HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-1059 - VAC-2025-0007 (Appeal of Planning Commission Denial)
CityClerk
From:Bo Counts <bocounts@gmail.com>
Sent:Sunday, July 13, 2025 1:02 PM
To:Stafford, Bob; Jones, D'Andre; Moore, Sarah; Wiederkehr, Mike; Berna, Scott; Bunch,
Sarah; Turk, Teresa; Jones, Monique; CityClerk; Rawn, Molly
Subject:APPEAL: VAC-2025-0007 / RZN-2025-001 / 7 South University Ave
Categories:Laserfiche Archived, Jonathan, Forwarded
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Members of council,
Recently an appeal request for the rezoning of 7 South University ave (more commonly known as the Duck Pond
apartments and surrounding property) landed on the last agenda session. It is my understanding that it will be tabled,
but I'm sending this email to continue the conversation with the members of the City Council that I have been having for
months with the planning commission.
In the packet hopefully they have cataloged a lot of the public input that was brought to light over several in-person
meetings but also many emails and testimonials. (Topography issues, incompatibility with the historic cemetery and
surrounding buildings, no endorsement from neighboring developments for alley vacation, significant water impact
into the lower ramble with storm water drainage, and more) I don't want to have to recount all of that stuff in this email,
but I'm happy to provide all of that input again if necessary. We are in a period of rapid growth and we are seeing these
extractive purpose built student developments pop up faster than we can react. We aren't alone, and here are a couple
of great articles about this problem we are facing and how it's happening across the country and how other places are
starting to react.
(http://hechingerreport.org/luxury-private-student-housing-further-divides-rich-and-poor-on-campuses/ )
(https://shelterforce.org/2019/09/06/the-role-student-housing-plays-in-communities/)
The main reason I'm sending this email is because I'm adamant about protecting the Beverly Manor building and the
residents within. This building is not just some ramshackle apartment complex built haphazardly in the 90s that is falling
apart and in dire need of replacement. This building was designed and constructed by Warren Seagraves.
(https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/warren-dennis-segraves-6745/) A notable architect and University of
Arkansas graduate whom many of his designs are reminiscent of Faye Jones and Frank Lloyd Wright, and many of those
are still standing today and are on historic registry lists. Notable local buildings include our Old Fayetteville public library
which is still utilized today as amazing office space, our federal building, and the historic Seagraves house on Mount
Sequoyah. The Beverly Manor apartments are one of the very few examples of Seagraves designing a multi-family dense
residential building with his signature brick and steel mid-century modern design that has stood the test of time and is
one of the my favorite places I've ever lived.
With that said I would like to invite you all into my home to see firsthand how this building is not just a place where
many locals and members of our downtown workforce lives, but it is a piece of Fayetteville history and an iconic
landmark for people that have lived here over the past few decades.
We are in a difficult time of needing more development and more housing in Fayetteville, but we need to prioritize
these developments being in areas where they are not displacing existing residents and existing affordable housing
options, as well as form based code that encourages adaptive housing types able to be utilized by all residents, not just a
specific demographic. By doing so we are only making our housing crisis worse for the people that are feeling it the
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most. Building more luxury student housing at the expense of obtainable existing workforce housing not only is a
detriment to our citizens but also to our downtown businesses, as our workforce is being forced to move further and
further outside of town causing local businesses stress when finding staff that are willing to commute from the outskirts
of town and possibly into other towns to work at our businesses. This further encourages driving to and from
downtown, which is counter productive to our goals of being a walkable city.
I would like to extend the invitation to any and all members of city council to stop by in an open house style visit this
coming Wednesday and Thursday evening between 6:30-9:30pm. My apartment is a modest two bedroom unit, so
space is a little limited if everyone came at the same time. If you are interested in visiting please respond with the time
and day that is most convenient for you. If neither of these days work, I'm happy to accommodate anyone's schedule. As
I would very much like everyone to come see the inside of this building and how charming of a home it has become for
me and my neighbors, as well as appreciating the construction and long lasting materials this building was designed
with, not to mention the lush surrounding greenspace.
It has recently been brought to my attention that Core Spaces is trying to figure out some sort of relocation package
and/or offer of first leasing for a minimal amount of units they plan on being rented at market rate. (Which will be
significantly more expensive than the current rents the tenants are paying) Unfortunately, we are smack dab in the
middle of one of the most competitive housing markets in history, and there are very little places to relocate *to* even
when armed with some financial compensation (application fees, moving costs, first and last months upfront rent and
deposits all add up fast, not to mention having overall rent increased putting additional cost burden on residents), and
being offered to move back into a building assumes that we can simply just wait patiently outside for the next two years
while the building is constructed to move back into it. To say this is tone deaf to the burden this would place on the
existing resident is an understatement. Moving is expensive, challenging, stressful and a burden on the quality of life of
the people that it affects. Especially when that move is being forced involuntarily. These projects should be built in
places like the student housing development "Axis" on Futrall Drive, where they have plenty of space to build *without*
displacing existing affordable housing options.
In closing I would like to remind everyone that Core Spaces is only a prospective buyer, they do not own the three
parcels of land that make up the entire block that they want to build on. Now is the time to deny rezoning before
they've spent considerable dollars investing in the property. By allowing the rezone to take place they will go through
with that purchase and once they own it, I feel that we will start seeing more arguments of "by-right" allowances to
develop the property the way they see fit, especially before our downtown master plan has been formed and put into
effect. This new purpose-built student development, right now, is merely a proposal on property they don't own unless
we allow these rezonings to take place.
Thank you for your time in reading this message. Please let me know if you'd like to visit my home soon. If the two days
do not work for anyone's schedule, I'll happily accommodate any day. Evenings are preferable, and I will be travelling for
a work conference between July 20-25th.
Bo Counts
c. 479-200-5588
- Owner / Pinpoint Fayetteville
- Co-host - LATER on KNWA/FOX24 Saturdays at 9pm
- Board member / Downtown Fayetteville Coalition
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