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Fayetteville council continues debate over rezoning for proposed junior‑high on Marks Mill Lane
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Summary
Fayetteville City Council held an extended hearing on RZN 2025-48, a request to rezone about 26.7 acres near North Marks Mill Lane from RSF‑4/Urban Corridor to P‑1 institutional to allow a new junior‑high campus. Staff and the school district defended site suitability; neighbors and environmental groups pressed questions on traffic, geotechnical risks, canopy loss and emergency access. Council left the matter on second reading and asked for additional traffic, geotechnical and FEMA/floodway information before Dec. 16.
Council continued consideration of RZN 2025‑48, a rezoning petition to change roughly 26.7 acres south of North Marks Mill Lane in Ward 3 from RSF‑4 and Urban Corridor to P‑1 institutional, a move that would clear the way for a possible Fayetteville Public Schools junior‑high campus.
Kit, representing city planning staff, summarized the request and the Planning Commission’s positive recommendation (7–1, 1 recusal), noting staff’s endorsement and a construction timeline the applicant estimates at about 26 months with a target school opening of August 2028. The applicant’s team—represented at the meeting by district official Dr. Mulford and design and engineering consultants—said prior geotechnical work shows the site is buildable and that supplemental borings and foundation design work are in progress.
Traffic dominated council scrutiny. Council members said an October traffic study that had been circulated contained assumptions that prompted concern among neighbors. Nathan Becknell, the school district’s traffic consultant, told council he has reanalyzed feeder patterns and expects to deliver updated analysis “in the next two to three weeks” and would “strive to get that to you before the sixteenth.” Becknell said earlier models presented a range of possible feeder behaviors and that an updated study will reflect current neighborhood feeder patterns.
On subsurface stability, architect Wes Burgess reviewed a 2014 geotechnical baseline (16 borings and three test pits) and said the site typically shows topsoil, expansive clays and deeper shale/rock, with suitable bearing strata at depths commonly seen across northwest Arkansas. Burgess said supplemental borings are under way to refine foundation requirements and that expansive clays can be excavated and compacted or addressed with deep foundations in areas of rock.
Opponents, including members of the Urban Forestry Advisory Board and other residents, urged caution. The board’s representative said rezoning “would pave the way for removal of at least 9 acres of tree canopy and possibly up to 16 acres,” and cited concerns about karst terrain, slope stability and the grading required to build a practice field and associated retaining walls. Several speakers asked for independent review of stormwater design, long‑term maintenance of detention systems, and clarity on whether a gated connection across Marks Mill Lane could limit pedestrian access from nearby neighborhoods.
Supporters—parents, PTO leaders and district volunteers—argued the site places a junior high near the residential center of the district and reduces daily travel time for families. Multiple parents reported petitions and neighborhood support for a centrally located campus and said the district has explored other parcels with fewer benefits for the student populations served.
Councilmembers asked staff and applicants to provide: (1) an updated traffic analysis addressing feeder patterns and queueing, (2) supplemental geotechnical reports (deeper borings and foundation options), (3) any FEMA or floodway permits or constraints for the proposed College Avenue access, and (4) clarification about existing neighborhood covenants that reference emergency‑only connections at Marks Mill Lane and whether a public‑street connection would be required or enforceable. Staff said some traffic information might be ready by Dec. 16; geotechnical sampling may take longer.
Outcome: Council did not adopt the rezoning. Members agreed to leave the ordinance on second reading and return the item Dec. 16 with the updated studies and technical responses requested. That schedule preserves time for additional review without formally tabling the application to a long date.
What’s next: Staff and the applicant will provide the updated traffic study and supplemental geotechnical information; council specifically asked for documentation about any FEMA floodway constraints and clearer mapping and connective options for Ash Street and Marks Mill Lane before the Dec. 16 meeting.
