Council OKs rezoning for planned development

ROGERS — The City Council approved a rezoning Tuesday for an undeveloped lot at 1200 N. Dixieland Road and West Olive Street on which an 800-unit residential multifamily development is planned.

The proposed development located in north central Rogers will include apartment and townhome buildings. Plans show oneand two-bedroom apartment units and townhomes with attached garages. All units will be rentals. The site is planned to include 1,204 parking spaces.

Councilwoman Betsy Reithemeyer raised concerns about the project’s proximity to Grace Hill Elementary and Oakdale Middle schools and the possible traffic the development could create.

City planning staff said final plans for the project will meet the city’s requirements of creating a grid network of streets.

Peter Masonis, Rogers public relations manager, previously said the grid design will always provide alternate routes of traffic flow.

The land had been zoned agricultural, residential duplex and residential single-family. The new zoning is residential multifamily, 15 units per acre, with a density concept plan.

The lot is just under 54 acres, giving the project a density of about 15 units per acre, according to city planning documents. Per city code requirements, any development with a density greater than six units per acre within the neighborhood growth designation requires a density concept plan.

The council also approved applying for $400,000 in federal grant money that would go toward the design of planned sidewalk improvements along U.S. 71B from West Pleasant Grove Road to West New Hope Road. The grant would be an 80-20 split between the state and the city, meaning 80% of the money would be coming from federal aid and 20% from the city.

This plan to create a continuous sidewalk from New Hope to Pleasant Grove has been in the works, said Lance Jobe, director of engineering services.

Money from the grant would allow the city to start on improvement design plans and would only obligate the city to the design of the project for right now, Jobe said.

“We will go back to the Department of Transportation when we are ready to go for construction and ask for additional funds,” he said.

Councilwoman April Legere announced during the meeting that she will be resigning at the end of the month from her seat on the council.