FAYETTEVILLE -- The City Council reaffirmed its support of the 71B Corridor Plan with a unanimous vote Tuesday.
The plan, adopted in 2019, will lay the groundwork for redevelopment. The city plans to take on more than $22 million in transportation projects along the corridor, which contains College Avenue, Nelson Hackett Boulevard and South School Avenue.
The plan also involves rezoning about 600 acres adjacent to the roadway. Jonathan Curth, the city's development services director, said there is no pre-determined outcome with the rezoning. The city will hold a number of public meetings over the course of next year and solicit public feedback to shape a proposal that eventually will go to the Planning Commission and City Council, he said.
"It's important that we incorporate that input," Curth said. "It is not staff's intention to create a proposal as a final product that we take to the public and say, 'This is it. What's your feedback?'"
Most of the corridor is zoned for strictly commercial or industrial use, Curth said. Rezoning will guide future redevelopment to incorporate housing, fewer curb cuts, sidewalks and buildings closer to the street with cross access between properties, he said.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation transferred ownership of U.S. 71B between the north and south Fulbright Expressways to the city in 2020. That change enables the city to take on projects along the corridor without having to get the state's approval first.
Major projects planned next year include extending Rolling Hills Drive into the Fiesta Square shopping center and connecting Appleby Road and Plainview Drive to a roundabout within the center; work on College Avenue between North and Sycamore streets; overhauling the College Avenue and Millsap Street intersection; and adding a westbound left-turn lane to North Street at College Avenue with crosswalks and pedestrian signals.
Tom Brown, a former planning commissioner, and Mary Madden, a current planning commissioner, spoke in favor of the plan during public comment.
Council Member Sarah Bunch, a representative of the northeast part of town and chairwoman of the council's Transportation Committee, said the plan will equate to cosmetic surgery of the corridor. The stretch is heavily auto-centric because strip shopping centers were the norm when many buildings were built there in the 1960s and 1970s, she said.
The city needs to be more efficient with its land use today, Bunch said. Going through with the plan will plant the seeds to correct what is there now, she said.
"Right now, 71B looks like a nasty scar through the middle of our community," Bunch said.
Council Member Scott Berna, who also represents the northeast part of town, said he wholeheartedly supported the plan. However, redevelopment won't happen overnight, he said.
The city will need developers to build what the city is looking for, Berna said. That process will take a long time, he said.
"Just because we pass this tonight doesn't mean we're going to wake up tomorrow and it's going to be fixed," Berna said.
Mayor Lioneld Jordan agreed redevelopment will take time, but the plan will result in a "fabulous corridor."
The city has been working on a plan to reimagine U.S. 71B since 2017. Carrying through with the next phases will further the administration's efforts in alternative transportation, housing, the environment and public transit, Jordan said.
Council action
Fayettevilles City Council met Tuesday and approved:
A $275,900 contract with Terra Firma Restorations to repair the roof at the Fayetteville Town Center.
A $344,115 contract with Milestone Construction Co. to replace the roof and skylight at City Hall.
An agreement with the Arkansas Department of Transportation to build a trail on Drake Street. Federal aid will cover $500,000 with the city covering $125,000.
A $175,000 agreement with the North Central Texas Council of Governments to use a program that will inventory and analyze the citys street system.
A $400,000 federal grant to hire two social workers for the Police Departments Crisis Intervention Response Team.
Source: Fayetteville