Workforce housing stats given to planners

Planning Commission members spent the majority of the Feb. 6 meeting listening to and asking questions of Duke McLarty with Workforce Housing and Megan Brown, director with Signature Program for the Urban Land Institute.

Business items presented to the Planning Commission were approved in the final quarter of an hour of the meeting.

Commission members approved an amendment to the city’s code addressing manufactured homes. That ordinance will be presented to the City Council in its regular meeting Tuesday, Feb. 20.

Commission members also approved the final plat of Yorktown Subdivision Phase I. That item of business will also be sent to the City Council for final approval.

McLarty, executive director of the workforce housing center for the Northwest Arkansas Council, explained what workforce housing is and why it is needed in northwest Arkansas. He said many people do not earn enough to afford the cost of purchasing a home and housing in a moderate range should be encouraged.

Land prices in Pea Ridge are low compared to those in communities closer to the I-49 corridor, McLarty said, pushing development into the city and surrounding area. He said as building increases in the area, green spaces and open spaces are “gobbled up.”

One of his goals is to incentivize municipalities to offer density bonuses, fee waivers and consider “soft density,” McLarty said

Jessica Lewallen, architect, who works with Groundwork, Workforce Housing for Northwest Arkansas, said that if “you can only get around by car,” growth and housing are limited. She advised adapting plans to include cycling lanes, trails and sidewalks.

City planning director Jessica Grady said she had attended a ULI Summit as she introduced Megan Brown.

“We created this grant as a way to help support the smaller communities (not the big four) that are inundated with the growth,” Brown said, specifically asking how they can help support those communities.

Grady said the grant process has been approved.