SPRINGDALE -- The Planning Commission on Tuesday denied 4-3 a rezoning that would put multifamily homes on North Stultz Road, but commissioners approved 6-1 another project for the intersection of Mountain View Avenue and Dodson Street.
The commission held public hearings on both rezoning requests during its regular meeting Tuesday night.
Zack Kifer, representing the developer Moses Tucker Partners real estate agency, said the project at 3289 N. Stultz Road would have included six two-story duplex buildings in a townhome style.
He sought a zoning change from agricultural to a multifamily district allowing four residential units per acre.
Kifer said the owner is local and committed to the project, so they might appeal the case to the City Council or rework the plans.
Jason Apple with Engineering Services Inc. in Springdale said the Mountain View plans have not been determined but also will include several parcels of land to the north.
The Mountain View project sits south of Emma Avenue and Luther George Park, both in the center of downtown, which the city has targeted for rejuvenation.
The residential zoning would become a neighborhood center, if the council allows the rezoning.
The residential zoning is designed to preserve and enhance an area of single-family homes, according to the guidelines for the form-based code in effect in downtown Springdale. The neighborhood center provides more mixed-use development that is pedestrian in nature.
Both decisions may be appealed to the City Council, said Patsy Christie, director of the city's Planning Department.
The fears of residents near both projects were similar, touching on traffic, speeding and the character of their neighborhoods.
"They are feeling indifferent," Alexis Romero said after the meeting of residents who live near the Mountain View project. "It was hard for them to find translators to speak, and several who wanted to speak didn't get a chance."
Four of the five families who came to speak against the project were Hispanic.
Romero said she came to the meeting to translate for Juana Martinez, who lives on Dodson Street, but she also helped the others.
Wendy Cruz-Rico and Martinez said she liked the connection with neighbors in single-family homes where she's lived since the 1990s.
Aubrey Robertson, who lives in the downtown area, said he felt like the residents of the west-side neighborhoods perhaps had a better presentation of their comments.
The city is required to notify all residents of adjoining properties before a public hearing for rezoning.
At the end of her comments to the commission, Cruz-Rico said the notices the neighbors received were in English, when most people in the neighborhood have limited English skills.
Robertson said information about the meeting was spread mostly word of mouth by him.
Christie said notifications are sent only in English, but her staff might consider options for the notices.
About 10 residents spoke against the North Stultz Road development, saying it didn't fit in with the character of surrounding neighborhoods. This included City Council member Randall Harriman, who lives in the area.
Single-family homes fill pretty much the entire area from Wagon Wheel Road to Backus Avenue and North Silent Grove Road to North Thompson Street, said resident Steve Kline.
A woman named Lisa, who did not give her last name, pointed out that a neighborhood adjacent to the Stultz site includes $1 million homes.
"This is a direct affront to all people who bought single-family homes there," she said. "You need to consider people who love the area."
The board of directors of the Thornbury property owners association noted that neighborhood has bylaws and covenants residents follow to ensure neighborhood quality.
"They were two different projects, and you have to take each on its own merits," said Ben Peters, a commission member who voted against the Stultz rezoning but for Mountain View. "They both were tough decisions."
He noted the Stultz site has been surrounded by single-family homes since the 1970s.
The Mountain View project would be in an infill area without any sense of rural feel, he said.