Fayetteville, Arkansas

[Mith242]

The Court Case was turned down by the judge, but I'm sure it will go to the State Appellate Court and possibly the State Supreme Court. I'm almost positive the store will be built with the liquor in it. They stated that nothing below a 12 pack would be sold, and that there would be no 6 pack, 4 packs, or single cans sold as well as it not being cold.

Yeah I'm pretty sure this is a losing battle but I guess they're going to fight it anyway. It looks to happen eventually, just a matter of time.

[Mith242]

There is still fighting over the hillside ordinance. But I'm wondering if this is going to go elsewhere. I saw a quote from one of the people fighting this. He stated, 'ordinances are intended to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens.' This to me sounds like that then if we took this to be the meaning of ordinances then you could attack many of them. How is the sign ordinance protecting the health, safety and welfare of the citizens? Personally I think this is going the wrong direction. You set up a precedent to turn over many of the ordinances and then we just start accepting any development and placing it anywhere like a certain Fayetteville neighbor. I also see a hard time making this type of arguement on ordinances when I think we know there are other cities like Santa Fe that have more restrictive ordinances than Fayetteville. Anyone have any thoughts on any of this?

[razorbackfan]

There is still fighting over the hillside ordinance. But I'm wondering if this is going to go elsewhere. I saw a quote from one of the people fighting this. He stated, 'ordinances are intended to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens.' This to me sounds like that then if we took this to be the meaning of ordinances then you could attack many of them. How is the sign ordinance protecting the health, safety and welfare of the citizens? Personally I think this is going the wrong direction. You set up a precedent to turn over many of the ordinances and then we just start accepting any development and placing it anywhere like a certain Fayetteville neighbor. I also see a hard time making this type of arguement on ordinances when I think we know there are other cities like Santa Fe that have more restrictive ordinances than Fayetteville. Anyone have any thoughts on any of this?

Personallly I think there are too many ordinances, and many of them are nothing but a waste. The one thing that does surprise me is the location that they are wanting to build the Sams. I am very surprised they are not building it over by the Supercenter off of Joyce, next to where the furniture store is going or somewhere by target. I think they are building it in a weird location to be honest with ya.

[masons_dad1]

There is still fighting over the hillside ordinance. But I'm wondering if this is going to go elsewhere. I saw a quote from one of the people fighting this. He stated, 'ordinances are intended to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens.' This to me sounds like that then if we took this to be the meaning of ordinances then you could attack many of them. How is the sign ordinance protecting the health, safety and welfare of the citizens? Personally I think this is going the wrong direction. You set up a precedent to turn over many of the ordinances and then we just start accepting any development and placing it anywhere like a certain Fayetteville neighbor. I also see a hard time making this type of arguement on ordinances when I think we know there are other cities like Santa Fe that have more restrictive ordinances than Fayetteville. Anyone have any thoughts on any of this?

I can understand many ordinances that are in place to protect the aesthetics of a city. The sign ordinance is to prevent shopping centers from looking like truck stops. Some ordinances might hamper certain types of growth but you have to decide whether the type of growth is really needed in the first place.

[Mith242]

Personallly I think there are too many ordinances, and many of them are nothing but a waste. The one thing that does surprise me is the location that they are wanting to build the Sams. I am very surprised they are not building it over by the Supercenter off of Joyce, next to where the furniture store is going or somewhere by target. I think they are building it in a weird location to be honest with ya.

I think it has more to do with Wal-mart's more current strategy which is to be located closer to major roadways like I-540. Things will spring up around there soon. When Wal-mart built a new Supercenter near I-530 in Pine Bluff there wasn't really anything in that area. But of course now there's a lot of stuff going up around there.

[Mith242]

I can understand many ordinances that are in place to protect the aesthetics of a city. The sign ordinance is to prevent shopping centers from looking like truck stops. Some ordinances might hamper certain types of growth but you have to decide whether the type of growth is really needed in the first place.

Yeah a lot of the ordinances are based more on aesthetics. But the way some of these people are attacking the hillside ordinance saying the way ordinances should be seems to me that it will open to attack many ordinances. I can understand people not liking the ordinance even if I'm more likely to agree with it. But I think the arguement they are using will cause a lot of future problems if they win with this arguement.

[strmchsr77]

Yeah a lot of the ordinances are based more on aesthetics. But the way some of these people are attacking the hillside ordinance saying the way ordinances should be seems to me that it will open to attack many ordinances. I can understand people not liking the ordinance even if I'm more likely to agree with it. But I think the arguement they are using will cause a lot of future problems if they win with this arguement.

