Planners OK new student apartments

Commissioner commends revised architectural plans

FAYETTEVILLE — Planning commissioners gave the go-ahead to a new student housing apartment complex Monday.

The commission voted 8- 0 to approve a planned zoning district for the Retreat at Fayetteville, a 142- unit student- centric complex on Razorback Road, about 800 feet south of the intersection with Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. A planned zoning district is essentially a detailed rezoning request.

Attorney Will Kellstrom presented the item to the commission. It was the third time commissioners heard the request, asking for additional details each time.

Kellstrom said the plan met all of the city’s requirements, but designers wanted to go above and beyond. Updated plans included a 1,000-square-foot commercial space abutting Stadium Drive, which dead-ends at the site. Kellstrom gave examples for how the space could be used such as a coffee shop, gym, yoga studio or grab-and-go style restaurant.

Architects also “spiced up” the design of some of the 16 buildings, with covered porches and windows to make for a more pedestrian-friendly environment, Kellstrom said. The complex also will include a four-story parking deck and a clubhouse. Residential buildings will be three stories.

The land is currently zoned for industrial uses. Such uses include an egg farm, smokehouse, a used car lot, truck sales, cesspool cleaning and gun manufacturing, Kellstrom said.

“That’s not anything that we want to build,” he said. “But if the owner decided to sell to someone else, they could conceivably do that right here.”

Commissioner Leslie Belden commended the designers for updating the plan. She said she initially felt bad for being overly critical about the project in past meetings but felt the discussions led to much better plan.

Commissioners present voted unanimously in favor. Mike Wiederkehr was absent for the vote but attended online later in the meeting.

In other business, commissioners held until Jan. 10 a request from Tin Roof to operate a music venue out of the former Hog Haus building at the northeast corner of Dickson Street and West Avenue.

Ryan Umberger, senior planner with the city, said the application was missing some information. Although the city has no minimum parking requirement for businesses, a statement or analysis showing the business has adequate parking available without impacting surrounding properties is required, he said. The information was not included in Tin Roof’s proposal.

Additionally, staff wanted more information on frequency of events and expected occupancy, Umberger said. Also, a proposed prefabricated structure for a bar behind the building conflicts with existing water and sewer easements, he said.

Matt Poe with Modus Studio, the architecture firm behind the project, said all the city’s issues were easily fixable.

Chairman Matt Johnson and other commissioners agreed they weren’t concerned about the parking arrangement for the business. The building has never had its own parking, and a new parking deck is proposed as part of the arts corridor across the street, they said.

“I park somewhere different every time I’m in this area,” Johnson said. “It’s a busy entertainment district. It’s also adjacent to trails and probably one of the most easily accessible corners in our entertainment district.”

The commission also held a request for a permit to put a recreational vehicle park on 43 acres south of Lowe’s on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Planning staff recommended the commission deny the request, saying the wooded area is very ecologically sensitive. The proposal included 217 stalls for vehicles. The area is within a floodplain, with Farmington Branch running through and a portion of the property falling within the city’s hillside hilltop overlay standards.

Commissioners asked Crafton Tull, the firm who presented the request, to address on Jan. 10 the low traffic capacity of nearby Finger Road and for more details on how landscaping and natural features at the site would be handled.