NWA EDITORIAL: A big ask

Markham Hill’s resistance to development fades

Step into an ice cream shop and ask for a double dip of chocolate chip cookie dough and the clerk behind the counter will get busy dishing out the sweet treat. But what if the customer in the same shop peruses the available flavors, looks at the clerk and says "I'll take a steak, cooked medium, with a side of mashed potatoes."

The response won't be "Do you want sprinkles on that?" The customer might be told," We appreciate you coming in, but that's not really what we do here."

What’s the point?

Expecations that city government should block development of a long-preserved piece of private property are misplaced.

It's not that the customer's wish for a well-cooked meal isn't a valid request. Rather, it's a great idea being requested of the wrong people.

Calls to "Save Markham Hill" in Fayetteville deserve to be heard and are earnestly advanced by people who appreciate the natural conditions that have been cherished on those 144 acres owned by members of the Pratt and Markham families for more than 100 years. As far as we can tell, there's not a soul involved in the current discussions over the future of that property who doesn't recognize it as well-loved natural space smack in the middle of the city.

But is it the job of planning commissioners or even the City Council to save it?

Specialized Real Estate now owns the property, west of Razorback Stadium. The hilltop land has always been privately owned, but has certainly been appreciated by the greater public -- particularly those who live around it -- for its largely undisturbed natural beauty. Indeed, isn't it always grand when the general public gets the benefits of a private property owner's preservation of natural conditions, particularly in the middle of town?

In a booming area like Northwest Arkansas, though, the time comes for many properties when financial concerns overtake the way things have always been. That scenario came a couple of years ago for this Markham Hill acreage. In the midst of bankruptcy proceedings, owners Julian and Jane Archer sold the property to Specialized Real Estate in 2016 for $3.1 million. And now, the real estate company is doing what real estate companies do -- looking for a way to capitalize on an investment.

In late August, the Planning Commission heard the company's request to rezone some of the property and modify a development plan, known as a planned zoning district, previously approved for the part of the property occupied by Pratt Place Inn and Barn. The company touts its mission to develop properties that embrace nature, create walkable neighborhoods and respect "sense of place."

But what Specialized Real Estate proposes is development, something the Markham Hill property has largely been preserved from for decades. That means neighbors and others are upset and want the city to put a stop to it all.

The company has said the development will blend the rustic property with amenities for the community by preserving about 60 acres, building 43 homes in one portion and about 470 units of different housing types on others. Current zoning, the company estimated, would allow about 300 single-family homes to be built on wide lots. The proposal would also include a hotel, commercial and event space and cabins, as well as a cafe.

Critics who took out a full-page ad in this newspaper said the company "is working to destroy this historic area." Development plans will "ruin this nature preserve, green space, Native American sacred site and historic hilltop forever," the ad said.

That does sounds dire.

The ad called on people to show up and "let the City Council know you oppose this."

Others have offered up a petition urging the city to convert the property into a nature preserve.

Here's the rub, though: City planning processes are not designed to stop development. Property owners, believe it or not, still have certain rights to utilize land they own, and the city's role is to make sure proposed development is compatible with the surrounding area's current and anticipated circumstances.

In other words, if "Save Markham Hill" is intended to prevent the property owners from any development, that's a hard outcome for the city to produce short of buying the property if it were to be offered for sale. And, ironically, in a city that has made in-fill rather than sprawl one of its priorities, the Markham Hill proposal avoids the kind of scorched-earth development patterns many have been critical of in the past by preserving significant amounts of land.

The Planning Commission voted 8-1 to forward the proposal to the City Council, which is now reviewing it. One commissioner noted that the difficult part of the job is coming face-to-face with people's expectations that undeveloped land within the city will always remain undeveloped. Another suggested the Specialized Real Estate group's plan was the second-best thing that could happen with the property, the first being complete preservation.

Preservation of the property is a grand idea, if someone is willing to pick up the tab. Is anyone bringing forward that kind of alternative proposal? Who can afford to acquire it and, effectively, donate it to the greater public good? Can the city play the role of superhero every time a valued piece of land in the urban setting comes up for development? Given the city's in-fill policies, can it afford to have it both ways?

Short of turning the property into a public park -- and that assumes the land's latest owners would sell -- the city's role must be measuring the proposed development with regard to how it can be done in the most compatible way. It can hardly deny, deny, deny reasonable development plans with an expectation of forced preservation or forcing a sale.

Fayetteville was blessed with this property's preservation for more than 100 years as development happened all around it. Once the family that held it for so long sold it, its future was probably sealed.

Commentary on 09/22/2018

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