Paving the way

Bentonville explores steps toward housing affordability

Last month, the Bentonville City Council voted to accept a set of recommendations aimed at increasing the viability and availability of attainable and affordable housing within the city limits. The report is the culmination of more than a year’s work of the appointed Affordable Housing Working Group. The recommendations outline the growing issue in Bentonville and provide poignant and innovative solutions, positioning the city to incentivize and catalyze development of more attainable housing.

In a comprehensive report, data tells the story of the role housing costs play in pushing the working class out of the city. Less than 30% of Bentonville’s population makes less than $50,000 a year, down from nearly 48% in 2010. More than 34,000 people a day commute to Bentonville but live elsewhere. It can also take as long three years to get a new development approved and constructed in Bentonville. It is clear Bentonville needs to incentivize development, produce more housing supply and reduce the internal timelines to bring new housing online.

How do they plan to do that?

The Affordable Housing Working Group offers solutions that include the up-zoning of areas in the city where condensed development makes sense; availing land to residential development where it is currently not allowed; incentivizing development through the reduction of approval timelines and city-imposed fees; and encouraging use of existing infrastructure. Additionally, the working group introduced a guide for the city to accelerate the implementation of many of the recommendations.

Bentonville is setting an impressive example of how others in the region can ease the impacts of rising housing costs across the region. As executive director of the Northwest Arkansas Council’s workforce housing center, I’m in favor of creating housing optionality for the region’s workforce, ensuring the workforce can live in the communities they serve. Today, housing prices have pushed much of our workforce out of their communities, committing them to significant commutes and time away from their homes and families and creating unnecessary congestion.

The lack of attainable housing affects everyone and undermines the region’s exceptional quality of life.

Whether it’s a longer wait for service at a restaurant, limited appointment availability at the doctor’s office, or larger classroom sizes at schools and childcare centers, none of us can hide from the impacts of a lack of attainable housing.

In 2023, the workforce housing center will complement the work and suggestions of the Bentonville Affordable Housing Working Group by better telling the story of regional housing challenges. The center will educate and engage residents and make them part of the solution. Most importantly, the center will listen and amplify stories of those impacted by the lack of housing affordability.

Northwest Arkansas is at an inflection point. The region is projected to almost double in population by 2045 to nearly a million people. Bentonville is also projected to double to nearly 114,000 by 2045, up from 57,000 today.

We’re welcoming families every day who have come with the same dream we have — to be surrounded by caring people in a beautiful place. While that growth brings many opportunities for us all, we have to come together and thoughtfully plan for it. We must make sure our homes and roads and green spaces are designed with the future we want in mind.

Now is the time to plan for growth. Now is the time to incentivize the development patterns that will build the 2045 version of Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas. Now is the time to adopt smart growth policies that will ensure the region’s quality of life remains, that our communities remain vibrant, that our downtowns keep their charm and that our workforce and children can afford to continue to call Northwest Arkansas home.

I commend the leadership of Mayor Stephanie Orman, members of Bentonville City Council, Bentonville city staff and the Affordable Housing Working Group for their dedication and incredible work. Their willingness to examine the city’s housing affordability challenges and explore new solutions is like no other work being done across Arkansas and the Heartland. This is the leadership and attention the region needs. Because of their commitment, Bentonville is positioned to be the model for other cities in Northwest Arkansas, and I look forward to continued partnership and collaboration.

Duke McLarty is executive director of the Northwest Arkansas workforce housing center. It’s a Walton Family Foundation-backed initiative of the Northwest Arkansas Council, a private, nonprofit group that promotes Northwest Arkansas business and development.