Fayetteville, Arkansas

[masons_dad1]

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.

Interesting... I'm not sure what the "Main Street Canter" is supposed to be? It sounds like they just couldn't come up with a real plan for that zone. I like the "Downtown Core" and "Entertainment District" zones but I think there needs to be more "Neighborhood Conservancy" zones included and I'm hoping there's some decent little city parks and gardens in there somewhere. Bentonville has two very nice city parks within 2 blocks of the square and they also have Compton Gardens 2 blocks north of the square.

[Mith242]

Interesting... I'm not sure what the "Main Street Canter" is supposed to be? It sounds like they just couldn't come up with a real plan for that zone. I like the "Downtown Core" and "Entertainment District" zones but I think there needs to be more "Neighborhood Conservancy" zones included and I'm hoping there's some decent little city parks and gardens in there somewhere. Bentonville has two very nice city parks within 2 blocks of the square and they also have Compton Gardens 2 blocks north of the square.

I have to admit I'm not sure what the Main Street Center zone is supposed to be either. I do know there are some neighborhoods in that area. I've some talk about this but haven't heard all the details yet.

[DickSonstreetDFW]

Has anyone heard anything about the plans by a power company to convert the powerlines which intersect Dickson Street into "high tension" lines, with poles 120 feet tall?

I attended a baseball game up there a few weekends ago and I remember thinking that something seemed different about the view east of the stadium. Turns out they have already converted the powerlines to the southside of town to these monstrous metal poles. It really screwed up the scenery down there.

I can't imagine the city allowing this to happen in the middle of town.

Anyone know anything about this?

[Aporkalypse]

Has anyone heard anything about the plans by a power company to convert the powerlines which intersect Dickson Street into "high tension" lines, with poles 120 feet tall?

I attended a baseball game up there a few weekends ago and I remember thinking that something seemed different about the view east of the stadium. Turns out they have already converted the powerlines to the southside of town to these monstrous metal poles. It really screwed up the scenery down there.

I can't imagine the city allowing this to happen in the middle of town.

Anyone know anything about this?

Tha would be terribly out of place. The cost to bury those lines is tremendous, though. I would certainly fight it and I doubt it goes over in Fayetteville.

Psst, the same thing is going on in the middle of residential University Park right now, believe it or not.

[Mith242]

Yeah I have heard something about this. I had hoped it wasn't ture, but apparently it is. It's one of the things that they were complaining about with the Lofts at Underwood Plaza. It sounds like someone from the city made comment about the height of the building and it taking away the scenery of the area and they responded back with the big powerlines and how is that not doing the same thing. It's really a shame they didn't consider the powerlines when they went about their beautification of Dickson St a little while back. I'm sure it will be expensinve to move them underground but the cost is probably only going to increase as time goes on and I can see them being a big eyesore. Especially with the way Dickson St seems to be going.

[Mith242]

The EJ Ball Building apparently has been purchased. I thought I had heard a rumor that someone was interested in the building the other week. Still no word though on if there will be any changes made to the building. It's close to the Square. Arkansas Business is reporting that it was bought for $3.8 Mil. I also included a couple of shots. In the first you can see how close to the Square it is, basically right next to the David Adams Building. The second you can get a better look of the 7 story building.

[strmchsr77]

Yes, from what I understand the building has been bought by a local group doing alot in the downtown area. I was able to breifly see a plan for the building's future a month or two ago. It was very impressive to say the least. The outside was completely modernized. It is kind of hard to explain since I only saw the rendering for a few seconds, but it was a large change to say the least. I don't believe that they were any stories added to the building though. Next time I am in their office I will try and get a picture or at least a better visual.

[masons_dad1]

Has anyone heard anything about the plans by a power company to convert the powerlines which intersect Dickson Street into "high tension" lines, with poles 120 feet tall?

I attended a baseball game up there a few weekends ago and I remember thinking that something seemed different about the view east of the stadium. Turns out they have already converted the powerlines to the southside of town to these monstrous metal poles. It really screwed up the scenery down there.

I can't imagine the city allowing this to happen in the middle of town.

Anyone know anything about this?

Fayetteville seems to be really f@cked up with their planning. They need to go get some lessons from the Bentonville team who plan to do away with overhead power lines altogether. But then Bentonville does have more money for high dollar projects and a more progressive attitude than Fayetteville.

