Add Markham Hill land to city’s bond election

It would be fantastic to add the 144-acre Markham Hill property to Fayetteville’s bond issue list for the city to purchase as a nature and wildlife preserve under a permanent conservation easement with the NWA Land Trust.

Markham Hill is east of Interstate 49, north of Martin Luther King Boulevard, west of Razorback Road, and south of the Marinoni property off Wedington Drive. It is a large urban forest with several acres containing two horse pastures, the Pratt Inn and Event Barn, the historic Evangeline Archer cottage, and a log home built by Julian Archer. The natural habitat of Markham Hill is helping clean Fayetteville’s air and water, helping lower the effects of climate change within Fayetteville, providing walking and running trails for the University of Arkansas cross-country team and Fayetteville residents, preserving Fayetteville history and Native American sites, providing a refuge for remaining wildlife within Fayetteville, and protecting one of our older low-density neighborhoods.

In the meantime, some Fayetteville residents have filed an appeal with the Washington County Circuit Court of the recent Fayetteville City Council rezoning of Markham Hill. The rezoning allows the Oregon-based owner RMD Properties (since 2016) to have his local developer, Specialized Real Estate Group, destroy Markham Hill with commercialization and high-density housing, totally incompatible with these historic woods and the surrounding low-density residential neighborhood.

Let’s keep urbanization, development and infill out of our parks and woods. We want to preserve and protect Fayetteville’s charm. LISA ORTON

Fayetteville