Expansion plans for Pratt Place Inn & Barn in Fayetteville approved

Pratt Place Inn and Barn stands Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, atop Markham Hill in Fayetteville. Property owner Specialized Real Estate Group has plans to expand the inn. Visit nwaonline.com/210209Daily/ for today's photo gallery. 
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Pratt Place Inn and Barn stands Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, atop Markham Hill in Fayetteville. Property owner Specialized Real Estate Group has plans to expand the inn. Visit nwaonline.com/210209Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Planning Commission approved plans to expand a historic inn west of the University of Arkansas campus.

Commissioners voted 7-0 Monday to approve a development plan for Pratt Place Inn and Barn, the popular hospitality destination at the top of Markham Hill. Commissioner Rob Sharp recused from the vote and Commissioner Porter Winston wasn't in attendance during the meeting, which was held online on Zoom.

The request included plans for 17 guest cabins, 12,000 square feet of commercial space, 5,000 square feet of event space and an additional 80 guest rooms with associated parking. It also included plans to extend Markham Road west from where the street dead ends and to connect Sang Avenue from Markham Road north to Halsell Road.

The plans presented to the commission followed the planned zoning district for the site the City Council approved in 2018, said Lawrence Finn with Specialized Real Estate Group, the developer behind the project. Variances to city code included in the request dealt with street design, block lengths and parking lot requirements intended to minimize the impact to the environment, he said.

The project is part of a larger plan from Specialized to build a neighborhood with commercial uses on the hill. In 2018, the council granted two requests from Specialized met with significant public opposition. One request changed the planned zoning district for about 24 acres at the top of the hill. That request included the commercial phase commissioners approved Monday, as well as another phase for homes. The residential phase was approved in 2019 and construction is underway.

The second request the City Council approved in 2018 was to rezone about 120 acres at the rest of the hill, with 44 acres east of Interstate 49 left as a preserve. The zoning changed the land from a purely single-family residential zoning to a residential zone allowing single-family homes up to quadplexes, and at a higher density. Specialized agreed to a 476-unit cap on the residential development.

No one from the public spoke during Monday's meeting, but Development Services Director Jonathan Curth said the city received significant written commentary. Much of the public comment centered on opposition to the Sang Street connection, he said.

In January 2020, Mayor Lioneld Jordan broke a 4-4 City Council vote to remove a connection on the city's overall street plan showing Sang Avenue connecting from Wedington Drive south to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The plan is a guiding document for development in the city.

However, connecting Sang Avenue from Markham to Halsell roads is included in the planned zoning district the council approved in 2018. The council at the time asked for a traffic study to be done and to include a street connection in the plan.

City Attorney Kit Williams earlier Monday sent a memorandum to the Planning Commission and City Council saying the development plan had to be approved if it followed the previously approved planned zoning district. The commission and council have six criteria to follow when considering development plans, which mostly include basic legal requirements. One of the criteria is if the development would create or compound a dangerous traffic condition.

Commissioner Jimm Garlock said he was frustrated the traffic study showed an extra street connection wouldn't be necessary, yet it was required in the planned zoning district. He said he believed the connection likely will create a cut-through in the neighborhood for traffic from Wedington and the university, yet the commission's hands were tied.

"I have to vote for this because of the legal requirement that I'm bound by," Garlock said. "It's just disappointing to see the city tied itself."

Commissioner Leslie Belden said the developer hasn't deviated from what the City Council approved in 2018, except for minor variances to improve the project's potential impact on the environment.

"I can understand there are people who were opposed to the whole thing, but that's not where we are right now," she said. "We're fine-tuning details, and this is consistent with the plan."

A City Council member can appeal a Planning Commission decision on a development plan on behalf of a resident, per city code.

Pratt Place Inn and Barn stands Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, atop Markham Hill in Fayetteville. Property owner Specialized Real Estate Group has plans to expand the inn. Visit nwaonline.com/210209Daily/ for today's photo gallery. 
(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Pratt Place Inn and Barn stands Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, atop Markham Hill in Fayetteville. Property owner Specialized Real Estate Group has plans to expand the inn. Visit nwaonline.com/210209Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)

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Development plan criteria

The Planning Commission or City Council in Fayetteville can deny a large-scale development plan for a project based on six criteria:

The plan isn’t submitted in accordance with the city’s unified development code.

The development would violate city, state or federal laws or statute.

The developer refuses right of way or easement dedication.

The development would create or compound a dangerous traffic condition.

City water and sewer isn’t available.

The developer refused to comply with on- or off-site improvement requirements.

Source: Fayetteville

Stacy Ryburn can be reached by email at sryburn@nwadg.com or on Twitter @stacyryburn.

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