Highfill rezones large land area for industrial use
Numerous residents voice concerns
HIGHFILL — After hearing from numerous residents opposed to a request of Samuel Matthias to the council to rezone a large area of land to the west of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport from rural-residential to industrial, the Highfill City Council unanimously approved the rezoning, passing the rezoning ordinance on three readings with a single vote.
The land in question was only a portion of the land originally brought to the city’s planning commission with a request for rezoning. Sach Oliver of Highfill withdrew his lands from the rezoning request because of the number of area residents with concerns. His withdrawal left land belonging to Matthias — 1,231 acres to be rezoned as Industrial 1 (light industrial) and 80 acres to be rezoned as Industrial 2 (heavy industrial). Many residents with homes in the southern area of the original request, near land owned by Oliver, were relieved by Oliver’s decision.
Highfill’s planning commission declined to approve a rezoning request to convert approximately 1,800 acres of land just west of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport from rural-residential zoning to industrial at its Aug. 23 meeting. Samuel Matthias of Mathias Properties in Springdale and Sach Oliver of Highfill, owners of the properties in question, requested the rezoning so they could market the properties for industrial development because of their proximity to the airport. No specific details were released about the type of industrial plans for the property.
No action was taken at the July 26 planning commission meeting on the initial rezoning request. There was standing room only at the July 26 meeting, with a good number of Highfill residents attending to learn more about planned use for the property and concerns about what might be built on property near their homes and farms.
When the commission in August did not grant the request of Mathias Properties due to concerns of other local landowners, Oliver asked that his request for rezoning be tabled until a later date. Mathias appealed to the city council for rezoning of the property, arguing through spokesperson Tom Hopper of Crafton Tull that the land adjacent to the airport could provide needed space to bring industry to northwest Arkansas and benefit the city of Highfill.
In the request to the council, a 660-foot strip of land was left rural-residential on the west side of the property to serve as a buffer for those living in the area. No specific plans for an access road between Arkansas Highways 12 and 264 were included in plans. Hopper said the road and its location had not yet been studied or planned.
Oliver, on Sept. 13, told the council he was not planning to request that his land be rezoned because he wanted to be a good neighbor. He said he was listing it for sale under the rural-residential zoning, adding that he intended to continue running cattle on his property until it sold. He provided to the council a history of how he and Samuel Matthias came to own the land which was in forfeiture at the time it was purchased.
Hopper addressed the council and said there were no more large tracts of land in northwest Arkansas zoned for industry, pointing out that the more residential an area becomes, the less suitable it becomes for industry. He said there was a great need for industrial lands near the growing airport. He also said the city needed the land to be developed to add sewer customers to the sewer system constructed there when much of the land was zoned for planned unit development.
Hopper called upon the council and the citizens of Highfill to determine how they want Highfill to grow and what type of city it wishes to become because of the coming growth and expansion.
Most of the area landowners who spoke said that they were not against growth, but they asked for more of a buffer between land which is residential and that which is industrial.
Tommy Surber said he moved to Highfill two years ago and lives adjacent to property proposed for Industrial 1 use. He said an 8-foot berm and trees were not enough to satisfy him. Melody Pirkey, who lives near Surber, said she and her family moved to Highfill to get away from all the rules in Bella Vista and now were concerned that having industrial zoning next to her property would cause pollution, traffic and noise, destroying her reasons for buying the land and moving to Highfill.
Ryan DeClerk said he purchased land in Highfill to build a home for himself and another for his in-laws but now had concerns that the rezoning might not make his land a place where he wishes to build. He said the rezoning creates an uncertainty in his mind about his property.
Mike Bowen, who lives south of the area, along Douglas Cemetery Road, expressed concerns over where a north-south road might be built and what it might do to a live stream on his property.
Cassie Elliott said she had many of the records from all the work Highfill had done about 13 years ago to zone the city so that all could live in harmony. She said the land in question had been rezoned from rural-residential to planned unit development but had never been zoned industrial. She opposed the rezoning and suggested taking more time and involving the Regional Planning Commission for help in determining the best uses of the land before proceeding.
Stacy Digby, Highfill’s mayor, said the property in question was once zoned for planned unit development which included industrial zoning near the airport but, when plans fell through for the previous property owner, the land reverted back to rural-residential zoning.
Both Dwayne Evans and Stacie Williamson, members of the planning commission, said the commission didn’t vote on the matter because there were too many unanswered questions and not enough time to fully consider how a decision would affect all involved. Williamson said many of those unanswered questions were answered in the Sept. 13 presentations to the council.
Vernon Reams, a city employee who lives just west of the city limits, pointed out from his own experiences that rural-residential zoning would allow chicken houses to be built next door, and the industrial zoning would protect landowners from the negative impact of that agricultural use.
Digby explained that industrial zoning for the property would allow all that commercial zoning allows, plus industrial uses. The Industrial 2 (heavy industrial) designation requested for a portion of the land allows for additional industrial uses not permitted under Industrial 1 (light industrial).
Light industrial would permit things such as warehouses and packaging plants, roofing and building supplies, according to planning commission member Butch Wiand. Heavy industrial would include such things as fabrication plants, trucking and freight companies, assembly and processing plants. The Industrial 2 zoning sought was adjacent to the airport property, Wiand said. He said property on the east side of the airport is already zoned for industrial use and could possibly become the site of an additional runway.
Digby urged the council to resolve the matter once and for all on Sept. 13, saying the amount of time the rezoning requests had been considered by the planning commission and now the council should be enough to come to a decision. The ordinance changing the zoning was passed with rules suspended and on three readings with a single vote.