Zoning categories suggested

Alignment with Springdale on tap

SPRINGDALE — The city Planning Department has proposed zoning in the newly annexed area of Bethel Heights to line up with the zoning districts in Springdale.

Springdale annexed Bethel Heights in August after voters in both towns approved a measure submitted by residents. The zoning designations will be discussed at a public hearing before tonight’s Planning Commission meeting.

Commissioners are expected to vote on the new zoning map, and if approved, the City Council will consider the measure Oct. 27.

Patsy Christie, director of the Planning Department, said she tried to match the zones of Bethel Heights with the Springdale designations describing similar properties and structures.

“It was a lot easier than I thought it would be,” she said.

Christie assured former Bethel Heights property owners they can continue to

use their land for purposes not included in Springdale zoning classifications. The property would be identified as a nonconforming use, and could stay that way as long as that use doesn’t change, she said.

City code says all land annexed into Springdale comes in zoned for agricultural use, which usually works when the land lies in an unincorporated, undeveloped areas, Christie said. But much of the land in the 2.5 square miles of Bethel Heights has houses, businesses and industrial operations already in place. Springdale officials didn’t want every property owner to have to apply to rezone their land after it was designated agricultural.

Among the many measures needed to align the two cities, the Planning Department tackled zoning early to keep growth moving forward, Christie said.

“We did not want any obstacles if someone had already started or was looking at new development,” Christie said.

Jeff Cooperstein, a senior research analyst for the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, said coordinating the zoning was important in the early stages of the annexation because Bethel Heights’ location in the center of Northwest Arkansas means the area is ripe

for development.

He said some developers most likely eye the area for residential uses, while others will see commercial opportunities.

“Zoning is how we facilitate growth,” Christie said. “We create our best plan. We don’t want overcrowding. We want to support our industries, commercial businesses and various types of housing.

“Some zoning uses do not mix well with others,” she said.

Just as residents don’t want certain kinds of businesses near their homes, business owners have their own needs, Cooperstein said. A manufacturing plant might not work well next to an office complex, he said. Office users like to have amenities such as restaurants nearby, he said, while others might want multifamily housing, giving employees options on where to live.

“Zoning gives us some kind of consistency in how places look. We all want some kind of consistency, some kind of idea about what’s going to happen to the land next to yours,” Cooperstein said. “That’s why so many people show up when there’s a rezoning. Their expectations are being changed.”

Christie led an informational session Sept. 28 to tell Bethel Heights residents what to expect.

Tammy VanHouten, a resident and the former Bethel Heights, said the zoning in her new city was her main concern — “What might fall behind my property,” she said.

She learned the Springdale zoning will stay similar, so she decided to take a “wait and see” position.

Mark Stevens, another former resident, expressed concern about what will happen to the open land along the Arkansas 612 bypass corridor,

along Arkansas 264 and Arkansas 265 and the tracks of the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad.

“The same thing that would have happened it if was still in Bethel Heights,” said Springdale Mayor Sprouse. “It will be driven by the property owners, not the city.”

“Development will tell us how it goes,” Christie agreed.