[Mith242]

Yes, from what I understand the building has been bought by a local group doing alot in the downtown area. I was able to breifly see a plan for the building's future a month or two ago. It was very impressive to say the least. The outside was completely modernized. It is kind of hard to explain since I only saw the rendering for a few seconds, but it was a large change to say the least. I don't believe that they were any stories added to the building though. Next time I am in their office I will try and get a picture or at least a better visual.

Thanks for the info, now I'm more curious to see what they are planning on doing with the building.

Fayetteville seems to be really f@cked up with their planning. They need to go get some lessons from the Bentonville team who plan to do away with overhead power lines altogether. But then Bentonville does have more money for high dollar projects and a more progressive attitude than Fayetteville.

I wonder if there's too much beauracracy in the city. Sometimes it seems one commission doesn't know what the other commission is doing. But I still think Fayetteville for now is more progressive.

[masons_dad1]

I wonder if there's too much beauracracy in the city. Sometimes it seems one commission doesn't know what the other commission is doing. But I still think Fayetteville for now is more progressive.

If it's progressive to say you can't put up a hundred foot tall Wal-Mart sign but it's okay to put up hundreds of hundred foot tall power lines.

[strmchsr77]

Getting back to the EJ Ball building, there was an article in the Times this morning. It did not say too much about what they are going to do with it, but they did say they are going to make changes. The Growth Group is the buyer of the building. I was hoping for a picture or something, but no luck yet. Here is the article incase you missed it:

http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/38928/

[DickSonstreetDFW]

Fayetteville seems to be really f@cked up with their planning. They need to go get some lessons from the Bentonville team who plan to do away with overhead power lines altogether. But then Bentonville does have more money for high dollar projects and a more progressive attitude than Fayetteville.

I agree with the idea of burying all powerlines. The area I currently live in has no overhead powerlines and its great.

I think this issue is something that may not be under the control of the city as it deals with a primary "main" powerline to and from the substation on Powerhouse Ave rather than a secondary line.

I'm not sure how it works in Fayetteville but I know sometimes utilities get to pretty much do whatever suits their needs to provide their services. And since it looks like this will be an upgrade of already existing lines, they might not even need city approval.

I hope it doesn't happen.

[Aporkalypse]

Fayetteville seems to be really f@cked up with their planning. They need to go get some lessons from the Bentonville team who plan to do away with overhead power lines altogether. But then Bentonville does have more money for high dollar projects and a more progressive attitude than Fayetteville.

Interesting, I would've said EXACTLY the opposite. Fayetteville is the only city in NWA with any city planning.

[Mith242]

Getting back to the EJ Ball building, there was an article in the Times this morning. It did not say too much about what they are going to do with it, but they did say they are going to make changes. The Growth Group is the buyer of the building. I was hoping for a picture or something, but no luck yet. Here is the article incase you missed it:

http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/38928/

From what I've heard is that they are going to make changes but it will remain as an office building. They apparently thought about a mixed-use building but I got the impression they thought with all the new developments popping up in the area they there wouldn't be as much need. So they decided just to leave it as all office space.

I agree with the idea of burying all powerlines. The area I currently live in has no overhead powerlines and its great.

I think this issue is something that may not be under the control of the city as it deals with a primary "main" powerline to and from the substation on Powerhouse Ave rather than a secondary line.

I'm not sure how it works in Fayetteville but I know sometimes utilities get to pretty much do whatever suits their needs to provide their services. And since it looks like this will be an upgrade of already existing lines, they might not even need city approval.

I hope it doesn't happen.

I guess I hadn't thought about that. I do wonder what control Fayetteville has over something like this.

[DickSonstreetDFW]

I guess I hadn't thought about that. I do wonder what control Fayetteville has over something like this.

Perhaps the city can use some of the turnback funds from the new census to share the costs of burying the cable with the company, at least the portion that runs through downtown/Dickson.

It would be a shame for the views of Old Main to be marred by 120 ft tall high tension powerlines.

I guess we could all boycott the electric company.

Honda has generators.....

Of course gas is outrageous....

Who am I kidding...we are powerless.

[masons_dad1]

Interesting, I would've said EXACTLY the opposite. Fayetteville is the only city in NWA with any city planning.

That just proves how much you DON'T know about Bentonville.

