Aldermen get first in-depth look at SouthPass plans
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The SouthPass development got its first chance in front of the City Council Tuesday night. No significant action was taken, but the ball began to roll.
The 900-plus acre development planned for the south side of Fayetteville, just west of Interstate 540 off of Cato Springs Road, needs council approval to be annexed from the city of Greenland into Fayetteville, to be established as a residential planned zoning district and to realign Shiloh Drive through the development. The council also needed to approve entering into a cost-share agreement with SouthPass developers for infrastructure.
The annexation and rezoning were not voted on, and the council sent the Shiloh Drive and infrastructure cost-share proposals to the Street Committee.
The council got to see an in-depth presentation from designers on what South-Pass would look like, which included exploration of the development's 200-acre regional park and pictures of the development's neighborhoods. Rob Robinson, of Urban Design Associates, one of the firms hired to develop plans for the project, said the development is proposed to be a 20- to 25-year project.
"On a project this scale there are many, many hands involved to shape (South-Pass ) and make it the way it is," he said.
Robinson showed off the designs, which included the 200-acre park in the middle of two developed areas, one mixed use and one residential. Over half of the development will be green space.
The council did hear some opposition to the project. Sharon Davidson, a concerned citizen, said that the city needed to be wary of gifts, such as a 200-acre regional park, that come so freely. She said the city's financial situation is something to be considered when it comes to cost sharing on infrastructure for such a large development.
"We're building a whole other town aren't we, a whole other town for somebody so we can get a park, and my question is what will we do to get what we want," Davidson said.
She added that during tough economic times, Fayetteville should look within and see how many empty buildings fill its city limits already.
"It's not a done deal, it shouldn't be a done deal, and I hope you all will not allow it to be a shove-through deal," She said of SouthPass.
Still, some supported the multimillion dollar development.
Robert Sharp stated that the architecture and design of the development is exactly what the city needs when it comes to growth. He pointed out that the I-540 corridor will be developed eventually.
"If this project's not supported, I think we are going to see far, far worse (development along the highway )," Sharp pointed out.
Finally, SouthPass property owner Richard Alexander told the council that a lot of hard work, by some of the best minds in the country, has been invested into the development over the past six years. He reminded aldermen that city planning and parks staff have been involved with the process the whole way.
"This is not just something where two developers from Winslow drove up in a pickup truck and said, ' Let's see what we can develop here, '"Alexander said.
He added that the plan is only at its beginning, that the council, depending on its vote, would only be setting the "bones"of the development into place, and it will be up to the city councils of the future to make sure the development turns out just like it does in the original design.
Alexander finished by stating that the city's 2025 plan was taken into account in every step of the design process.
"We set the ground rules and tried to do a planned development that is not urban sprawl," he said. "This plan you see was designed by the best we could find in the country with full city cooperation."
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