Bentonville planners OK rezoning

Walmart property now zoned as planned unit development

BENTONVILLE — A rezoning for the new Walmart home office campus was approved by the Planning Commission on Tuesday night.

The property was rezoned planned unit development from heavy industrial, medium-density residential, residential office and general commercial, according to planning documents.

The property is generally bounded by East Central Avenue to the north, Southeast Martin Luther King Junior Parkway and Southeast Moberly Lane to the east, Southeast 14th Street to the south and Southeast J Street to the west.

The campus will include 12 commercial buildings, 10 parking decks and eight surface parking lots. The development is divided into five zones to be constructed in three phases. The development will have 11,255 parking spaces.

The development plan also depicts 108 acres of open space. The development plan uses a variety of material such as architectural metal panel, wood finish, brick, glass and precast concrete panels.

According to the applicant’s narrative, the purpose of the planned unit development is to provide “a smart and sustainable design” and “a connected campus rooted in the community.” The campus seeks to meet those goals using of local material, environmentally friendly design, connection with the Razorback Greenway and Eighth Street and building and architectural selections to serve as an extension of the community.

The Commerce and Industry chapter of the 2015 Bentonville Community Plan is of special importance to the project.

The chapter’s community-wide recommendations suggest the city require a

high quality of design and make unique and interesting places. In addition, the chapter depicts the property as being within the East Side Walmart Employment Sector Area. The plan notes this area should serve as a link between the western trail network, which includes downtown and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the eastern trail network, which includes Northwest Arkansas Community College and Rogers.

There were no waivers associated with the planned unit development.

Large-scale developments for Junk Brands and the Bentonville School District also were approved by the Planning Commission.

Junk Brands proposes an approximately 34,000-squarefoot warehousing office and manufacturing facility southwest of the intersection of Southwest I Street and Melissa Drive, according to planning documents.

The School District proposes a 90,000-square-foot elementary school at Southwest Barron and Southwest Opal roads. A permit for the project also was approved by the commission. It will be the 13th elementary school in the district.

In old business, the commission approved an amended group home ordinance. Public comment lasted about 20 minutes and commissioners discussed different aspects of the ordinance for about 30 minutes before voting.

The city’s zoning code doesn’t regulate group homes. After receiving requests to have group homes in residential neighborhoods, the city retained legal counsel to prepare regulations preserving the character of residential neighborhoods while complying with the Federal Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988, according to planning documents. The commission in July tabled discussion on the item.