Examples:

"If you think Wal-Mart is growing fast, check out its hometown of Bentonville, Ark. As the number of emissaries visiting Wal-Mart has grown, so has the local economy. Since the 1990 census, the population is up 135%. New businesses don't have to get a license, so "keeping track of new ones ain't easy," says Laura Suiter of the Chamber of Commerce. But according to the city, 39 new restaurants and nine new hotels have sprung up in the past five years. Meanwhile, housing developments are flourishing (5,500 additional units in the past ten years), with construction crews working 18-hour days to keep up with demand. "There's construction everywhere," says city planner Troy Galloway. Last year a 1-cent sales tax was approved for a $200 million, five-year improvement plan, which includes widening roads to handle new traffic. Safe to say the road to Bentonville is getting mighty crowded."

"The Downtown Master Plan lays out a specific vision for the downtown area, with a walkable, pedestrian-friendly city center with small neighborhood commercial areas and higher density residential housing on the city blocks. "It takes a certain amount of education," both for the residents and the local developers, Galloway said. "The developers that go in first are going to have to be part of that education process."

"The Bentonville planning staff partnered with Main Street Bentonville in 2004 to conduct a public study for a Downtown Redevelopment project intended to attract residents and businesses to Bentonville

Edited March 28, 2006 by masons_dad1

[DickSonstreetDFW]

I'm seeing better planning in Bentonville and the ordinances in Fayetteville regarding power lines is just one example of that fact.

You make some very good points about Bentonville and their step up in better community planning. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it is "better" than Fayetteville's because they seem to have similar visions for their cities. Fayetteville has been setting aside green space and nature areas for decades. Bentonville, as far as I know, is a newcomer to the masterplanning concept.

As far as the powerlines, I am not sure if ANY city could control a utility's plan for upgrading services, short of funding the asthetic improvements which would soften the impact. Fayetteville may simply not be able to afford to share the costs with the power company. I don't think any planning could have prevented this from happening.

[masons_dad1]

You make some very good points about Bentonville and their step up in better community planning. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it is "better" than Fayetteville's because they seem to have similar visions for their cities. Fayetteville has been setting aside green space and nature areas for decades. Bentonville, as far as I know, is a newcomer to the masterplanning concept.

As far as the powerlines, I am not sure if ANY city could control a utility's plan for upgrading services, short of funding the asthetic improvements which would soften the impact. Fayetteville may simply not be able to afford to share the costs with the power company. I don't think any planning could have prevented this from happening.

Don't get me wrong... I love Fayetteville's Downtown Master Plan, but I don't recall seeing anything in their about adding powerline skyscrapers. Hey let's make the buildings shorter and the power lines taller... it should be the other way around. The answer... raise more taxes! It's bound to happen anyway. Look at Fayetteville's plans to raise taxes to support the new Library. Did the people who voted for the new Library know they were voting for more taxes?

[DickSonstreetDFW]

Don't get me wrong... I love Fayetteville's Downtown Master Plan, but I don't recall seeing anything in their about adding powerline skyscrapers. Hey let's make the buildings shorter and the power lines taller... it should be the other way around. The answer... raise more taxes! It's bound to happen anyway. Look at Fayetteville's plans to raise taxes to support the new Library. Did the people who voted for the new Library know they were voting for more taxes?

Again, the powerlines are a separate issue. I don't think they are a part of any master plan, but rather will get through due to a loophole allowing utilities to upgrade. I don't think Fayetteville could veto it if they wanted to.

[itk]

You make some very good points about Bentonville and their step up in better community planning. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it is "better" than Fayetteville's because they seem to have similar visions for their cities. Fayetteville has been setting aside green space and nature areas for decades. Bentonville, as far as I know, is a newcomer to the masterplanning concept.

As far as the powerlines, I am not sure if ANY city could control a utility's plan for upgrading services, short of funding the asthetic improvements which would soften the impact. Fayetteville may simply not be able to afford to share the costs with the power company. I don't think any planning could have prevented this from happening.

Aside from the utility discussion, Bentonville it seems to me do better planning than Fayetteville in the sense that they appear to be turning good planning into reality from what I can see more so than Fayetteville.

Now part of that may have to do with Bentonville growing at an enormous rate (thus I can see good planning principles in action with new developments and growth). But what good is planning if it doesn't lead to action? In that regards making good ideas into reality is just as important as making the good ideas in the first place.

