FAYETTEVILLE -- About 45 residents got their first look earlier this month at the final draft of a plan aimed at identifying and preserving open space as the region grows.
The purpose of the plan is to develop a coordinated, voluntary program to protect and promote the region's most valued natural landscapes and open spaces. The goal is to preserve those assets in order to maintain a high quality of life as the region continues to grow and to make natural areas in Benton and Washington counties available to residents.
"You know you're going to grow but right now, you're still at the stage where you can still look at this," Jason Reyes, a planner with Alta Planning+Design, told the group at Fayetteville's Town Center. "The idea is let's conserve some country as we grow."
Planners estimate about 750,000 people will live in Benton and Washington counties by 2040.
Some examples of open space include the regional trail system, national forests, state and national parks, wildlife management areas, rivers and areas around Beaver Lake, University of Arkansas agricultural property, city parks, properties held in trust and land owned by private nonprofit groups.
Reyes stressed participation in the plan is voluntary and will not constitute a new set of regulations. One goal is to keep working family farms a part of the region's landscape. Reyes said implementation should be "bottom up," involving people who want to be involved.
The process so far has included meetings with the public and has yielded maps for 32 cities and communities in Benton and Washington counties.
The maps show the location of natural resources, working land, heritage and cultural sites, outdoor recreation areas and corridors and large, intact areas of forest, wetlands, grasslands and aquatic features participants think should be considered a high priority for preservation.
"The mapping is a tool to use in evaluating potential open space, but it's not the only tool," Reyes said.
Land is ranked by priority, based on how many of the desired features are present.
"The intent is not to protect all the areas identified as high priority," Reyes said. "It's a tool to use going forward with local landowners."
Planners are recommending the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission oversee implementation of the plan because they already have staff with expertise in place and the resources needed to implement the plan.
"The next step is to form an Open Space Committee," Reyes said. "That committee would be the champion of the plan going forward."
The committee would be charged with education and outreach as well as gauging the level of interest from local landowners and exploring a local funding mechanism to acquire land, where appropriate.
Reyes recommended working with a public land trust or conservation finance group to buy land when needed. Other ways of acquiring land would include donations and conservation easements and grants. A sales tax could also be considered to raise money to buy land.
Regional Planning and Alta Planning+Design started working on the plan in January. The plan was paid for with a $350,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation.
Some recognized benefits to preserving open space in communities include creating a high quality of life that attracts tax-paying businesses and residents; stimulating commercial growth and promoting city revitalization; boosting local economies by attracting tourists and supporting outdoor recreation; floodplain protection; protecting agricultural land to safeguard the future of farming economies and communities; and safeguarding drinking water and clean air, according to regional planners.
The final plan is expected to go before the regional planning commission in February. The resulting plan will be incorporated into the region's master plan.
General News on 12/16/2015