I probably don't know enough about the Hillside ordinance to make much of a comment, but it seems like every major developer in the city is against it. This tells me that it is just going to be something to hamper growth in the city more. Other ordinances have caused developers to move their projects to other communities. I just don't think that can help a city when you drive developments away. An old example would be the Craker Barrel restaurant which was proposed at 6th and I-540, but when the city would not make an adjustment to the sign ordinance they just picked up and moved to Springdale. It is probably one of the busiest restaurants in Springdale. I would have to guess and say that some developers have already done the same thing, and it is only going to get worse if we have to continue to put ordinances on EVERYTHING. I know some are for asthetic purposes, but these ordinances should be more of a guideline instead of law.

[DickSonstreetDFW]

I can understand many ordinances that are in place to protect the aesthetics of a city. The sign ordinance is to prevent shopping centers from looking like truck stops. Some ordinances might hamper certain types of growth but you have to decide whether the type of growth is really needed in the first place.

Good post.

If left solely to the market forces, Fayetteville would look very similar to Springdale.

If the city ever hopes to achieve any of the lofty goals set by Dover Kohl, then ordinances of many types will be needed to direct the growth. It will pay off many times over as property values increase and Fayetteville becomes even more of a destination for newcomers to NWA.

The cheapest, most profitable way for developers is to develop whatever they please, wherever they choose. That means no limits on land uses.

Ordinances haven't stopped or slowed growth in Fayetteville.

Cracker Barrell and Springdale go together like socks and shoes.

Fayetteville will be much better off in the future by not compromising its vision for short term sales tax gains. The protections on quality of life will simply create more demand for housing in Fayetteville as other, less well-planned cities in the region deteriorate.

[johnnydr87]

Good post.

If left solely to the market forces, Fayetteville would look very similar to Springdale.

If the city ever hopes to achieve any of the lofty goals set by Dover Kohl, then ordinances of many types will be needed to direct the growth. It will pay off many times over as property values increase and Fayetteville becomes even more of a destination for newcomers to NWA.

The cheapest, most profitable way for developers is to develop whatever they please, wherever they choose. That means no limits on land uses.

Ordinances haven't stopped or slowed growth in Fayetteville.

Cracker Barrell and Springdale go together like socks and shoes.

Fayetteville will be much better off in the future by not compromising its vision for short term sales tax gains. The protections on quality of life will simply create more demand for housing in Fayetteville as other, less well-planned cities in the region deteriorate.

Good points.

[Mith242]

I admit I'm not crazy about running of development but if a restaurant isn't willing to work with the city then I question how good a fit that restaurant is for the city. I might not like losing some potential development in the future but I personally think that Fayetteville is better off in the long run with it's ordinances.

[strmchsr77]

I admit I'm not crazy about running of development but if a restaurant isn't willing to work with the city then I question how good a fit that restaurant is for the city. I might not like losing some potential development in the future but I personally think that Fayetteville is better off in the long run with it's ordinances.

I can agree, but I would have to expand that to some ordinances instead of ALL ordinances...

[masons_dad1]

Cracker Barrell and Springdale go together like socks and shoes.

[Mith242]

I haven't gotten around to posting this yet and I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned anything yet. NanoMech of Fayetteville recieved the 2005 Award for Excellence in Technology from Frost and Sullivan. Past winners include IBM, Lucent Technologies and Texas Instruments. An award like this will help NanoMech become a more recognizable company. One of the big things they are working on is cubic boron nitride coatings for cutting tools. The coating greatly increases the sharp edge. Nice to see our tech industry getting a little recognition. Here's also a link to their website.

http://www.nanomech.biz/

Edited March 8, 2006 by Mith242

[itk]

I haven't gotten around to posting this yet and I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned anything yet. NanoMech of Fayetteville recieved the 2005 Award for Excellence in Technology from Frost and Sullivan. Past winners include IBM, Lucent Technologies and Texas Instruments. An award like this will help NanoMech become a more recognizable company. One of the big things they are working on is cubic boron nitride coatings for cutting tools. The coating greatly increases the sharp edge. Nice to see our tech industry getting a little recognition. Here's also a link to their website.

http://www.nanomech.biz/

I can't believe no one else did either-- I was going to if you didn't . Good news for NWA.

[Mith242]

I can't believe no one else did either-- I was going to if you didn't . Good news for NWA.

Yeah hopefully this is just the beginning for our tech industry here. But it's nice to see some hard work finally paying off.

[masons_dad1]

Yeah hopefully this is just the beginning for our tech industry here. But it's nice to see some hard work finally paying off.

I've said it before if you recall my exhaustive post about the technology industry in Fayetteville.

*BOOM* 2 million sunblock baby.

[Mith242]

I've said it before if you recall my exhaustive post about the technology industry in Fayetteville.

*BOOM* 2 million sunblock baby.

