Task-force discussion varies wildly
Decisions Now In Hands Of Council

By Anthony Childress

FAYETTEVILLE -- When the Fayetteville City Council voted Wednesday night to officially adopt a list of recommendations for developing the Wilson Spring Business Park, they finished the work of a task force appointed by Mayor Dan Coody in June.

The Wilson Spring Business Park Assessment Task Force met for nearly four months to hammer out a compromise suitable to both economic development and environmental interests regarding the 289-acre site, which is near the junction of Arkansas 112 and Interstate 540.

Several members of the task force attended the council's special meeting to present a united front in presenting six recommendations to the city for its consideration; and, although the council debated nuances and word choices, the task force appears to have gotten over its biggest hurdle.

The remaining hurdles are for the council itself.

Last week, the task force voted unanimously to adopt the six recommendations. First, it wants the city to apply for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow 17 acres of an 85-acre wetland to be affected, with mitigation if necessary. Secondly, the task force set aside approximately 70 acres of land along the property's south end for development of a proposed campus-style Wilson Spring Business and Technology Park. It would be constructed in two phases, each covering about 35 acres.

The first phase is slated to begin on the site's southeast corner. Phase two would cover a midwestern tract and also affect the 17 acres that are currently wetland.

The task force noted that mitigation acreages could be "significantly reduced" because of the substantial amount of land being preserved in the group's recommendations.

In addition, the task-force report recommended:

* The city should create covenants and restrictions for the business park, ensuring the park will not include "heavy industrial or be dominated with retail business" while encouraging knowledge-based, technology-driven businesses. At the same time, it would also create a campus-style park with maximum green space, ensure that wetland is "developed" for maximum benefit to surrounding property and make certain all storm-water collection systems from development be constructed for protection of sensitive wetland.

* Perform a formal inventory assessment and evaluation of land north of Clabber Creek, not currently designated as wetland or mitigation area for wetland impact, for development potential. The land includes 11 acres west of Deane Soloman Road and should include a thorough assessment of needs, potential environmental impact of development, biological assessment, further wetland-delineation assessment, dispersed recreational study, storm-water runoff assessment and economic impact of development.

"If such an evaluation of such lands yields the possibility of development of some kind, the task force recommends the inclusion of a significant buffer of 'not-to-be-disturbed lands' of at least 600 feet wide lying north of and parallel to Clabber Creek," the recommendation states.

* All land lying south of Clabber Creek and north of the 70 tech-park acres be preserved, "in perpetuity," as delineated wetland and/or an extension of said delineated wetland.

Potential uses for the acreage set aside for development include building a regional Arkansas Game and Fish Commission office there, as well as the possibility of building a magnet school specializing in an environmental curriculum and a community park featuring soccer fields.

Game and Fish official Bill Ackerman said Wednesday night that plans for putting an office on-site are "still on track," with a pre-building design meeting scheduled for Oct. 15 with an architect. The commission has $100,000 set aside for engineering drawings and planning.

"Construction could begin in early 2003 if you move forward," he told councilors.