Panel OKs cabins for medical recovery

Fayetteville housing community has 20 microshelters, common building

FAYETTEVILLE — A transitional housing community on the south side of town will be able to provide medical respite for clients recently released from Washington Regional Medical Center.

Planning commissioners on Monday voted 7-0 to approve a change to the original permit for New Beginnings community on 19th Street. New Beginnings opened in 2021 and provides bridge housing for people who have experienced chronic homelessness.

Tyler Avery with Jurni Design Group presented the request to the commission. He said the site has 20 prefabricated overnight microshelters and one common building featuring office, kitchen, laundry and restroom space. The proposal gives New Beginnings the ability to add four more microshelters and one small restroom and shower facility.

Solomon Burchfield, program director at New Beginnings, said the four additional units will serve as part of a program called A Place to Heal. The units will provide respite care for unhoused people well enough to leave the hospital but too ill or frail to recover on the streets. Washington Regional Medical Center and Blue and You Foundation of Arkansas are partnering on the project.

“It clears the way for us to open Arkansas’ first medical respite for the homeless project,” he said. “This project is going to support some of our community’s most vulnerable unhoused people as they discharge from Washington regional hospital and recover at A Place to Heal.”

Burchfield said he hopes to hold a soft opening next month for the project using some current units until the new units are installed.

Commissioner Jimm Garlock commended New Beginnings for its work and said the project will be compatible with the surrounding area, lying near services such as bus stops and 7 Hills Homeless Center.

In other business, the commission voted 6-0 to approve a planned zoning district for Holt Village, northeast of

Mount Comfort and Rupple Roads.

Alli Quinlan with Flintlock LAB presented the request to the commission. A planned zoning district is a detailed zoning request that includes planned building types and land uses.

The entire 16.7-acre site would have about 125 homes. Primarily single-family homes would lie on the edges of the property, close to an existing neighborhood. Multifamily developments could sit along Mount Comfort Road and within the center of the property. Building heights would be limited to three stories.

Resident Matthew Millis said the proposed homes may not fit with the character of his neighborhood to the north because of their smaller lot sizes. He described the change in density as drastic and expressed concerns over increased traffic and potential nuisances such as lights and noise from the development.

Commissioner Mary McGetrick recused from the vote. The City Council will have final say on the zoning proposal.

Additionally, the commission voted 7-0 to approve a permit for mini storage units and office spaces on a triangular shaped property northwest of Shiloh Drive and Chicory Place.

Attorney Will Kellstrom presented the request to the commission and said the four-story building will appear more like offices than storage units. The prospective owners of the property also agreed to grant permission to the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust to access nearby Wilson Springs preserve through the parking lot.

There was some discussion about a condition planning staff suggested to not allow transfer of the permit to a new property owner or business. Ultimately, Commissioner Brad Payne made a motion to strike that condition and allow unlimited transfer of the permit to any new owners. The commission also set the hours of operation for 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Commissioners Sarah Sparkman and Mary Madden were absent Monday.