FAYETTEVILLE -- A group of residents on the south side of town wants a say in how their neighborhood develops.
City planners and administrators held a community meeting Monday at Christ's Church on 15th Street to discuss the future of the Parksdale and Center Addition subdivisions. The neighborhood lies just south of 15th Street with Brooks and Duncan avenues running through to the west and east, respectively.
About 50 neighbors attended the meeting.
Several homeowners in the area signed a petition to downgrade their property from its current zoning for housing of up to 24 units per acre to a smaller, single-family home zoning. The petition, along with numerous visits from residents to the city's planning offices, prompted the gathering.
In the 1970s, the city zoned wide swaths of land south and north of 15th Street for high-density housing as a way to spur development, Planning Director Andrew Garner said. Subdivisions went in, but the zoning remained.
Neighbors worry the current zoning opens the door to housing types that don't fit the neighborhood. Several residents at the meeting cited a recently built three-story duplex on Brooks Avenue near Walker Street as an example of such a development.
Robin Devine, a 16-year resident of the neighborhood, helped lead the charge with the petition. The effort has morphed into an overall discussion of the area, which planners hope to turn into an actionable item at the Planning Commission and City Council levels.
"We're not opposed to growth; we just don't want 24 units on an acre," Devine said.
Residents on Monday divided into groups at tables and wrote down the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats they saw for their neighborhood. A representative of each group then went up to a board and presented the list to the entire room. At the end, participants placed stickers next to the topics they found the most important.
Scale of homes became a common thread. Many said three-story buildings don't belong in a residential neighborhood. However, the city's lowest height threshold for any zoning is three stories.
Amending city code to include a lower threshold of one or two stories for certain zoning districts could be an example of something that comes out of the meeting, Garner said. City planners also could put together a rezoning proposal for the entire neighborhood that aligns with resident concerns.
Residents also cited flooding and drainage issues as common problems to the area. Many expressed concern over crime, safety and general maintenance of properties.
Marcy Benham, who has lived in her home since 2000, said she has watched the price of housing go up all over the city. The desire for proximity has skyrocketed the cost, she said.
"I wish I had a quarter for every postcard I've gotten from developers wanting to buy my house and my lot, because I have a double lot," Benham said. "I just want to see it preserved."
A follow-up meeting is tentatively scheduled for April 2.
NW News on 03/20/2018