ROGERS -- A subdivision planned for West Pleasant Grove Road will get a rare pass on requirements for street width, sidewalks, street lights and trees.
Planning Commission approved a preliminary plat Tuesday for the Haxton subdivision, which will have six lots on 7.15 acres on Pleasant Grove west of Arkansas 112. The project managed, by Crafton Tull, is full of private streets and is quite small. That makes it a special circumstance and why commissioners were willing to waive typical parameters, said Don Spann, commission chairman.
Rogers’ Planning Commission met Tuesday and approved:
• A request by Keri Williams for Duluth Trading Company to rezone about 2 acres between Interstate 49 and South 27th Street from agricultural to highway commercial zoning district.
• A preliminary plat for Memorial Subdivision, 58 lots on the south side of Wallis Road and along the west side of Pinnacle Memorial Gardens in the residential single-family zoning district.
Source: Staff report
Although city staff recommended the project for approval, Senior Staff Attorney Jennifer Waymack brought recent public comment to light before the decision was made.
Members of Scissortail, a subdivision across the street from the proposed Haxton homes, raised objections for the street requirements, since their own neighborhood was held to the very standards being waived there.
"This is a good time to talk about 'What are our street requirements' and 'Why do we have them,'" Waymack said. "These minimum standards throughout the city were upheld right across the street there."
Waymack said the commission should have clear reasoning for when and why a requirement would be waived so responsibility for upkeep of the streets would also be clear.
"In this instance, nothing but the fact that it fits the surroundings justifies it," Waymack said. "There's no indication of hardship on property (to provide wide streets, sidewalks), just that it was suggested."
Spann led the commission through a short list of comparisons of the Scissortail and Haxton properties. Their nature as subdivisions, their proximity to each other and the fact they have private streets are the only real similarities, they concluded.
Daniel Ellis, vice president of Northwest Arkansas Infrastructure for Crafton Tull, said Haxton differs from Scissortail quite a bit.
"These are half-acre lodges; it's a much less dense subdivision," Ellis said. "Also, another subdivision like this was approved last year, so it would be consistent to commission action to approve a project similar in intent as far as street waiver requests go."
Waymack said from the administration standpoint, the advantage of allowing street waiver requirements is to let the subdivision take ownership for all street repair from the start.
"We're more open to that since they'll maintain it," Waymack said. "We do regularly with these little subdivisions like this ... we get calls all the time that expect us to do the work for them and upgrades. It does cause difficulties. Covenants change, they become not enforceable. It's a relevant consideration."
Commissioner Dennis Ferguson said the project representatives requested a change from public to private street during a subdivision committee meeting, and that all other changes requested by the city were made.
"The one (item) that gave us the most heartburn is the street," Ferguson said.
NW News on 05/02/2018