Project team finds its footing with help from the community.
Plan Bentonville got underway early this month as the project team — a collaboration of city staff and consultant partners — gathered together for a week to explore — by bike, car, and foot — the city’s on-the-ground conditions, then kick off a series of conversations capturing local perspectives.
Among those conversations was a city-led Developers’ Forum, where the local building community was briefed on the Plan Bentonville project, then prompted for their experiences and insights.
[View the presentation]
What did we learn? Participants lauded the city's cooperative spirit and its open doors to accessibility, underlining our hard-earned reputation for not just listening but collaboratively engaging with our partners. But we were also advised that the development community would be better equipped to deliver on desirable projects if the city’s future land use policy, zoning regulations, and processes were subject to some refinement.
As the week played out, insightful words from Mayor Orman, Bentonville Planning Director Tyler Overstreet, and conversations with enthusiastic residents grounded the team in the challenges and priorities that constitute the project's broader context.
One of the team’s missions for the week was crafting and finalizing a detailed community survey. This pivotal tool — our first opportunity for the broader community to guide the team’s efforts — will be instrumental in plotting next steps, as we progressively steer into the project’s analysis phase. Watch this site in the coming days for the survey’s launch.
Here’s to a future where the things we want are promoted and the things we love preserved, empowered by improved regulations, streamlined processes, and a community actively participating in shaping its enviable skyline and bustling streets.
Together, let’s keep the momentum going! Stay tuned, engaged, and ready to move Bentonville forward.