Ideas run aplenty in plans for Fayette Junction development
Posted on Friday, September 19, 2008
ANDY SHUPE Northwest Arkansas Times Karen Minkel, interim director of long range planning for the city of Fayetteville, left, makes a presentation Thursday to residents after a period of collecting ideas for long range planning for Fayette Junction in south Fayetteville at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park.
Vision is the star of the Fayette Junction Neighborhood Plan.
"The fact that you can make this a greener, nicer side of town is a challenge, but certainly one worth completing," said developer Hank Broyles, following a Thursday evening presentation about the planning process and vision.
There's no guarantee a single building will go where it's shown on the new illustrative plan; no guarantee trails will weave through the flood plains of south Fayetteville; and no guarantee that a light-rail hub will one day welcome travelers where old railroad lines now meet. And yet they all are more likely to come to fruition because residents, landowners and city planners got together to wonder what south Fayetteville could become.
"It looks like we have some wonderful ideas and concepts," said Ward 1 Alderman Brenda Thiel.
She said it would take years to implement the plan; but noted that once the Walker Neighborhood Plan was adopted the city immediately began to see people wanting to invest in the area.
Karen Minkel, interim director of long-range planning for the city, took about 50 people through the process of the plan.
It started with learning about the site and environment of the almost 600 acres roughly surrounded by Interstate 540, 15 th Street and flood plain. The process included a handson workshop for stakeholders to share their ideas and an open studio for people to work with designers as the plan evolved.
Tours, reports on soil and infrastructure, storm water and the history of the area that once supported a thriving timber and canning industry were all part of the effort to create a new vision for an old part of town.
"Throughout the week, our team discussed, and debated and eventu- ally rendered the draft illustrative plan. That really sums up the charrette process. You have a time crunch and you have to summon all your ideas within that one week to make something happen and to produce this vision," Minkel said.
Three guiding principles shone through the workshops and conversations: integrate the built and natural environments, support multimodal transit and concentrate cleantech industry. Cleantech refers to business products, services and processes that reduce ecological impact.
A gradual transition between uses and densities is the key to integrating the environments, Minkel said. Development near the flood plain should be sensitive to it, workshop participants said.
A southern gateway to the city off I-540 at Razorback Road and protected views also play a part in the vision for a blended environment.
Planners envision the hilltops at that entrance to the city holding civic buildings, such as a visitor center with the grandeur of Thorncrown Chapel - a glass chapel in Eureka Springs well known for its architectural style - while preserving the view of Old Main on the University of Arkansas campus.
A trail network, connected neighborhoods and the possibility of light rail were all identified as transit possibilities. As envisioned, the flood plain would be used as an amenity and trail corridor, extending the green space in the area from about 33 acres to about 133 acres.
One ambitious goal is a light rail hub north of Cato Springs Road and east of Razorback Road where the railroad tracks meet in a "Y."
"In this plan, the way that Fayette Junction has been envisioned is that now there is a transit stop there. We talked about it might evolve over time, as first, perhaps, a park and ride place, to a bus stop, to hopefully, a light rail stop," she said.
The draft plan shows a density high enough to support light rail and block and street layouts that would allow such a hub to develop.
Minkel said all the workshop table designs included concentrating cleantech industry as a way to announce Fayetteville's Green Valley concept.
Green Valley describes the local effort to identify Northwest Arkansas as a center of the sustainability or "green"movement.
Minkel said city staff has been developing a cleantech use unit that would allow that type of industry to locate in commercial, as well as industrial areas of the city.
One group inspired by the vision of the Fayette Junction plan was three members of the city's Housing Authority Board. Hugh Earnest, Mark Kinion and Deborah Olsen saw the potential for senior housing in a corner of the defined area.
"It's going to be on a transit corridor, and it's close to grocery stores. It makes a lot of sense. The trail's right there," Earnest said.
Kinion was already thinking of the possibility of federal grants to spark that redevelopment in the area.
Mike Ehrig, a resident within the planning area boundaries had been concerned about too much change in a neighborhood that had stayed pristine for 40 years.
"I like the way they've got it laid out," he said.
Minkel said any development in the area would be market driven.
"The city rarely develops, and how quickly it happens is driven by the market too," she said.
She said staff would be working on the plan for the next several months to produce a final document.
The draft plan will be on the city's Web site next week.
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