Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Panel looks at facelift for College Avenue
Planning Commission will consider rezoning
FAYETTEVILLE — Traffic along a stretch of College Avenue will flow more smoothly, buildings will look more modern and access will become more pedestrian-friendly, city officials say, once they rezone several blocks to coincide with an improvement project.
Planning Commissioners today will consider a rezoning allowing a mix of residential and commercial uses, put buildings close to the street with parking at the
side or rear and encourage walking and modes of travel other than cars. The zoning is referred to as form-based development.
Most of College Avenue is zoned for retail, gas stations, restaurants, hotels and offices. That type of zoning, called thoroughfare commercial, is antiquated and runs counter
to the goals of the city’s long-term plan, said Andrew Garner, city planning director. The city has prioritized infill development, revitalizing older areas of town, discouraging suburban sprawl and making traditional town form the standard by putting buildings
next to each other instead of all over the place.
Many of the buildings along that section of College Avenue are out of compliance with the zoning code, Garner said. Structures within the zoning have to be 50 feet away from the street, and many are about 10 or 15 feet off, he said. Some were built before the city adopted its zoning and development regulations. College Avenue at one point was a two-lane street, and when it became a four-lane state highway, the lanes cut into the lots.
The east side of the ongoing street improvement project, which finished late last year, included a 10-footwide sidewalk, decorative street lights, trees in grated wells, pedestrian crossings at the Maple and North street intersections and fewer curb cuts. The west side will get the same treatment this year.
CHANGING CITIES
Cities across the country have focused energy on retrofitting corridors that once served as walkable, two-lane streets that became car-oriented highways post-World War II, said David Morley, senior research associate at the American Planning Association in Chicago.
The trend has been a slow build since the 1980s, Morley said. Private developers led the charge before cities started taking the hint, incorporating revitalization and new development patterns into their plans, he said.
Bringing a more inviting, downtown-type of aesthetic to a major drag of town can happen a couple of ways, Morley said. The idea of “complete streets” makes it so a segment serves different types of users instead of just cars. For example, a certain amount of feet is dedicated to a sidewalk, a bicycle lane, on-street parking, a median, plants and other buffers.
That approach can be difficult when the street is a state highway such as College Avenue. The other approach is to focus on the space within the city’s jurisdiction and reduce curb cuts, invoke more shared parking and set parameters for how tall buildings can reach and their placement, Morley said.
Cities also can spruce up the major cross-streets to divert traffic a little bit and make getting places easier by connecting better to neighborhoods, he said.
A renewed interest to develop will come with a newlook College Avenue, city officials hope, and the pattern should fit modern-day aesthetics and architecture, Garner said.
“The vision is to carry the downtown farther north in terms of that type of development pattern,” he said. “I think College Avenue used to be this grand street, and everybody was very proud of it, and it was a beautiful spot in Fayetteville. Over the
decades, it has eroded.”
A REVITALIZING SPARK
Developer Mark Zweig echoed Garner’s sentiments College Avenue needs an overhaul. Zweig plans to build on the old Twin Arch Motel property at 521 N. College Ave. His plan would bring 17 furnished rental apartments with utilities included for visiting professionals. Zweig also plans to turn the former Flying Dog Vintage Mall at 427 N. College Ave. into an office for Mark Zweig Inc., complete with a new facade and classic cars and motorcycles adding to the aesthetic.
He said he hopes his projects will serve as a revitalizing spark for College Avenue.
“I do think it needs to be redeveloped,” he said. “Frankly, anything is better than abandoned storefronts, bait shops, tired liquor stores, used car lots, adult novelty stores, adult entertainment establishments and tattoo parlors. I’m not trying to offend anybody who owns those businesses when I say it, but I think it’s a very poor gateway to the city.”
Zweig added he understands why neighbors wouldn’t want some things, such as high-rise apartment buildings, popping up as a result of the rezoning, but College Avenue wouldn’t be a good location for such development anyway.
The planning staff has recommended allowing multifamily residential units up to eight stories high, along with a variety of commercial uses, for larger lots. For smaller lots, the proposed
changes would allow eating places, service stations and recreational facilities mixed with homes to provide convenience to residents.
Planners also propose adding a zone to act as a buffer between the parcels along College Avenue and residential areas to the east between North and Prospect streets. The current, high-density commercial zoning borders low-density, single-family neighborhoods.
The added zone would be meant to serve as a mixeduse area of low intensity. The idea is to create a better transition from the current zoning, which allows commercial buildings up to seven stories, to single-family homes in neighborhoods, Garner said.
Neighborhoods to the southwest of the area, from Maple Street north to Trenton Boulevard, are zoned for multifamily residences up to 24 units per acre. An area near Davidson Street and Highland Avenue is proposed for a less-dense zoning designation.
NOTHING SET IN STONE
Garner said his office so far has received mostly positive feedback about the rezoning proposals, although there has been some confusion. The city doesn’t plan to go into neighborhoods, just rezone areas already zoned for high-density, commercial development, he said.
The current zoning allows for an eight-story commercial building, Garner said. If it isn’t changed, the area can remain a suburban commercial, vehicular shopping area,
he said.
The proposal is far from finalized. After the Planning Commission, the City Council must approve it. Garner said he expects the proposal to change as it goes through the process.
The city is trying to remove impediments to development by allowing a greater variety of uses and making College Avenue look better in the process, Garner said. The city’s 2030 plan was created under
the guidance of residents, he said.
“What we’re proposing is in line with the city’s goals,” Garner said. “We’re trying to encourage infill — walkable neighborhoods where you can live, work and shop in the same area, giving equal value to pedestrians and cars and discouraging sprawl on the outside of the city.”