NW Democrat-Gazette

Commission recommends 10 rezonings

City Council to consider requests at June 28 meeting

KEITH BRYANT Keith Bryant may be reached by email at [email protected].

BELLA VISTA — The Planning Commission gave its blessing to 10 rezoning requests and heard a great deal of public input during its nearly four-hour Monday meeting.

These requests are expected to go before the city council for final approval during its June 28 meeting.

All the parcels are owned by Cooper Communities and zoned P-1 conservation, with seven applications requesting a rezone to R-1 single-family residential and four requesting rezone to C-1 commercial. The majority of these parcels are in the highlands, with a few near the city’s border with Gravette.

Of the 11 rezones requested, only one did not get the commission’s approval — a rezone request to change a Glasgow Road from P-1 to C-1 neighborhood commercial.

The vote was split down the middle, with commissioners JB Portillo, Craig Honchell and chair Daniel Ellis voting against the rezoning request.

Several residents showed up, filling the courtroom beyond capacity. At the start of the meeting, several individuals had to stand, with a small crowd forming just outside the room’s open doors.

A signup sheet for public comment showed 24 names, with several residents speaking during the input period for multiple requests.

Several concerns were raised by residents about the prospect of developing these properties, including increased traffic, overcrowding, stormwater runoff, environmental impact and a negative impact on the city’s aesthetic.

One resident, Alan Livingston, said he believes areas zoned for conservation should be conserved.

The city voted on a zoning map when it incorporated, he said.

“Wooded areas should be preserved,” he said.

Ellis, the commission’s chair, said it’s important to note that these are requests to change the properties’ zoning designations and are not development requests.

If the property owner chooses to subdivide and/ or develop this land, he said, that will have its own approval process and will be subject to all city regulations.

“It’s not like we rezone this and the applicant can just start building homes on it,” he said.

The primary focus, he explained, is ensuring that the zoning is appropriate based on the city’s comprehensive plan and future land use map and that the land is not zoned in a way that makes it unusable.

The commission also approved two lot split requests from Cooper Communities.

Style

en-us

2021-06-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.nwaonline.com/article/282870848779487

WEHCO Media