No to gated subdivision near school

ROGERS — Planning commissioners on Tuesday denied a connectivity variance for the proposed Soaring at Scissortail subdivision on West Pleasant Grove Road that would have allowed the neighborhood to be a gated community with only one entrance and exit.

The Planning Commission did approve variances for the subdivision on minimum building setbacks and minimum lot area, as well as a waiver for street improvements.

Leadership Properties proposed a gated subdivision with 28 homes on small lots centered around a neighborhood green area, according to founder Bob David.

Since the project first came before the Planning Commission in August to be rezoned, residents have expressed concerns about the impact on traffic along West Pleasant Grove Road and the safety of children crossing the road to the nearby Evening Star Elementary School. The elementary serves around 810 children in grades kindergarten through four.

In September, a Rogers public safety officer received minor injuries when he was hit by a vehicle while helping children cross the street.

Leadership Properties’ solution to the traffic problem centered around keeping the Soaring at Scissortail closed off from the proposed 230-home Buffington subdivision to the north. City staff have said more connectivity, not less, will allow drivers to plan routes around congested areas.

The city’s connectivity ordinance requires subdivisions to have an entrance and exit every 660 feet and requires developers to build stubs, or temporary streets that can be extended to connect to future subdivisions.

Attorney Bill Watkins told planning commissioners the concept for Soaring at Scissortail would die if the connectivity variance was denied. If the streets inside Soaring at Scissortail were made public with a connection to the Buffington subdivision, all of the traffic from the Buffington subdivision could use the connection as an access road, dumping the vehicles in front of the elementary school near the crosswalk, he said.

Watkins said that traffic already stacks up to the north and south of the school on West Pleasant Grove Road as well as in nearby subdivisions as parents wait to drop off and pick up their children. The same thing would happen at Soaring at Scissortail if it is not gated, creating more safety problems and perhaps the need for a second crosswalk, he said.

City development director John McCurdy said connections between neighborhoods are needed to create alternate routes when traffic gets congested. For example, many of the future residents of Soaring at Scissortail and Buffington will be working in Bentonville and will want to head north on Gaston Road and avoid the elementary school, he said.

Growth in the area was expected, McCurdy said.

“We all know every time you build an elementary school out in the county somewhere it quickly develops,” he said.

When Rogers decided to pass the connectivity ordinance, it made it extremely difficult to build gated subdivisions, McCurdy said. The original Scissortail subdivision on West Pleasant Grove Road was part of the catalyst for the ordinance, he said.

If the gates to Scissortail were open, cars could avoid West Pleasant Grove Road, McCurdy said.

“Right now, Scissortail is a big obstacle to be able to travel west to east,” he said. “That is why we have the ordinance, to keep that from happening.”

Improving traffic flow on West Pleasant Grove Road is complicated because Rogers, Bentonville, Cave Springs and Benton County all own parts of the road, McCurdy said last week.

City officials met last week to discuss the issue. A raised crosswalk with a center island was proposed as a temporary solution to the safety issue while a mini-roundabout was discussed as a long-term solution, McCurdy said.

Commission vice chair Rachel Crawford said she spoke to the fire chief and interim police chief and learned that neighborhoods without two access points are a challenge for emergency vehicles, which raised safety concerns for her. She also noted people want to use different routes at different times of day to avoid traffic.

Commission members Mandel Samuels, Crawford, Derek Burnett, Kevin Jensen, Jorge Andrade and Erik Zvers voted to deny the waiver, while John Schmelzle voted against the denial. Commissioners Mark Myers and Steve Lane were not present.

All commissioners present voted to approve a variance for minimum building setbacks for the subdivision, a variance for required minimum lot area and a waiver for street improvements.