BENTONVILLE -- Residents and developers will have an opportunity to review and provide feedback on the proffered downtown zoning districts which, once adopted, should better foster development in the city's booming core.
An open house meeting will be from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Public Library, 405 S. Main St., where community members can review and react to the new zoning districts.
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A draft of the recommended downtown regulations is available at www.bentonvillear.c….
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The event will include five stations. The first will include a map that shows the recommended new zonings and officials to explain how the process began and got to the stage it's in, said Troy Galloway, community and economic development director.
The other four stations will each be designated with one of the new districts: DN-1, downtown low-density residential; DN-2, downtown medium-density residential; DN-3, downtown high-density residential; and DN-4, downtown mixed-use residential.
Each station also will include associated regulations for each district, including density, height, lot sizes and setbacks, Galloway said. There will be illustrations of the typical types of housing that will be permitted in each district. There will be note cards at each station so participants can provide feedback.
"It's an open-house format. It's just drop-in," said Shelli Kerr, planning services manager. "There's no formal presentation. It's going to be a relatively informal format, but with staff and commissioners available to answer questions."
Houseal Lavigne Associate officials also will be present. Houseal Lavigne is a Chicago-based consulting firm that specializes in community planning, urban design and economic development.
The new zoning designations and downtown design standards are part of Houseal Lavigne's larger project of creating the Bentonville Community Plan, a city-wide comprehensive plan that will guide growth for the next 15 to 20 years.
Planning staff and Houseal Lavigne have worked for nearly a year to develop new zoning and design standards for downtown that would better accommodate urban-style development, which is needed to support a successful downtown, officials say.
The downtown zoning has required more attention as the city's current zoning code doesn't adequately accommodate the growth and development boom downtown is experiencing, officials have said.
"The big why is that we're trying to create a framework where there are a variety of housing options and price points available to people who want to live in downtown Bentonville," Galloway told planning commissioners in a meeting Aug. 23. "The old zoning framework just does not very easily facilitate that."
This isn't the first meeting officials have held to get public feedback on the Community Plan or the subtopic of downtown zonings and development standards.
It's important for residents to be involved as zonings dictate what owners can do on their land, said Doug Hammel, principal associate with Houseal Lavigne.
"We want to make sure residents come out and have an opportunity to give us feedback," he said. "I think we're in line with what the community is looking for in terms of market and housing trends that are taking place now."
Planning commissioners got their first look at the new downtown zoning recommendations on Aug. 9. They gave feedback and met Aug. 23 to go over the revisions.
NW News on 08/29/2016