FORT SMITH, Ark. — Fort Smith is one step closer to bringing what is said to be a major economic development to the city.
The company the city is looking to bring is still a bit of a mystery, and it's being referred to as 'Project X.' It would be located at 6201 Rogers Ave. facing Interstate 540.
"I'm concerned," said Cynthia Parks who lives near where the proposed project would be located.
Tuesday, other residents with the same concerns presented them during the Fort Smith Planning Commission meeting.
"It will affect our neighborhood, it will affect our property value, it will affect whether or not people come in," said Michael Briggs during public comment.
"The traffic, the noise," said Briggs. "What is it going to be? We didn't get any information."
"We are looking at re-looking at rezoning a track of dirt.. a building," said member Don Keesee during the meeting.
He says that 'Project X' is a decision left up to the city.
"It would be a big retail space," said City of Fort Smith Public Relations Manager, Josh Buchfink. "It would be very important for our economy. It would almost be a destination retail location."
What we do know:
- Fort Smith is one of 12 cities being considered for the project.
- The city says it would employ 93 people with an average salary of 53 thousand dollars.
- The board of directors voted in favor of a nearly $7 million incentive package to bring the project to Fort Smith.
"They're depending on some money that the state hasn't even authorized," Briggs said.
According to Carl Geffken, Fort Smith's city administrator, the incentive would be split between the county and Fort Smith taxpayers. Geffken also said the city can't legally issue an incentive like this, as it would go against the Arkansas Constitution, which says cities cannot use taxpayer dollars to fund retail businesses.
"It was going to be brought before the legislature," Buchfink said.
According to Westphal, legislation to allow these incentives for retail businesses went before lawmakers. He says the change passed in the House but not the Senate. He says he'll have to try again in the next legislative session.
The planning commission did vote unanimously to re-zone the entire area to a commercial heavy property. It will now go to the board of directors on May 2 for a final vote.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.