ROGERS, Ark. — After a major outcry from community members, the Rogers City Council has voted down a plan for a three-story apartment complex across from an elementary school.
Neighbors in the area banned together to fight the approval of a massive apartment complex slated to go up near Reagan Elementary in Rogers.
Those living in the neighborhoods that surround the elementary school had a lot to say about the rezoning of the 11-acre lot across the street.
“There is a lot of concern and our Facebook pages are full of comments,” said Rogers resident John Babyar.
Residents took their concerns to the Rogers City Council Tuesday (Aug. 25) evening as members met to vote on a rezoning request by Crafton Tull that would allow the three-story, 336 unit apartment complex. It's a development dozens of residents say wouldn't fit the area.
“We think that’s too much we don’t want a three-story building that close to Reagan Elementary that is right behind me,” Babyar said.
Residents noted the reasoning to vote against the rezoning include traffic, poor street planning and a lack of space for added students.
The hours worth of public comment, solely by residents who were against the rezoning, caught the attention of the council as well as the developer.
"We have been sitting here listening to the public comments and we would respectfully ask the council to remand us back to planning commission to further work to come up with a plan that will work,” said David Ellis of Crafton Tull.
Even after asking the council to send the request back to the planning board, which approved the original idea on Aug. 18, all but one council member voted against the rezoning altogether.
Some residents say it's not the development of the land they are against.
"We want to shop over at Scottsdale Center, we want to this to develop with businesses we can walk to and patronize,” said resident Carrie Perrin-Smith.