City council looks at comprehensive plan

The Bella Vista City Council examined a proposed comprehensive plan to guide the city to 2040 during a special work session last Thursday, June 11.

The council hired Gould Evans to produce the plan in 2017, and the current proposal is the result of several rounds of revision.

Mayor Peter Christie said it’s important to ensure this plan is what the city needs.

“We’re not trying to move quickly with this, you know, it’s been dragging on for about three years, so, you know, another month or two won’t hurt us,” he said.

With a few additional rounds of revision and fine-tuning, Christie said he expects the council could vote on the plan by August.

Graham Smith, associate principal with Gould Evans, said this plan is a product of several rounds of input from the public, the POA, Cooper Communities and the Walton Family Foundation.

The plan should function as a set of guidelines for officials to help the city develop on the residential and commercial side without losing its character, he said.

It examines development patterns the city can take advantage of and also looks at things like connectivity, urban development, future land use and development form.

“We want to create strong neighborhoods for families and people to live in,” he said.

Councilmember Steven Bourke said that he saw an iteration of the plan six months ago that seemed shallow, but the latest version feels much more complete and it’s benefited from input from a wide array of sources.

“They’re trying to factor in all these disparate, if you will, points of view,” he said.

Bourke said he was concerned that the plan might not reflect a majority of residents’ viewpoints and he’d like to see further public input.

It might also be worth having the planning commission examine the plan again to find any gaps in it, he said. Whether the document is actually useful to city staff and officials is the most important factor, he added.

“I think that’s really kind of the key to whether this has value to the city or not,” Bourke said.

Councilmember Jim Wozniak said he’s concerned the plan might overemphasize trails, which aren’t ideal for transportation.

“It’s good for someone who’s healthy,” he said.

Another concern, he

said, is a lot of maps in the document are too small with too many data points. Splitting the information across multiple maps could make the plan more legible, he said.

Councilmember Doug Fowler said he believes the

plan is solid.

“I think it’s an honest plan and it lays out, for me, what is possible,” he said.

With multiple major entities in the city, he said, it’s important to consider who leads the city’s future development.