BELLA VISTA, Ark. — The City of Bella Vista rescinded a policy change that wouldn't allow offices, workout rooms, or other flex rooms to be built in new homes.
OAK Homes & Landscape owner Oliver A Kiesel was concerned that the new policy would push his business out of Bella Vista. As a third-generation custom home builder, his family has worked for decades in Bella Vista.
"My family started in the 70s. Here, we have built custom homes in Bella Vista for almost 50 years now," Kiesel said. "My grandfather and dad built the majority of Bella Vista. I mean, they have built literally thousands of houses."
Kiesel posted on social media about the recent policy change and shared a letter from the city's Chief Building Official with 5NEWS.
In the letter, they state that they'd no longer approve the installation of rooms deemed as potential sleeping rooms. This stems from a city ordinance that enforces the amount of bedrooms to match the property's septic system design. The issue arises where rooms such as offices, workout rooms, or other flex rooms are being used as bedrooms. Adding extra residents could put a strain on septic systems, which may not be big enough to handle more occupants.
"I get that there's been people that have abused this and turned rooms into bedrooms, and that's a problem," Kiesel said. "But in my opinion, you can't punish the people that legitimately want a two-bedroom house with an office or a flex room just because somebody else has broken a rule."
This change would've put Kiesel back 6 to 8 months on current projects as well as denying extra rooms for any future projects.
After inquiring about the policy and the concerns builders had, the city rescinded the policy change.
"So this policy, let me just say is not going forward, we will not be enacting this policy," Cassi Lapp with the City of Bella Vista said. "We're going to revert back to our previous policy."
Instead, the city wants homeowners to be aware of their septic system capacities.
"The homes are being marketed as more than they are because you can sell them for more than they are [if] there's an additional bedroom," she said. "But for septic systems specifically, you're permitted based on the occupancy that your septic field will allow and will tolerate. Ultimately, you could be facing septic failure, which is a problem for the homeowner and a lot of other people."
After hearing from the city, 5NEWS reached out to Kiesel. He sent the following statement:
"This is something that never should have been set in place. I hope that Bella Vista will start working with the builders moving forward to attack the major problem we have at hand of getting permits processed in a reasonable amount of time."
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