Point of order
Posted on Tuesday, May 2, 2006
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/Editorial/40219/
Building height in downtown Fayetteville. It’s an issue everyone is talking about; an issue everyone has an opinion about. The main fuel for this discussion right now is the Barber Group’s proposed Divinity project, a 10-story hotel/condominium located on Dickson Street. The debate resumed on this issue at last night’s special meeting of the Fayetteville Planning Commission and is sure to end up in the laps of the City Council. But the Planning Commission and City Council aren’t the only city organizations debating the topic. Fayetteville’s Council of Neighborhoods also got into the act during its April 20 meeting. Members present voted on a proclamation in support of building height limitations: "We as the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods express deep concern about building heights that compromise the integrity of downtown and Dickson Street, in particular." Some council members not present at that April meeting took issue with the group taking an activist role.
That leads to this question: What should the role of the Council of Neighborhoods be?
Chairwoman Nancy Allen says that no one meant to speak for the entire organization as those votes were being cast; instead, they were simply acting as "individual representatives of their neighborhoods." Allen wasn’t the only person expressing concern for Fayetteville becoming "Anyplace, USA."
Although that’s a phrase that must cut the Barbers to the quick, there’s no denying that worries over preserving the character of Dickson Street speaks directly to the heart of most arguments against the Divinity project.
But Divinity isn’t the only building of height going up downtown. With the opening of the seven-story Legacy Building, though, and approval of the ninestory Lofts at Underwood Plaza, lots of people are afraid the Dickson Street atmosphere everyone has grown to cherish over recent years is being threatened as never before. So it’s not surprising that everyone and their dog has an opinion about all this — including this communications network for and between neighborhoods that tends to make towns feel much smaller.
The Council of Neighborhoods’ proclamation also goes deeper than opposing this one project. It deals with building heights in general, and that is something outlined in the Downtown Master Plan. The plan is currently going through the stages of implementation. The Divinity project is going through a similar process just ahead of the Downtown Master Plan. The master plan, if put in place, will set a height limit of six stories within its boundaries. Those boundaries include Dickson Street and the Fayetteville Square. Projects already approved or going through the planning process will be excluded from the new regulations.
But Paula Marinoni of the West Lafayette Street Historic Neighborhoods Association said the Council of Neighborhoods wasn’t drawn up for the purpose of taking on big-ticket items like building heights. In fact, she believes the action taken by the group last month was out of order. Marinoni suggested that perhaps a separate organization ought to be created (or reinstated, in the case of Friends of Fayetteville) if social activism is what some members are after.
We disagree. If a group like the Council of Neighborhoods can’t debate and express views on important citywide issues, why have the organization at all?
Allen said the proclamation voted on April 20 does not contradict the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods’ mission statement in its bylaws: "The mission of the Fayetteville Council of Neighborhoods is to promote and enhance the quality, stability, and vitality of the various neighborhoods in the City of Fayetteville; to provide a forum for neighborhood associations to share information, experiences, concerns, and ideas; and to help facilitate communication between neighborhoods, through their associations, and government agencies."
If speaking out about building heights downtown doesn’t fit that mission, what does? They are sharing their concerns and ideas about the future of Fayetteville — just as they are meant to.
If big issues are cut out of their agenda, what does that leave for them to meet about? Neighborhood cookouts? Speed tables? Trash pickup? Shouldn’t they feel free to express their concerns over issues that truly impact quality of life in the place they all call home? That answer is simple. Yes they should.