a pickup window.
Source: Staff report
Paul Jeske and his family have owned the land, near Leverett Elementary School and several university dormitories, for decades. Jeske and his three siblings say they want to incorporate the red brick house where they grew up, at 1326 W. Cleveland St., in plans for the property.
According to conceptual renderings by Community by Design and deMx Architecture, the Jeskes want to build several cottage-style dwellings around a central courtyard. Other houses would front Cleveland Street. The structures would have front porches and rear-access garages. Cars would access the site from a single point off of Cleveland Street.
Neighbors, in previous meetings with the developer -- and again Monday -- have cited traffic, parking and density concerns.
"We know the property will be developed," said Archie Schaffer III, who lives two houses west of the property with his wife, Beverly. "We don't object to that. We think that the general concept that (Community by Design) has laid out to you is not objectionable."
But Schaffer, city staff and multiple members of the Planning Commission said Monday they couldn't support the Downtown General zoning district the Jeskes requested, despite written assurances that no commercial structures would be built and houses would be no taller than 30 feet.
Commissioners, instead, recommended developers apply for a planned zoning district, a custom zoning designation that would permit specific types of development not allowed under typical zoning guidelines.
Brian Teague, with Community by Design, said a planned zoning district, because it combines zoning and development, requires a much larger upfront investment from developers with no guarantee that variances -- from heightened tree preservation requirements, for example -- would be approved.
Teague said developers are having difficulty meeting Fayetteville's long-range goals of creating attainable housing in infill locations under the city's current development standards.
He said following Monday's meeting it's too soon to say if the Jeskes will come back with a request for a planned zoning district.
Also on Monday, planning commissioners approved, 5-4, plans for a 27-lot subdivision called Remington Estates west of Crossover Road and south of Manor Drive, despite comments from about a half dozen neighbors who opposed the project.
Another two dozen residents who did not speak at Monday's meeting signed a petition asking the Planning Commission to reject the development, which is envisioned on a 12.1-acre wooded hillside owned by Elizabeth Ashworth, the William E. House Trust and the Bernice G. Harner Trust.
Neighbors said they're concerned about the project's density; its potential to add traffic on Manor Drive, a narrow street with no curbs or sidewalks; and the unwillingness of Riggins Construction & Development representatives to talk with them about the project.
"We are open to development, but we just want the right plan to be in place for that development," said Steven Garrish, who lives just west of where a street leading to Remington Estates will be built.
Kyle Cook, one of the five commissioners to vote for the project Monday, said he wasn't a fan of the development.
"(But) I keep looking at all the requirements we have as planning commissioners to look at, and I don't see why I can't support it," he added.
Commissioners Cook, Tom Brown, Sarah Bunch, Tracy Hoskins and Ryan Noble voted in favor of the preliminary plat for Remington Estates. Commissioners Ron Autry, William Chesser, Matt Hoffman and Janet Selby voted against it.
NW News on 06/23/2015