FAYETTEVILLE -- Development plans for a new police headquarters and fire substation passed the Planning Commission on Monday with unanimous support from the members who voted.
The plans show an 82,630-square-foot police station with a 7,322-square-foot fire station on about 11 ½ acres northeast of Porter Road and Deane Street. The city bought the property a year ago for nearly $2.6 million from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
Voters approved a nearly $37 million bond issue in April 2019 to build a headquarters for the Police Department, with a new fire station on the campus as well. Police Chief Mike Reynolds said the project is ready to break ground as soon as the schedules for the building team and city administration allow.
The commission approved the plans for the site 7-0. Commissioner Leslie Belden was absent and Commissioner Matt Hoffman recused from the vote.
The main police station will run east-west along the northern portion of the property, with an indoor firing range along the property's western edge, running north-south. The two pieces come together to form an upside-down L shape. Public parking lies north of the main station, with police parking surrounded by an 8-foot-tall aluminum fence in the center of the site.
The fire substation sits at the southeast corner, with a shared driveway coming off Deane Street immediately west of the building, leading into the police parking area.
The commission granted variances to city code dealing with the driveway width for the fire station and parking. Planning staff members recommended the commission grant the variances.
"We see a police station as a somewhat atypical institutional use that merits special consideration," Development Services Director Jonathan Curth said.
The plans also leave room for development of some kind facing Deane Street, close to the intersection with Porter Road. Planned street work includes turning the intersection into a roundabout.
Matthew Loos, an engineer behind the project, said much of what happens will depend on the design of the city's Midtown Trail corridor project, which will connect bicyclists and pedestrians from Interstate 49 east to College Avenue. Designs for the Midtown Trail are still being worked on, he said.
"We will continue to look at ways we can maximize that future developable area as the Midtown corridor continues to be fleshed out," Loos said.
No one from the public spoke on the item during the meeting, which was held online on Zoom. Commissioner Jimm Garlock said the project is well overdue. The Police Department's current station on Rock Street was formerly a J.C. Penney automotive center renovated in the early 1990s.
The police headquarters project has been the subject of several public meetings, including an hourslong input session on its design held in October. The rezoning requests to turn the property from an agricultural to institutional zone garnered several speakers from the public during Planning Commission and City Council meetings. Comments ranged from resident concern over public feedback and the experiences people of color have with police, to staunch support of the city's officers.
A workshop also was held in July with council members to go over concerns with the design, which at the time included parking facing the street, intersection improvements and the overall streetscape and feel of the project.
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Commission action
Fayetteville’s Planning Commission met Monday and approved:
• Rezoning a lot west of Sycamore and Florene streets from agriculture to a residential zone allowing up to 12 units an acre. The City Council will have final say on the rezoning.
• A variance to city code dealing with parking and greenspace requirements for an office building at Van Asche Drive, west of Steele Boulevard.
Source: NWA Democrat-Gazette
Stacy Ryburn can be reached by email at sryburn@nwadg.com or on Twitter @stacyryburn.