Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Meetings Begin On Future Land Use Plan
CITY OF LINCOLN ALSO WORKING ON NEW MASTER STREET PLAN
LINCOLN — Some of the city’s greatest strengths include its beauty, the downtown square, its history, school system and hard-working community members.
Weaknesses are slow population growth, insufficient quality housing and crushing poverty.
These are some of the results from a survey to help the city develop a future land use plan and a master street plan. About 12 people attended a kick-off meeting earlier this month to start discussions on the new plans.
The city has contracted with Juliet Richey, planner and project manager with Brooks Landscape Architecture and Planning in Fayetteville, to facilitate the planning process. Richey served as Washington County’s director of planning for almost 12 years.
Some people already have filled out a survey but Richey wants to try to get the survey into as many hands as possible.
She said the survey results so far surprised her in how much “the conversation was about socio-economic issues.”
The top answer for the question, “what type of development does Lincoln need?” was residential and the answer given next was rehabilitation of existing buildings.
Another question asked people about the type of housing needed in Lincoln. The top answer here was entry level starter homes with mid-level single family homes coming in second. Others noted that Lincoln needs duplexes and triplexes.
For some of the questions, respondents were asked to write in their answers.
What do you think is Lincoln’s great opportunity for the future? Answers included businesses into town to facilitate growth, attracting young, upward mobile families and solid middle class, affordable and mid-size housing, attract larger employers that are not retail but are online or manufacturing businesses.
What is your biggest concern for Lincoln’s future? Answers included insufficient quality housing to facilitate growth, that the downtown will be no more, continuing the slide to be the low-rent bedroom community for Northwest Arkansas, jobs for people in the area, remaining the same.
Richey said a future land use plan and a master street plan will provide city officials a rational basis for decisions.
“It helps you as public officials not to be pressured in the moment,” Richey said.
A city has to take into consideration its demographics when talking about the future and where it wants to go, Richey said.
She gave out information from the U.S. Census Bureau about Lincoln. In 2000, Lincoln’s population was 1,752. It grew to 2,249 in 2010 and is projected to grow to 2,693 in 2020 and to 3,289 in 2030.
The 2010 census showed that about 92 percent of the population in Lincoln is white, about 52 percent is female and 57 percent is from the ages 18-64.
A five-year survey looking at years 2012-2016 shows the median household income in Lincoln is $25,000, with 36 percent below the poverty line. Around 72 percent are high school graduates or higher.
Council member Doug Hutchins said highway improvements in Northwest Arkansas have hurt Lincoln, as well as industries leaving Lincoln.
In 2003, the traffic count through Lincoln was 7,000 cars per day, Hutchins said, but then dropped considerably during the economy downturn. Now, the traffic count is high coming through Farmington and Prairie Grove but not through Lincoln, he added.
“Our traffic count hasn’t gone up like other towns in Washington County,” Hutchins said.
Other concerns discussed included diplapidated housing, cleaning up property, and how to bring in new businesses and fill up empty buildings.
On the positive side, Lincoln has many key assets that make it unique, Richey said.
The city owns its own water and sewer systems, has a downtown square with a community building and has existing commercial and small businesses. A new Harps store, Lincoln Lake and the proximity to Cane Hill and its associated history benefit Lincoln, she said.
Other assets are a strong school community and identity, strong community groups and churches, sense of place and local history, nearby agricultural land, good system of parks and that the outlying rural areas identify with Lincoln and are invested in Lincoln.
“Your location has some challenges but I think there are definite things that work in your favor that other small towns don’t have,” Richey said.
“There are a lot of positives in Lincoln,” Mayor Rob Hulse agreed. “We have opportunities and I think we have something to bring for people coming in.”
Richey said she would take the survey results and the discussion from the meeting and draft goals for the land use plan. The group will be meeting monthly in the City Council room at 6 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. The next meeting will be Feb. 7. The public is invited to attend the planning meetings.