SPRINGDALE --Possible road work on Maple Avenue could lead to removing nine public housing apartments.
The Springdale Housing Authority would want to replace the apartments on different property if possible, said Debbie Bailey, executive director of the authority.
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To read more about the downtown master plan and see the preferred option, go to downtownspringdale.….
The authority's Board of Commissioners discussed at a Wednesday meeting a downtown plan that's being developed. Officials with the authority and board members gathered in a room and spoke via a phone call for about 45 minutes with Daniel Hintz and Timothy Breihan.
Hintz and Breihan are with companies working on the plan. Breihan said he hopes the city will adopt the plan in December or January.
The group discussed a railroad crossing at East Meadow Avenue the city is looking at permanently closing. The city is also considering opening a new crossing at Maple Avenue. A preferred option for the plan also shows Maple Avenue being extended to Park Street.
Authority-managed housing on Maple Avenue would need to be removed for the street to be realigned, Breihan said. Those apartments could be moved.
The earliest they could expect work on Maple Avenue would be 2018 or 2019, said Wyman Morgan, city director of administration and financial services. He thinks East Meadow Avenue would close before work on Maple Avenue begins.
Applegate Apartments and the Springdale Housing Authority's office sit just to the south of the southern border of the area covered by the plan. Other units managed by the authority, like those on Maple Avenue and 18 apartments on Success Avenue, sit within the borders of Quandt Avenue and Caudle Avenue to the south, Huntsville Avenue to the north, Thompson Street to the west and Old Missouri Road to the east.
The authority is a significant stakeholder in the downtown area, Hintz said. Some areas outside the plan's boundaries, such as Parsons Stadium and Springdale High School, are considered "areas of influence." Authority-managed housing outside those boundaries also is considered an area of influence.
Breihan also recommended a more detailed neighborhood study be done for the housing south of Caudle Avenue, east of the railroad tracks and west of Springdale Municipal Airport. The idea would be for the area to become a mixed income neighborhood.
After the phone call, the board created a committee concerning the downtown plan. That committee includes Derek Gibson, vice chairman of the board.
Bailey said officials first need to figure out legal issues concerning property and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Then it would be possible to do a study that would look at multiple elements, including improving public perception, improving property values and creating a mixed income area in the neighborhood.
NW News on 10/29/2015