There was a meeting today which I attended regarding transportation planning in NWA (it will be in the papers tomorrow), and every city I believe had representatives there (mayors, engineers, planners, etc.), yet Fayetteville had NONE. They have been in that a habit of that lately. Guess they are disinterested in regional transportation decision making. They snooze, they lose.

Edited March 28, 2006 by itk

[DickSonstreetDFW]

Aside from the utility discussion, Bentonville it seems to me do better planning than Fayetteville in the sense that they appear to be turning good planning into reality from what I can see more so than Fayetteville.

Now part of that may have to do with Bentonville growing at an enormous rate (thus I can see good planning principles in action with new developments and growth). But what good is planning if it doesn't lead to action? In that regards making good ideas into reality is just as important as making the good ideas in the first place.

There was a meeting today which I attended regarding transportation planning in NWA (it will be in the papers tomorrow), and every city I believe had representatives there (mayors, engineers, planners, etc.), yet Fayetteville had NONE. They have been in that a habit of that lately. Guess they are disinterested in regional transportation decision making. They snooze, they lose.

Definitely and advantage Bentonville has is that they are growing so quickly and didn't start with a rather large town in which to enact planning guidelines ex post facto.

A lot of Fayetteville's issues are remedying past mistakes.

[masons_dad1]

Definitely and advantage Bentonville has is that they are growing so quickly and didn't start with a rather large town in which to enact planning guidelines ex post facto.

A lot of Fayetteville's issues are remedying past mistakes.

I'll add that a recent article I read had a Bentonville planner (may have been the mayor) saying the planning department was focusing on downtown Bentonville and that there wasn't a concern for the rest of the city as far as planning is concerned.

Let's hope none of the cities will be making brand new mistakes that will only have to be remedied later on down the road.

[Mith242]

Just in case what I said earlier didn't come out the right way, I did want to say that I wasn't downplaying Bentonville. I've seen and heard some of what Bentonville is planning and I think they are doing a good job. They certainly seem more able to carry out plans better than Fayetteville. Everything seems like it has to be a long drawn out fight through all the bureaucracy here in Fayetteville. I do think Fayetteville has the advantage at the moment but I'm very curious to see what Bentonville will be like in the near future.

[razorbackfan]

Thanks for the info, now I'm more curious to see what they are planning on doing with the building.

I wonder if there's too much beauracracy in the city. Sometimes it seems one commission doesn't know what the other commission is doing. But I still think Fayetteville for now is more progressive.

I personally think there is WAY too much beauracracy in Fayetteville. The city is growing, the entire area is growing and the city leaders need to understand this. With all the development going on in Rogers, if Fayetteville is not careful they are not going to be the main city in NWA. If you ask me the only reason Fayetteville is the entertainment city of NWA is because of UofA. Every medium to large city in the US had condos in the downtown city, people like living downtown where all the entertainment is and that is the same for Fayetteville. The city needs to get their act together, decide what they want and stick with it.

[Aporkalypse]

That just proves how much you DON'T know about Bentonville.

Examples:

"If you think Wal-Mart is growing fast, check out its hometown of Bentonville, Ark. As the number of emissaries visiting Wal-Mart has grown, so has the local economy. Since the 1990 census, the population is up 135%. New businesses don't have to get a license, so "keeping track of new ones ain't easy," says Laura Suiter of the Chamber of Commerce. But according to the city, 39 new restaurants and nine new hotels have sprung up in the past five years. Meanwhile, housing developments are flourishing (5,500 additional units in the past ten years), with construction crews working 18-hour days to keep up with demand. "There's construction everywhere," says city planner Troy Galloway. Last year a 1-cent sales tax was approved for a $200 million, five-year improvement plan, which includes widening roads to handle new traffic. Safe to say the road to Bentonville is getting mighty crowded."

"The Downtown Master Plan lays out a specific vision for the downtown area, with a walkable, pedestrian-friendly city center with small neighborhood commercial areas and higher density residential housing on the city blocks. "It takes a certain amount of education," both for the residents and the local developers, Galloway said. "The developers that go in first are going to have to be part of that education process."

"The Bentonville planning staff partnered with Main Street Bentonville in 2004 to conduct a public study for a Downtown Redevelopment project intended to attract residents and businesses to Bentonville