Housing projects are tabled again

ROGERS — Developers of a 67-acre housing project agreed to table plans again after the Planning Commission deliberated on it Tuesday.

The large scale development plan for The Pointe at Rogers was approved by the Planning Commission in December 2022. Per city code, construction has to begin within one year of Planning Commission approval.

Planning documents say an extension for the project — proposed to be near the intersection of South Champions Drive and West Pleasant Grove Road — was requested near the end of 2023. The reports say by the time of the extension request, city connectivity requirements had changed to require direct routes through new developments.

According to the staff report, an appeal of the extension denial was created on the basis the project applicant had spent about $1 million.

“The connections on this site to the surrounding areas may meet the spacing requirements (arguably), but do not provide direct routes through the site,” the documents say.

Developers of The Pointe say the lack of connectivity in relation to the city’s traffic grid was intentional because tenants would not want people cutting through the site, according to the documents.

There are roughly 10 connection points within phase one of the development, said the representing attorney, Bill Watkins.

John McCurdy, director of community development, said the intent of the connectivity ordinance is more about creating a grid network of streets that create easily accessible alternate routes than number of connectivity points.

Watkins said reworking the internal street plans of the development would force the developer to rework the whole project plan.

Commissioners Steve Lane and Mark Myers both asked if there was a way for the developer to adjust project plans to meet city requirements without reworking the whole site.

Watkins began explaining how the developer could adjust the site to satisfy city requirements.

Myers said that tabling the project again would allow time for proper rework. “It sounds like we have pretty good ideas,” he said.

The development will be revisited at the Planning Commission’s April 16 meeting.

Planning documents show The Pointe would be a mixed-use development with four construction phases and commercial storefronts on the northeastern side of the 67-acre site along Pleasant Grove Road. Phase one of the project would include 412 residential units. The development would also include a clubhouse.

OTHER BUSINESS

• The commission approved the request of a conditional use permit in a residential neighborhood district for the use of “business and professional office” at 2305 S. Dixieland Road with operational hours of 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• The commission recommended moving a rezone request of 921 S. 4th St to the City Council. The request asks for the land to be rezoned from neighborhood residential to neighborhood transitional. Neighborhood transitional zoning is allowed in the area the site is located in. Commissioner Hannah Cicioni recused herself from this issue.

• A rezone and density concept plan for The Hamilton, a 449-unit apartment complex, addressed at 4451 and 4453 S. Dixieland Road, was tabled again. The commission will revisit it on May 21.