Residents rave about Walker Park strategy
Posted on Wednesday, December 12, 2007
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/60153/
If appointed and elected officials are anywhere near as pleased with a proposed Walker Park Neighborhood Master Plan as the neighbors and stakeholders seem to be, it could sail through the approval process.
“ I think it will be a success, ” said Gary Medley of Fayetteville, who grew up across the street from what is now the Fayetteville Senior Center, where a public presentation of the plan was made Tuesday.
“ From what I observed tonight, I think it’s going to be a wonderful addition to our community in bringing back this southeastern district of the city, ” Medley said. “ I think it’s important not only for the city of Fayetteville but for the children who live here. ”
“ We’re excited, ” Sally Rose said. “ We’ve lived on that farm (by Morningside Drive ) for so long, it’s going to be hard to see them build up to our backdoors. But if it looks like this, it won’t be bad. ”
“ Ambitious” is how Randy Nix described the plan. “ Exciting, ” added his wife, Susan Nix. The couple moved to a home across the street from Walker Park about a year ago, and both participated in the charrette.
Drawing their enthusiasm was the city’s first neighborhood master plan developed by city planning staff and based on a citizen input process of charrettes, neighborhood meetings and walking tours of the area.
Karen Minkel, senior long range planner and project manager, said staff created the plan based on four guiding principles that came from area residents through the charrette process: a balance of uses and housing, connectivity and walkability, a Jefferson square as a core of the neighborhood, and accessible greenspace.
“ The rate at which change occurs is dependent on not only market forces but the commitment of all the stakeholders of the project, ” Minkel said, citing the public and private sectors and the residents of the area who want it to be accomplished.
The vision for the southeast Fayetteville neighborhood is one of mostly singlefamily homes in a variety of sizes, styles and income levels within walking distance of growing commercial areas at 15 th Street and South School Avenue, at Huntsville Road and Sixth Street, and possibly near the Jefferson School building.
A major goal is to make South School a tree-lined boulevard with infill of homes and businesses replacing rows of parking lots.
Sidewalks would be added to streets that don’t have any. Proposed streets could be added to connect the neighborhood internally and more easily to the rest of the city.
Minkel described them as “ possible connections that help weave the fabric of the neighborhood together. ”
Walker Park itself, which is about 18 percent of the area, would have more entrances and more uses.
The crown jewel of the vision, if it comes to fruition, is a Jefferson square that would transform an empty school building into a civic use and commercial area with a visible and physical link to downtown.
The city planner talked about opportunities for business owners and for public and private partnerships to develop the economic and community value of the nearly 400-acre neighborhood.
Minkel said if the plan gets approved by the Fayetteville Planning Commission and City Council, staff can begin working on the short-term goals.
Proposing zoning changes to protect existing neighborhoods while encouraging mixed uses is one of those goals. Current zoning, developed in the 1970 s, is predominately for multifamily residences.
Other short-term goals are about design standards, amending the master street plan, creating a nature trail system through the park, adding a dog park and establishing neighborhood gardens. Staff would also like to address the issue of vacant or abandoned buildings in the area.
Other park improvements, a partnership for attainable housing and the transformation of a Jefferson square and South School Avenue are later goals.
Neil Heller of Fayetteville, a landscape architect student at the University of Arkansas who helped with some of the drawings, said the focus on connectivity and walkability are a real asset to the plan.
“ I’m excited, ” Kathy Mastalerz said. “ I hope they can follow through on it. ”
Walt Eilers, an announced candidate for mayor, thinks it can happen.
“ It can be workable over time because there’s some ownership here, ” he said. “ If you saw the people nodding their heads tonight, they were all interested. I talked to some of the folks that I know here in Ward 1, and they see it as a future for their neighborhood. ”