Lowell Prepares to End Construction Moratorium

It may be a busy spring for construction in Lowell.

The City Council expects to vote Feb. 10 on several new and revised ordinances that will give the city better control of development. If the ordinances are approved, it will end a six-month moratorium on new construction projects in the city.

The city has a revised master plan for streets, a new zoning map and new ordinances controlling subdivisions and large-scale developments. Regulations governing grading of land and drainage are still being drafted and should be completed before the city council’s regular monthly meeting in February.

Lowell initiated the moratorium Aug. 12 because of problems created by several large residential developments. Clearing and grading the land in the developments created drainage problems that the city’s ordinances didn’t control.

City officials also anticipated problems as commercial development spread along the city’s thoroughfare, U.S. Highway 71B. Most of the city ordinances didn’t include provisions for such development.

“We discovered problems as the growth occurred,” says Gary Edwards, mayor of Lowell. “We needed a time out.”

Lowell, with a population of almost 3,000 people, has seen unprecedented growth during the last several years. With its central location among the larger cities and its relatively level land, the city has become a popular target for developers, first as a bedroom community, then for commercial development. In the last several years, the city has grown by an annual rate of about 500 people

Despite the moratorium, the city issued 189 building permits for new homes valued at $13.8 million last year, about a 40 percent increase over 1996. A new bank and four office buildings valued at almost $2.8 million, a warehouse valued at $332,688 and eight restaurants and convenience stores worth a total of almost $1 million were added to the community this year.

Construction approved before the moratorium wasn’t interrupted. Work has continued on four large subdivisions, including a 970-lot development by J.B. Hunt called Southfork.

“We can’t even tell there is a moratorium,” says Leroy Barker, Lowell’s building official and fire chief.

The new master street plan and land use map were approved by the city council in November. The street plan and map will be used by the city and developers to determine the location of different types of developments and the location of streets to connect the new developments. The street plan and land use map had not been updated in about five years.

The city has revised its ordinance controlling development of subdivisions and large-scale developments. Currently, the ordinance is being reviewed by Stephen Lisle, the city attorney.

The new ordinance will require developers to share the cost of off-site improvements, such as building roads that are needed to connect their developments to existing city streets, Lisle says.

The city already had an ordinance controlling drainage but it had to be changed to address problems created by continuing development. There was no ordinance controlling grading, which includes regulations on how developers can move dirt to change the natural contour of the land. Both ordinances should be completed by the Feb. 10 meeting.

The city’s planning commission has been meeting about twice a week for the last several months. In December, the commission held 13 special meetings to work on the new ordinances.

Jim Ulmer, a civil engineer with McGoodwin Williams & Yates Inc. of Fayetteville, has helped the city draft the new regulations. Ulmer has been on the Springdale Planning Commission since 1983 and his firm has advised Lowell officials on several projects in past years. The city has paid the engineering firm more than $10,000 for its assistance.

“We’ve put a lot of time into it,” Ulmer says. “The city’s concern is having documentation that tells the developer what has to be done.”

Development in Lowell accelerated after the city finished a municipal sewer system in 1989. Previously, development was curtailed in the city because new homes required a septic tank system, which is more expensive and requires larger building lots.

Lowell received a federal grant and a $322,000 loan from Springdale to build the system. When it was finished, it was given to Springdale to maintain. Lowell is repaying the loan in monthly installments for 30 years, says Rene Langston, executive director of the Springdale water utility department.

“There has been tremendous growth since then,” Langston says.

“It freed up a lot of ground for development,” Barker says. “It started mushrooming.”

However, the sewer line and lift station that connects Lowell to the Springdale system are near capacity. Lowell will be forced to expand the capacity within a few years, Langston says.

The moratorium has been accepted well by area developers, says Dennis Jackson, administrative assistant to Edwards. Those already working in the area have been allowed to continue and those interested in starting developments are waiting on the new ordinances.

The moratorium hasn’t created a large backlog of delayed projects, Jackson says. Several developers have asked about the moratorium recently and some are wanting to start new projects, he says.

“We know there are some things that are waiting to go in,” he says. “But, we haven’t had many complaints, not like I expected.”

One of the city’s biggest problems with development was created by the level land that has attracted the developers, Ulmer says. Development started in the center of the town, which has a higher elevation than the surrounding areas. As the land was altered by grading and developing, natural drainage patterns were changed, creating flooding problems in surrounding areas, Ulmer says.

The new ordinance will require developers to submit engineering plans for preventing the problem along with the other information they provide the city about their development. The extra requirement could significantly increase the cost of construction in some areas, he says.

Barker says he is concerned about the expense of expanding city services to accommodate the growth. The city could have to increase the size of the police and fire departments to maintain the same level of protection, he says.

Last year, there were 397 emergency calls to the Lowell Fire Department, a 20 percent increase over 1996. The city has four full-time firemen and 13 volunteers. Maintaining the city’s current Class 5 fire rating is critical to supporting the growth, he says.

When the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport and U.S. Highway 540 are finished later this year, Barker says he expects growth to accelerate even more. The city will soon see hotels being built, something that hasn’t happened yet.

A multi-story building would present a unique problem for the city. The fire department would be required to buy a ladder truck for that building, an expense Barker doesn’t believe city residents should have to pay.

“The folks who cause the problem should be the folks who have to pay,” he says.

With the moratorium lifted and the annual building activity that starts in the spring, city officials expect a lot of new construction this year.

Armed with new ordinances, city officials believe new development won’t be a problem for the city.

“I think they are in good shape,” Ulmer says.

“We just want to keep it orderly,” Edwards says. n