By Anthony Childress

FAYETTEVILLE -- Speaker after speaker made an urgent call Wednesday night for finding common ground and ultimately compromising on potential uses for the proposed city-owned Wilson Springs Business Park.

The 289-acre site lies near the junction of Interstate 540 and Arkansas 112. A 10-member task force was appointed by Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody in June and is charged with making an initial analysis of the economic and environmental impact of the proposed business-technology park.

For a second consecutive week, the task force held a public forum in the Town Center to gauge how residents feel about options pertaining to the land in question.

"I would like to see a recommendation from you that reflects concerns of all the constituencies," political activist David Garcia said. "The Chamber of Commerce, environmental community and sports people all have major constituencies and legitimate concerns. You can go with one faction or the other or you can try to hammer out something like the recent tree ordinance."

Garcia noted that different interest groups worked on tree-ordinance language and managed to arrive at a point where "everyone could live with the result." He said reaching consensus would require all parties to give up something.

"I wouldn't want to try and figure that out, but you volunteered for it," Garcia added.

Business owner Ken Shireman said he favored some development of the site, coupled with protecting wetland as much as possible. He urged the task force to move forward with a recommendation or face negative consequences.

"Fayetteville is getting passed by on development by communities north of here," Shireman said. "Not many tourists are going to come to this city to see darters or crayfish."

Speaking for the environmental community, activist Barbara Moreman read a letter written by a friend who opposes development at Wilson Springs, emphasizing the city's "zeal for development at all costs" and a lack of concern for the public interest.

Jeff Collins, chairman of the task force, bristled at those and other points made in the letter pertaining to the task force. "We're nobody's lap dog or bootlick. We've acted with very little input from the city, and I'm offended by the suggestion that we haven't," Collins said.

Environmental interests oppose any proposal that would disturb the 85 acres of wetland (deemed as such by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) or the natural stream stemming from Wilson Spring. They are especially concerned about the Arkansas darter's fate.

The darter is a rare fish that is now a candidate for inclusion on the endangered species list. In addition, the Henslow sparrow and Ozark burrowing crayfish have been mentioned as species needing protection, according to environmentalists serving on the task force.

A resolution in support of "environmentally sensitive lands" at the proposed business park site was read by a member of the Sierra Club Ozarks Headwaters Group executive committee.

Shireman said he was angered by claims that pro-development forces stood categorically opposed to preserving the environment.

"Just because you're a member of the business community doesn't mean you don't care about the environment," he stated. "Just because you say you're an environmentalist doesn't mean nobody else is."

Potential uses for the land include a large-scale community park, an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission regional office and a magnet school emphasizing a specialized curriculum such as math, science or the environment.

Some have voiced support for developing part of the site for a community park, an idea forwarded by the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board to the task force recently. Others said they preferred to place more emphasis on protecting the wetland and moving carefully on developing the site.

Oct. 1 is the target date for members to present their findings to city officials.

The parcel was purchased by city officials in 1990 for $1.27 million. Since that time, differing plans have been on the drawing board for developing the site, including location of a research and technology park. The Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce championed the idea, which received a major boost when Southwestern Bell put in a $610,000 fiber-optics line on site.

McClelland Consulting Engineers was tapped by the city to examine development options, which encompassed zero impact of wetland to a small level. At this stage, Coody has leaned toward using about 100 acres for protecting wetland and using 146 acres around it for a business park.