BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Plan Bentonville is a project to help keep up with the city's growth. While the plan is currently in phase one, it has been five months since the city began listening to residents about what they would like to see.
"Since then, we've taken that growth scenario, iterated upon it based upon recent zoning requests, local data, the public input we received during design week, and converted it into a future land use plan," Bentonville Planning Director Tyler Overstreet said.
The Plan Bentonville project started in 2018 but has gained momentum in the last year. They showed off what they've been working on at an open house on July 29.
"At this stage, we have a draft plan that shows, for every parcel, every tract of land in the city, what that 25-year vision could look like," Overstreet said. "At this stage of the project, we're just listening and taking feedback from people. Do they like what the plan shows? Do they not like it? Are they ambivalent to it?"
Although they have forged a plan they say they believe in, they are still in the listening phase.
"At this stage of the project, it's not necessarily the planning department making decisions. It's us listening to the community. It's us taking feedback on what they think of the draft plan," Overstreet said. "That's what we would then roll forward to the planning commission [and] city council, and be able to say, 'Here's what we heard. Here's what we think.' And then come to a community consensus."
Until Aug. 9, residents will have a chance to give their input before the project goes in front of the Bentonville City Council. After that, Overstreet said phase two of the project will start in 2025.
"Through phase one, we establish a community vision of how and where we want to grow as a city," Overstreet said. "Phase two is actually making sure that our codes and ordinances allow it to happen."
City planners say they believe this has really given residents a chance to be involved in the future of Bentonville.
"I think people really appreciate the way that we're communicating, how open we've been, the amount of opportunities we've had to comment, and just in general, like there's a real love from our citizens for Bentonville, which is very complimentary, I think, to our city, and to us as staff," Overstreet said. "We take a lot of pride in that."
If you'd like to be a part of the public comment process in phase one, you can click here to give your input.
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