By Martin Couch
A public hearing concerning the rezoning of 200 acres around the Raymar Road area of Bryant drew opposition from residents in the monthly Bryant Planning Commission meeting on Monday.
Andrew Francis, who represents the property owner Paul Eaton, requested to rezone property from a single family residential area to entirely highway commercial, located on the southeast side of the Raymar Road overpass, which is currently unimproved in land usage.[more]
"This is the same property that totals 200 acres that is bisected by the interstate," Francis said. "The south side of the property was originally rezoned seven or eight years ago in a contract under a third party to purchase the property. On a contingent to request a rezoning of this area, this is a product of that process. Half of the property is currently zoned residential, 250 to 300 feet in depth, borders the property on the east and south sides."
The east side of the proposed rezoned property is the Lexington Park neighborhood. The process of rezoning to commercial property was part of a comprehensive plan for the entire city adopted by the Commission in the past.
"The 200 acres is designated in the plan as commercial property," Francis said. "This area is near the intersection to the proposed extension of Raymar Road and Highway 5. All the applicant would like to do is rezone it to put it into compliance and this is something that they have discussed with the city."
The plan would put a right of way to the extension of Raymar Road to Highway 5.
"I think it's a good idea to get this property into compliance with the plan," Francis said. "I think it's a good plan and there is a list of factors to look for to try to maximize the use of property and eliminate inefficient uses of it.
“Essentially, a long narrow strip is very inefficient in the layout for residential property there,” he continued. “One long street with a row of lots on either side is the only way to avoid fronting lots on Raymar Road. We run into a problem with single streets and the length of cul-de-sacs, so it's going to have numerous tie-ins and curb cuts into the access road when the property turns to the north to Lexington Park. This avoids the situation to alleviate that distance link to have curb cuts go to the west to vent residential traffic into the already existing property. I don't feel like the current layout is efficient and I don't think it's in the spirit with the comprehensive plan."
Francis offered buffers from the existing residential usage on a case-by-case basis to take into account the city's needs to end up with an efficient strip of property.
"The applicant thinks that buffering is appropriate," he said. "It doesn't incorporate into the actual site plans with the eastern boundary and Lexington Park. It would comply with the existing trees with new trees and berms to buffer it appropriately. We certainly want to look at buffering on the east and south boundary of this property."
The residents from that area had three minutes to state their concerns in a public hearing format during the meeting.
"We are all a little concerned with buffering with what we have there," said Grant Lagrane of 3502 Lacross. "Our primary concern is that we have a lot of flooding that has been addressed by the city. Being that we have a peacefulness atmosphere there, that's part of the reason we came to Bryant. Some of us left Little Rock to get that peace and quiet. We have a buffering zone, but coming from west Little Rock, it means it is a hill with a plant on it, which won't eliminate what we are hearing. Most of the folks are concerned with that. Maybe the board can help when we get to that point in the plan to get a better buffer and plan on 10 or 15 trees on that side to help us preserve the natural beauty of the area. We have livestock, pastures, fields and ponds we admire. Hopefully, we can work together."
Commission chairman Lance Penfield indicated that there is a required 55-foot setback for residential areas to buffer from commercial settings.
"My only concern with anything that is built on that property is the flooding, because Timbercreek has a flooding problem right now," said Spencer Davis of 2811 Timbercreek Road. "Right now, water rushes through the ditch and erodes the land. What problem is it going to cause us in flooding by doing commercial on that property?"
Francis answered those concerns.
"The family who owns this property is not interested in making a fast buck," he said. "They've had it for 40 years and they are interested in maximizing the long-term growth of the property to be beneficial to Bryant. About the flooding, there is a retention pond that is required to serve the entire 200 acres of the property. Whether or not it alleviates the existing flood conditions, I don't know if that will happen. Certainly this property would have to be addressed on any water coming off of it. Engineering work and the retention pond can be discussed on the overall drainage issues to comply with the long-term drainage plan. That is very much on our minds and we know it is an issue in Bryant.
"In regards to the buffering, we discussed leaving existing trees if the property owners indicated it," Francis said. "We need to discuss some specifics before this rezoning is moved to the City Council. If people have a preference of leaving the natural growth, we are in support of that."
Gary Hoffman of 2705 Raymar Road was opposed to the rezoning of the property to commercial.
"Personally, I feel like that residential areas are going to be diminished in the value of the property not only in Lexington Park and Meadow Lake, but my home as well," Hoffman said. "I think it will and I'm against it."
Fellow resident Lee McGraw of 2924 Northfork stated a concern for what types of business will be put there on the commercial land.
"We are real concerned with what this land is going to be used for," she said. "We don't need an RV sales, mobile home sales, hotels or any more restaurants. We want to know what's going to be put in that area. We hope that it will be something to increase the value of our homes. You might have the opportunity to build homes in that area or plan a multi-use community like that of Midtowne with walking and biking trails. We want a community that would make people want to come to Bryant to live, not have a strip mall there. This is a piece of land dense with trees and wildlife. We'd hate to lose that."
Shawn Jundt of 2309 Greenleaf was just as adamant about traffic concerns.
"Many of us moved to this particular area, because it is rural within the city," he said. "We are surrounded by woods and my wife and I choose to live there simply because of the traffic. You don't get the through traffic for highway commercial use. Are they going to allow through traffic from Raymar to those residential areas? That's a huge concern for me and many of us out there. I will state this, the road is a low use road and they just now patched part of it. I'm concerned that additional traffic will create more wear and tear. Are they going to do something to alleviate it or correct the issues as there are going to be ones by adding the traffic cut-through to Highway 5?"
Through the comprehensive plan, an extension road from Raymar Road to Johnswood is planned, but resident Marcus Ray of 3612 Meadown Lake is against the plan.
"We chose that area because it is secluded," he said. "We didn't want to live in town and we're not against development, but leave the zoning as it is."
Ron Hunter of 2926 Woodstocker had more reasons to oppose the rezoning issue.
"I am opposed to this for a number of reasons," Hunter said. "We recently were among the top 100 cities to live in partly due to the planning efforts, but that is not going to continue if you are not listening to your residential people. We have to have some green area there for kids to play safely. As more traffic builds up, we're going to lose that quiet community atmosphere. Right now, we've got a problem in Lexington Park with people cutting through from Raymar Road. We have a lot of kids who play in that area and it's dangerous right now. What will this do to it?"
Francis discussed the traffic that would potentially be in this area.
"The discussion of traffic in the long-term the families will benefit from it, because there is a plan for a larger, nicer road on the commercial property that would be used for a cut-through without going through the neighborhoods," he said. "We are open to talk more about this with the residents."
The Commission voted to pass the rezoning from residential to commercial.
Ed Collins
I am amazed when our elected officials and appointed officials continually pass items for approval when the citizens they represent tell them they do not want it passed. Why even have a public meeting when they representatives are doing what they want. This is not your city, it’s the people’s city and we are their representatives, at least that’s why I was elected to be the people’s representative.
My thoughts,
Ed Collins
501-912-3541
Alderman
Ward 2
Bryant