NWA editorial: Which path to choose?

Church, city staff see future differently

It wasn't the first time members of a church delivered word that someone was on the wrong path.

Members of Rogers' Fellowship Church, in this instance, were speaking more literally than spiritually. City planners set about revising a master street plan that had not been updated since 2008. That's almost an eternity in Rogers, where a lot has transpired in the last seven years.

What’s the point?

Debate over the potential need for a road extension in Rogers reflects the challenges of weighing anticipated needs against today’s reality.

Such master plans are essential to the success of a city. Planning for future roads is a vital step in meeting the demands of a growing population. Future street plans allow city planners to sketch out anticipated road needs. The idea is to plot out those expectations then use the resulting blueprint to protect future traffic corridors from development that would, in time, make it impossible or outlandishly expensive to build the infrastructure needed in 20, 30 or 40 years.

Rogers planners added an extension of 13th Street to the proposed street plan. That extension would, one day, provide a new north-south connection between Price Lane and Pleasant Grove Road. That connection would be situated evenly between parallel sections of Dixieland Road to the west and South 8th Street, or U.S. 71B, to the east.

The potential extension to 13th Street has been on the plan for about a decade, according to senior planner Derrel Smith. He said the road will no doubt be needed if the region continues to develop. That "if" makes prospects sound a bit uncertain. It's hardly conceivable, according to most projections, that the growth won't happen.

City planners said the 13th Street extension would provide "connectivity" as part of the city's grid network. But the feedback from the public -- in large part from members of Fellowship Church -- suggested removing the extension from the city's vision for future transportation routes.

"While the section is not currently needed, it should continue to be in place for future growth," the planning staff wrote. "Removing this connection moves the north/south grid system too far to the west and will slow (emergency) response time in the future."

The 13th Street extension has been on the plan about 10 years, Smith said. He said it could take years before the extension becomes a needed project.

Its presence on the plan, however, would give future city needs precedence over any intervening needs of private property, and that concerned church members. The church bought the property in 1991, but remained unaware until recently that a portion of the land was potentially a site for a new road.

"In essence, this proposed extension condemns one-third of our property for a possible street that may not be built for decades, if then," Mickey Rapier, church directional leader said. "Building the street would adversely affect our ability to safely conduct ministry at our present capacity."

Here's one interesting wrinkle this debate drums up: When cities take private property for road projects, the law requires the property's owner receive fair compensation for the "taking." Putting the extension on a map of potential future streets, however, only puts the land in a holding pattern. It's unlikely a property owner would be granted approval to build anything on the penciled-in street path, but compensation typically comes only when government activates street construction. That's a tortuous position to be in.

Who's right? Who's wrong? As with a lot of planning for the future, it doesn't boil down to such simplicity.

Who can blame the church members for wanting to avoid a barrier to their future plans? But residents also expect city planners to think ahead, to make plans that avoid creating future conflicts that are then impossible to resolve. Planners said the extension made perfect sense. Rapier said the proposal made no sense. Sometimes property owners are blinded by their own needs to the point they cannot see the larger needs of the community the planners seek to address. At the same time, planners' educated guesses about what the future will demand don't always pan out.

Welcome to the world of municipal planning. It's not an easy task.

The Rogers Planning Commission voted 4-2 to remove the 13th Street extension this week, moved by the position taken by the large church. The street plan could go before the City Council for consideration June 9. Alderman have the final authority over the plan and what's best for the community's future.

These are the kinds of decisions that make a lot of people glad they get to sit on the back pew.

Commentary on 05/22/2015

Upcoming Events