Council reviews revised site plan for Fayetteville police headquarters

FAYETTEVILLE -- Council members expressed satisfaction with a revised building layout for the planned police headquarters but said the road design needs work. Staff said the road design work wasn't finished as of Tuesday.

The council saw the plans after its agenda session, which was held online. Voters approved the project to build a new police headquarters in a bond referendum last year. The campus will sit at Porter Road and Deane Street and will include a main police station, indoor firing range, support buildings and fire substation.

Council members saw a preliminary layout in summer and expressed concerns with the curve of the intersection, traffic control, parking lots in the front of buildings facing the street and the site's overall effect on the streetscape. City staff presented revisions Tuesday.

The new layout has support buildings moved from the south of the site to the east. The main police station still runs east-west to the north, with the indoor firing range running north-south to the west, forming an upside-down L-shape. Employee parking still lies between the main station and firing range, completing a rectangle.

A water retention pond with trees and bioswales now sits immediately south of the police part of the campus. To the west, facing Porter Road, is a tree area with a soft-surface trail filling in 50 feet of space between the street and building. There's also room for a future plaza and building at the southern end of the site, facing Deane Street. Public parking is at the northwest corner of the site, as is the lobby and entrance. The fire station still lies at the southeast corner.

A roundabout replaces what was previously presented as a signaled intersection at Porter Road and Deane Street. There also is on-street parking proposed with slip lanes on both streets.

Council member Matthew Petty said the design as presented still encouraged high speeds on the streets. Both streets should be designed so pedestrians can cross safely, he said.

Council member Sarah Marsh pointed out a parking lot coming out of the intersection to serve a future public plaza and said it didn't make sense to her.

City Engineer Chris Brown said redesigns are underway for the roundabout. Facilities Manager Wade Abernathy said the hired engineering firm, Olsson Associates, is still working on the slip-lane concepts for on-street parking.

Petty said the engineers need to study what speed is appropriate for the streets and design them accordingly, so on-street parking will be safe. Marsh said a trail head at the corner of Porter Road and Deane Street should have amenities for pedestrians and bicyclists, such as restrooms.

Abernathy said the city also is considering putting solar panels atop the firing range building.

Council member Teresa Turk asked sound suppression for the firing range building stay a top priority.

Overall, the council raised no issues with the way the buildings were laid out. Revisions to the street design will go before the council's Transportation Committee.

Abernathy said the city plans to show the layout to the Planning Commission next month and will seek City Council approval for an early site package in early January. Scheduled groundbreaking for the project is Jan. 19.