FAYETTEVILLE — After previous bouts of public outcry and meetings that sent developers back to the drawing board over rezoning the old Razorback Golf Course, planning commissioners on Monday approved a proposal that could bring low-density housing to the area.
Meeting information
Fayetteville Planning Commission When: 5:30 p.m. July 11
Where: Room 219, City Hall, 113 W. Mountain St.
Despite high public turnout during previous Planning Commission meetings to rezone the land just to the west of Deane Solomon Road, Monday’s meeting was devoid of public comment.
Planning staff also said Monday they hadn’t received public comments online.
“I’m honestly kind of surprised not to see an audience tonight,” Commissioner Tracy Hoskins said.
Hoskins was the sole “no” vote, saying the proposed zoning was “basically a fancy way of saying apartments.”
Although the rezoning proposal would allow for some mixed-use development and multifamily housing, developer Bart Bauer told the commission he never intended to have high-density development in the area — a concern voiced by Commissioner Tom Brown.
Commissioner Matt Hoffman conceded “development pressures” likely wouldn’t yield of mix of uses in the area, but when it comes to planning, the proposal would accommodate the city’s goals.
City planner Harry Davis told the commission the rezoning not only would be compatible with the immediate surroundings areas, but complimentary.
A question came up after a map showing the proposal designated a tract of about 30 acres north of Clabber Creek for development. Landowner Ron Caviness clarified the land wasn’t part of the request, and the commissioners carried on discussions dealing only with the 128 acres south of the creek.
“This probably is as close as we’re going to get,” Commissioner Ron Autry said. “It’s going to be developed and I know Mr. Caviness would like to see it move forward.”
Of the 128 acres, the proposal would designate about 96 acres as “neighborhood conservation,” about 14 acres as “neighborhood services” and about 16 acres as “residential agricultural.”
The decision on what to do with the land has been tossed back and forth between developers, neighbors and the city. Earlier in June, the commission tabled Bauer’s most recent plan, asking him to come back with a different mix of zonings in his request.
The City Council in March unanimously rejected a proposal from Lindsey Management to rezone the 128-acre golf course, which would have reserved about half of it for single-family houses, another 20 acres for apartments and 40 acres set aside as undeveloped park land.
Aldermen came to the decision after receiving complaints from dozens of neighbors concerned with an influx of traffic on the area’s narrow roads and runoff from floodprone Clabber Creek.
Bauer has said he intends to build homes in roughly 75-foot lots on about 50 acres of golf course land.
The properties near the 2500 block of Deane Solomon Road are zoned as residential single-family with no more than four units per acre, and as residential agricultural, which protects land until an “orderly transition to urban development” has been accomplished, city codes state.
Neighborhood conservation, a relatively new type of zoning, has the “least amount of activity” and lower density than other zones, according to the city code. It can have some mix of uses, such as for a civic building.
A neighborhood services district is designed to serve as a mixed-use area of “low intensity.”
City attorney Kit Williams recommended neighbors be notified about the proposed “major rezoning.”
Commissioner Allison Thurmond Quinlan commended Bauer and Caviness for attending a number of meetings on the issue, saying the low-density proposal should allay initial traffic concerns in the area.
The proposal recommendation will go before the City Council.
Stacy Ryburn can be reached at sryburn@nwadg.com and on Twitter @stacyryburn.