The proposed area for the re-zoning effort in Fayetteville is highlighted in red. | Image courtesy: City of Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – At their Sept. 16 meeting, Fayetteville City Council members received a request for a planned residential zoning district off North Raven Lane in northwest Fayetteville, right next to the in-development Underwood Park. The discussion centered around who this housing could serve, if it was truly the right fit for the location and if the plans for the connection from Raven Lane to Deane Solomon Road would work for this residential idea.
The proposed plan would dedicate 27 acres to housing for single family homes and some duplexes. The remaining 22 acres would be reserved for open area and green space, which the property currently accommodates, and would include a promise for a public street through the neighborhood connecting Raven Lane to Deane Solomon Road.
The applicant for the proposed development, Next Chapter Neighborhoods, represented by Andrew Malzer, claimed the streets would be built to city standard, with public access between major existing streets. He also said the sidewalks would connect the existing neighborhood to the south to Underwood Park.
Malzer also described the project as a market rate build-to-rent neighborhood with maintenance and landscaping included.
“If your light bulb goes out, we change it. If your fridge goes out, we replace it. We take care of all the exterior maintenance of the homes as well as all the landscaping. So if you have a question of like, Well, do you take care of this? The answer is most definitely yes,” Malzer said. Malzer said existing neighborhoods they manage, such as Jasper Village of Rincon, Ga., and Foxtail Commons of Ridgeland, S.C., see interest from a variety of single-family renters looking to live in a house, but not buy yet, and older adults that want low maintenance without moving into an apartment.
The tentative proposed rent prices are as follows:
* 1 bedroom: $1,600-$1,700
* 2 bedroom: $1,800-$1,950
* 3 bedroom: $2,000-$2,150
* 4 bedroom: $2,200-$2,400
The proposed development raised questions of who this neighborhood is for. Council Member Sarah Moore noted how design and context will matter near a major park investment.
“As I looked at the photos, it doesn’t feel very Fayetteville. I see a lot of concrete,” Moore said. “I’m just real curious about what kind of profile of an individual when you look at our housing assessment and the city … I’d really like to understand what part of our city that answers for.”
After the presentation, the questions prompted public comment. Fayetteville resident Wes Bates said the proposal “sounds a bit tone deaf” to recent affordability discussions and argued that “it just looks like a single-family neighborhood that nobody can own their house, which is not exactly what we’ve been talking about.”
A resident of a nearby neighborhood, Jim Erwin, questioned the future of having a large rental community added directly next to a public amenity. “I don’t feel like this is a great use of this piece of property, and I ask that you do not allow it to be rezoned for that,” Erwin said.
Commenting on the design of the neighborhood, Erwin said “It’s basically an HOA. They have no rights to change the color of their own house, how they want to decorate it or anything like that.”
Not all of the discourse was negative, however. Council member Scott Berna voiced support for the project, and after thanking the applicant, he said “This has been very well thought out, and I, for one, would look at it being next to the park as a great amenity.”
The council left the item on first reading, which pauses the request until the next round of discussion, so planners can finish checking a few last-minute edits in the applicant’s booklet. The move was routine, and will likely be addressed during the city council meeting on Oct. 7.