Planners discuss Southwest growth in Bentonville

Officials say rezonings may help encourage mixed-use developments

BENTONVILLE — Areas with a mix of commercial uses and housing options can create communities, not just neighborhoods, in the undeveloped southwest part of the city, planning commissioners discussed this week.

Commissioners toured the city last week and at their meeting Tuesday discussed how to encourage development in the southwest part of the city.

A lot of focus has been on downtown development, but the growth of the southwest has been a bit less devised, Commissioner Scott Eccleston said.

“Sometimes I think the southwest is the wild, wild West,” he said. “We cannot forget about it still being an area of walkability and an area that has goods and services.”

The city issued 621 building permits west of Walton Boulevard and south of Southwest 14th Street in 2015 and 2016, according to city data. Of those, 555 have been

for single-family homes, 31 for duplexes, 28 for multifamily developments with more than five units.

Commissioners discussed how rezonings will come before them that may help encourage commercial or mixed-use developments in areas that could become centers of activities, which they referred to as nodes.

A healthy node has a mix of various housing types with goods and services, such as restaurants, retail options and grocery stores, planner Jon Stanley said.

The downtown square is the prime example of a node, commissioners and planners said, but there isn’t anything similar to it in the city.

Planners said the area around Southwest I Street and Southwest Regional Airport Boulevard has the potential to become a strong node with the Walmart Neighborhood Market, a couple restaurants, gas stations and the Community Center being nearby. Various housing types are available in that area.

The city’s land use map and street plan are two tools commissioners and planners can use to see potential use and projected traffic impact, said Tyler Overstreet, planner.

“From there, it’s natural growth,” he said. “We can’t influence what private companies or what private individuals want to do with their land.”

A foreseeable challenge is opposition from people who live in low-density neighborhoods to rezonings allowing higher densities or commercial uses on nearby vacant land, commissioners and planners discussed.

“Everything out there can’t be single-family residential. That’s not realistic,” Stanley said. “That’s just not good planning.”

Commissioner Tregg Brown suggested possibly requiring a commercial element in areas that have a certain residential density.

“You can’t be overly prescriptive,” he said. “But if they’re going to have the expectation that we’re developing communities, not just neighborhoods, that would be [useful].”

Planned unit development zoning can accomplish that because it requires a site layout, planners said.

“In my mind, there’s a whole lot more certainty that comes with a PUD,” said Richard Binns, commissioner.

He said he can vote more comfortably on a planned unit development rezoning request than a general commercial zoning request.

No action was needed or taken. Commissioners and planners said it was good to tour the city last week and see potential development locations.