Resident appeal of development on Zion Road in Fayetteville fails to pass City Council

FAYETTEVILLE -- A proposed development on the northeast side of town can go on as planned after the City Council split its vote to support a resident appeal and Mayor Lioneld Jordan declined to cast a vote.

The council voted 4-4 in an appeal presented by neighbors of a planned mixed-use development at the northeast corner of Randal Place and Zion Road, near the intersection with Crossover Road. The 3-acre plot sits between the Lakewood subdivision to the west and Fayetteville Athletic Club to the east.

Residents Donn and Paula Johnson and about 75 other Lakewood residents appealed planning staff's approval of a plan for the development. The plan includes seven buildings. Two buildings facing Zion Road could have commercial space on the bottom floors with residential space above. Five buildings to the north could be multifamily residential.

The plan includes parallel parking in front of the businesses on Zion Road. It also includes parallel parking to the west on Randal Place, which separates the property from Lakewood subdivision.

Residents largely appealed the plan on the basis it would create or compound a dangerous traffic situation. Much of the concern they expressed centered around an inadequate amount of parking proposed for a dense development.

Jonathan Curth, the city's development services director, said the plan met the city's requirements for parking. The city doesn't have a minimum parking requirement for nonresidential buildings. The minimum requirement for residential buildings is one space per bedroom. The plan proposes 46 off-street spaces and 23 on-street spaces for a total of 69 spaces.

The Planning Commission last month upheld the staff's approval of the plan by a 7-0 vote. The commission granted a variance to city code allowing parallel parking on Zion Road. Curth said the council had the option to rescind approval of that variance, but the rest of the plan followed city code.

Thirteen people from the public spoke to the council either in person or online via Zoom. Three of the speakers were developers or property owners associated with the project.

Jesus Rodriguez, whose family owns the property, as well as La Hacienda restaurant across the street, said the project has followed all of the city's rules. Objections from neighbors hadn't come up until recently, he said.

Rodriguez compared the family's vision for the property to the 8th Street Market in Bentonville, with a mix of residences and small businesses in close proximity.

"We want to create something for the community," he said. "We want to create something for Fayetteville where we're able to say, 'This is helping the city.'"

Residents opposed to the project said the parallel parking would impede the flow of traffic on Zion Road and create a traffic hazard. The development plans also did not show enough parking, so cars likely will end up parking on the public streets within the neighborhood, they said.

The council could have granted the appeal and rejected the plan based on six criteria, the most applicable being whether it created or compounded a dangerous traffic situation.

Council members Teresa Turk, Holly Hertzberg, D'Andre Jones and Mark Kinion voted in favor of the residents' appeal. Sloan Scroggin, Sarah Bunch, Sonia Gutierrez Harvey and Matthew Petty voted against. Jordan declined to vote, meaning the appeal failed.

Jordan closed the meeting by thanking Petty for his service on the council. Petty is resigning effective Monday, saying his work demands as a self-employed developer have detracted from the time he can spend as a council member.

Petty is the longest-serving council member, representing Ward 2. He was first elected in 2008 and won reelection in 2012, 2016 and 2020.

Jordan noted Petty joined the council the same year he became mayor. He praised Petty's work on the city's civil rights ordinance, its mobility plans, health and safety policy during the pandemic, recycling and trash efforts and protecting the environment, among other issues.

"There are too many contributions for me to list here tonight," Jordan said. "But his service over the past 13 years has helped make Fayetteville a great place to live and work."