FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — You may have noticed some red signs along College Avenue over the past few weeks. The signs are part of an effort to rezone land along Highway 71B for mixed-use developments.
"We're talking about a highway that's been in place for almost 100 years at this point, and so taking it from a highway to a beloved urban neighborhood is really the vision," Britin Bostick, Long Range Planning and Special Project Manager for the City of Fayetteville, Bostick said.
Back in 2018, the City of Fayetteville began a plan to revitalize Highway 71B. One of the plan's goals was to increase housing in the area. Currently, most of the land along Highway 71B in Fayetteville is zoned for commercial use, not housing.
"Our land use requirements allow only commercial and not housing mixed in with it," Bostick said. "It's been that way for over 50 years. And so this, really, at its core, seeks to allow housing in the middle of our city."
In 2023, Fayetteville City Council passed a resolution "affirming their intent to consider rezoning property along the 71B corridor to allow housing opportunities along the city’s central corridor," according to the city's website.
Now, this was up for consideration by the Planning Commission. At a meeting on Monday, Aug. 26, commissioners voted yes to a new type of rezoning that was designed in mind for the 71B corridor.
The type of zoning, which is called the Urban Corridor, would allow both housing and commercial uses together in the same district, on the same property, or in the same building.
"Our goal is to not only allow housing along with commercial, but it's also to make site development a little more flexible," Bostick said. "We would really like to see buildings closer to the street, and that is in accordance with our goals for improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists in particular. It really brings everybody closer together and gives a nice corridor feel that people feel safer walking and biking along, since that's what a lot of people would prefer to do, but can't currently safely do."
On Sept. 9, the Planning Commission voted to rezone the properties for the Urban Corridor Plan. Ultimately, the Fayetteville City Council will make the final decision on whether they want to rezone the properties or not.
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