Rogers : City planners OK annexing 5 acres
Posted on Wednesday, February 8, 2006
The Rogers Planning Commission unanimously voted to annex and rezone five acres for a Habitat for Humanity housing project Tuesday night, despite concerns raised last month over street width and parking.
The 17-lot project will use a design that minimizes concrete to produce less stormwater runoff, said Aaron Gabriel, the project director with the University of Arkansas Community Design Center who helped plan the project.
“It’s not a subdivision,” Gabriel said of the $ 2 million project on Old Wire Road south of East Sandlewood Drive. “Subdivision is a speculative process by which you divide lots and the agents who sell them have nothing to do with each other. This looks at the patterns of development and tries to use those to build by.”
The site received several variances from city code upon approval. Front setbacks were reduced to between 8 and 16 feet instead of 25 feet.
Streets will have 20 feet of pavement and another 8 feet of “greencrete,” or concrete blocks with grass between them, alongside for parking. Last month, plans showed only 18-foot-wide streets.
“Cars are discouraged from moving quickly,” Gabriel said of the narrow street width. “Having those variances makes it a better place to be.”
Plans also call for “bioswales,” or stormwater gardens lined with gravel and deep rooted vegetation, to filter the water instead of pipes, detention ponds and curb and gutter designs.
Bill Watkins, the attorney representing the project, said the developers aren’t trying maximize the number of lots in the project for additional profit.
“We’re asking for variances to obtain more green space,” Watkins said.
Commissioner Ron Shelby said the design and the project’s association with Habitat for Humanity will attract residents who want social interaction where they live.
“The clientele with Habitat are given a chance at home ownership, and with that comes a great sense of pride,” Shelby said. “It teaches you how to be a good neighbor. The whole thing is neat.”
Each $ 65, 000 lot needs a corporate sponsor before the home can be built, said Debbie Wieneke, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Benton County. Four lots have sponsors, she said.
To qualify for a home, applicants must make about 80 percent of median income according to Department of Housing and Urban Development federal income guidelines. They must have lived or worked in Benton County for at least a year, and be willing to commit to a 25- to 30-year mortgage.
“It keeps the mortgage payment under $ 350 a month,” Wieneke said. “New people are coming in every day asking if they can help out.”
Commissioner Jim White still had concerns over 8-foot setbacks listed in the plan, but said the project should be allowed to proceed.
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