ROGERS -- Residents who've enjoyed a rural backyard will get several neighbors in the coming months despite protests made to the Planning Commission.
Rezoning 2.42 acres on the west side of Dixieland Road just south of the intersection with Mimosa Street from agricultural to residential multifamily will allow seven housing units per acre, which in this case means 15 apartments.
Apartment complexes
Rogers apartment complexes in the works:
• Horsebarn Apartments on Horsebarn Road, with 280 apartments and 26 townhomes
• The Palisades at Pleasant Crossing, 208 units
• Watermark on Walnut Creek on Promenade Boulevard, 220 units
• Shadowbrooke at The Peaks, Phase 2 (townhomes)
• A multifamily housing unit at West Walnut Street
• The Promenade Apartments on West New Hope Road and South Bellview Road were just completed
• Recently submitted are plans for Woodland Park on Dixieland, 426 units
• Another complex is planned for the north end of Dodson Road.
Source: Staff report
The projected small apartment complex was described by the developer as having five buildings surrounded by a fence, and the developer has said it will be well maintained. Units would rent for $1,100 per month.
The City Council approved the zoning change Tuesday.
Carl Walker, co-owner of ARC Construction, requested the zoning change during a Dec. 6 commission meeting. The commission voted 3-3 after hearing the concerns of a few nearby residents during a public hearing, the first voting tie in many years for the group.
"In 32 years of doing this, I haven't (seen) this happen," said Bill Watkins, an attorney representing Walker during an appeal to the City Council on Tuesday. "I'm in front of (the council) to get some clarity."
Mayor Greg Hines hadn't seen a planning tie in his 18 years of political involvement in Rogers, either.
The rezoning failed in a second commission vote, but Walker's appeal to the City Council passed with no council discussion.
Residents who expressed concerns at the December planning meeting cited a likely increase traffic in a congested area, increasing noise levels and a threat on their families' privacy.
Ellen Jensen said she has lived on 6 acres next to the projected apartment site for more than 30 years and loved it for its rural setting.
"We bought a small home (on 3 acres of property) with the thought of building a larger home in back eventually," Jensen said. Her family loved the area so much that they purchased another 3 acres. "We've kept it maintained beautifully, a park-like setting."
Jensen said she would hate for herself and other established homeowners in the area to give up that setting. Privacy for her grandchildren who play on the property also was a primary concern.
Dustin Masterson, another nearby resident, agreed with Jensen that noise, privacy, and keeping the space quiet and wooded, as it had always been, were chief concerns.
So is "water drainage, because their land funnels onto our easement," Masterson said. "If the development goes forward, I hope that it helps drain some of that water away from us instead of pushing more onto ours."
Walker held a public meeting Nov. 28 for residents to learn more about the proposed complex, but some residents say they got the wrong impression.
"When papers (about this) were originally sent out, I was under the impression that it was a retirement facility, but the more that it goes on, it sounds like an apartment complex," said Billy Hunter, who lives nearby. "If this is a multifamily property, they'll cram lots of people into a small space. I have small children, and I don't want an apartment complex behind my house."
Kevin Jensen, vice chairman of the commission, said during the December planning meeting he'd love to see developments such as this one in Rogers but felt the Dixieland Road location wasn't a good fit because it's surrounded primarily by single-family housing.
"Up and down Dixieland, there's everything in the world down there," Walker said. "We don't feel like what we're asking is out of line."
Watkins' argument for the rezoning focused on the best use for the land, the impact of its use and other land uses in the area that could help determine its character.
"It's too small to develop it as a single-family housing development," Watkins said. "The premise that it should be single-family reminds me of old arguments (heard about) the other side of the road that the city needed to preserve its character. But it's no longer in a semi-rural part of town.
"If not this, then what?" he asked.
Watkins pointed out other multifamily housing and businesses nearby, including duplexes on Olrich Street, a nursing home, an earth-moving company that stores dump trucks on its site, as well as other commercial and industrial enterprises. The existence of those makes the Dixieland property business as usual, Watkins said.
Walker addressed residents' concerns by saying he would take care of drainage issues, install a buffer line of trees for reduced noise and better privacy and that only tenants with clean backgrounds would be chosen.
NW News on 01/16/2017