Townhome development gets conceptual OK

ROGERS — The City Council gave conceptual approval on Tuesday night to a townhome development planned across the street from the Rogers Public Library.

Plans for Pine Street Townhomes include 32 townhome units on 6.04 acres just north of the library parking lot and along the west and north sides of the Library Park on Pine Street.

The development would erect a row of two-story townhomes adjacent to houses on Cypress Street and a couple of three-story fourplexes on Pine Street.

Residents will have access to entrances at 15th and Pine streets, and drainage will be captured in a retention pond in the northwest corner of the parcel, according to John McCurdy, community development director.

Council members unanimously approved a rezoning of the property from the residential single-family district to the residential multifamily zoning district. A large-scale development plan will have to be approved before construction begins.

Four residents spoke against the project at an Oct. 5 Planning Commission meeting, expressing concern that putting a multifamily development in the middle of their neighborhood of single-family houses would drastically change the character of the area. They also said they were worried the development would exacerbate current flooding and drainage issues in the neighborhood.

The developers intend the townhomes to be owner-occupied and plan to work with city engineering staff on drainage issues during the development process, Phil Swope of Swope Engineering said.

The city will acquire a small piece of land adjacent to LISA Academy on the west side of town for a future project.

The city agreed to accept the land, which spans from Horsebarn Park to the Trail of Two Cities, as part of the largescale development process for the charter school, according to McCurdy.

At least a portion of the land needed to be acquired by the city for its Oak Street project, McCurdy said. The project will include extending Oak Street to the west side of Interstate 49 by an overpass.

Connectivity with the park and surrounding trails was also a reason for the acquisition, he said.

The council unanimously approved a quitclaim deed to acquire the property from KLS Leasing II LLC. The charter school’s Rogers campus is located at 590 S. Horsebarn Road.

The mayor also reappointed Martine Pollard and Jerry Walton to the Northwest Arkansas National Airport Board of Directors. The appointments were unanimously confirmed by the council.

The cities of Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, Siloam Springs, and Springdale, and Benton and Washington counties each appoint two members to the board.

Pollard is Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield’s vice president for the Northwest Arkansas market. Walton is retired but previously served as the executive vice president of finance and administration and chief financial officer of J.B. Hunt Transport Services.

Their terms will begin Jan. 1, 2023, and end Dec. 31, 2028.