Hmmm...I'm trying to find it but I'm not seeing it in this topic. Did you mention NanoMech? I got the impression that the award was recent.

[masons_dad1]

NanoMech wasn't mentioned, but nanotechnology is already a major deal in Fayetteville. There is a list of technology companies based at the Arkansas Research & Technology Park in Fayetteville. NanoMech isn't listed, but there are startups popping up pretty fast there.

Here's my original (edited) post:

The strength of Fayetteville lies in it's opportunities for technology research and development:

The University of Arkansas is the only comprehensive research university in the State of Arkansas.

The startups at the Arkansas Technology & Research Park are producing some of the most advanced technologies in the world. It's not an exaggeration.

The city of Fayetteville, the University of Arkansas, the GENESIS Technology Incubator, and the Arkansas Research & Technology Park makes Fayetteville a uniquely attractive destination for emerging technology companies.

The University of Arkansas RFID Research Center is one of only a few university research centers in the nation exclusively dedicated to RFID. The demand for RFID development will bring billions of dollars into Northwest Arkansas in coming years. Companies in the Fayetteville area alone are expected to spend more than $3 billion in the next three years on RFID tags and computer systems related to RFID.

Located at the Arkansas Research & Technology Park, the University of Arkansas' High Density Electronics Center (HiDEC) is the only working laboratory of its kind in the United States. It has an international reputation in designing state-of-the-art prototypes in multi-chip module (MCM) technology, optical interconnects integrated passives (?), high temperature superconductor and thermal management.

Fayetteville's Science and Engineering Center for Nano and Micro Systems and the Manufacturing Research Laboratories are both engaged in groundbreaking research in MEMS and microelectronic packaging and integration, nanomanufacturing, and surface engineering for advanced machining.

The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville is at the forefront of biotechnology through the following research centers, such as the Center for Protein Structure and Function, Center for Sensing Technology Research and the Institute of Food Science and Engineering. These pioneering institutions of biotechnology research provide unlimited opportunity for industry partnerships in such fields as biomedical research, bio-sensor technology, and bio-foods. These centers underpin the University of Arkansas's research into biotechnology and they encourage industry partnerships to create synergies to further all areas of biotechnology.

The Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) is dedicated to leading edge research and applications in geospatial analysis and modeling, enterprise spatial databases, remote sensing, digital photogrammetry and geospatial interoperability. The Center has been selected as a Center of Excellence by over 10 companies including Intergraph Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Trimble Navigation Ltd., and Sun Microsystems.

Fayetteville through the University of Arkansas has a long-standing tradition in the logistics area through advanced research activities and educational programs. Millions of dollars of industry-funded research sponsorships have led to breakthroughs by the university in material handling and logistics, leading-edge methodologies in supply-chain management, shop floor logistics, and vehicle dispatching.

The University of Arkansas is known as a leader in animal science and technology. In 2004, the university's combined Animal/Poultry departments were ranked third in the nation by Meat & Poultry magazine and consistently rank in the top five departments in the country every year. The John W. Tyson Center of Excellence for Poultry Science is the largest teaching and research facility on the University of Arkansas campus. The center is the most prestigious of its kind in the nation.

Microsoft, Intel, Texas Instruments... In the near future Fayetteville may be home to the biggest technology corporation in the United States. All it takes is a spark to ignite this possibility and the sparks are flying in Fayetteville... when it does ignite "anybody not wearing 2 million sunblock is gonna have a real bad day."

[Mith242]

Thanks for moving that over. It fits well with our current news.

[das450]

Fayetteville makes another move on the national level !

FAYETTEVILLE FEATURED IN WHERE TO RETIRE MAGAZINE

FAYETTEVILLE, AR

[Mith242]

Cool, I hadn't heard about that one yet. Still nice to see Fayetteville being rated so highly.

[mcheiss]

I've heard some good news that Lyle Lovett is almost certain to play at the Arkansas Music Pavillion in Fayetteville. Bruce Hornsby and Train have also gotten offers from AMP to play, but no dates have been set.

It's great though to see that big music stars are looking at NWA as a target for concerts.

[Mith242]

Yeah, we still don't seem to be bringing in any 'big' current performers but I guess we'll just need to work our way up.

[Mith242]

Still some talk about splitting the downtown area into zones. The Planning Commission is now forwarding it to the City Council. Here's a map I took a pic of of the proposed zones. I also zoomed in on the key in case it was too small to read very well.

[Mith242]

A Fayetteville home has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Clark/Kellogg home which is on the north side of Mt Sequoyah. It was designed by John G Williams who also founded the School of Architecture. It was designed back in 1954 in a Frank Loyd Wright style with some Japanese influences. Maybe I need to see if I can find it and take a few pics.