New housing moratorium extended around Fort Smith Regional Airport

The Fort Smith Board of Directors unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday (Oct. 24) that will expand a new residential construction moratorium near the Fort Smith Regional Airport for two more years.

The ordinance, drafted in response to the anticipated military needs at the Ebbing Air National Guard Base, calls for the expansion of the land area covered by a moratorium enacted June 21, 2022, for two more years or until December 2025. The expanded moratorium area allows for residential construction if the construction complies with sound attenuation standards and allows structures destroyed by fire to be rebuilt if the construction complies with sound attenuation standards.

“Going into this, we knew we would have to be nimble, that we would have to be flexible because the military, the Air Force, they are in charge. We fought for this mission, and we won and we are winning,” said Mayor George McGill. “I appreciate your patience. At the end of the day, we’re going to be pleased with what is going to transpire in this entire region. It’s going to be simply great.”

Rocky Walker, president of the Greater Association of Home Builders, told the board that while none of the homebuilders are happy about this situation, they do support the moratorium because of what it means to Fort Smith. He also said the moratorium does hurt some of the association members and he hopes it can end sooner rather than later.

“We’re all in on this mission, and we have been since the very beginning. We’re excited about it,” Walker said. “As long as there is a path forward, we’re not opposed to it. I don’t like it, … because anytime you don’t allow building permits, me as a builder, I start twitching a little bit. But we understand it.”

He also said there is still lots that needs to be done to house the folks when they get here with the mission.

“There’s a lot of risk that’s been taken for developments, for rental properties, for houses so we can house these folks when they get here. And we look forward to it, but we need them to get here pretty quickly because of all the things that are going on,” Walker said.

Col. Rob Ator, USAF (Ret.), the Arkansas Economic Development Commission director of Military Affairs, said people with the mission should be here by September 2024, though he noted some will be arriving “two or three months before that.”

The Board of Directors passed an ordinance June 21, 2022, to enact a temporary moratorium on the issuance of new residential housing permits to avoid potential noise issues when fighter jets return to the Fort Smith Regional Airport.

It was announced March 15 that U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall signed the final “record of decision” to place a foreign military pilot training center at Ebbing Air National Guard Base located adjacent to the Fort Smith Regional Airport. Ebbing, which is home to the 188th Wing in Fort Smith, was selected on June 8, 2021, by then-acting Secretary of the Air Force John Roth to be the long-term pilot training center supporting F-16 and F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland and other countries participating in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

The ordinance states that the anticipated, expanded military use of the Fort Smith Regional Airport necessitated a now completed evaluation of noise especially as it affects expanded residential use of real property in the vicinity of the Fort Smith Regional Airport. The anticipated, expanded military use of the airport required a new noise study conducted pursuant to FAA guidelines in the FAA’s FY 2023 grant year for the Fort Smith Regional Airport, the proposed ordinance states. And it requires an additional Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) expected to be completed in 24 months.

The city wants to study and evaluate the impact of further residential development, appropriate zoning and noise regulations, and issues that will affect future growth and development of the area within its jurisdiction, according to information in the ordinance.

The original moratorium enacted by the ordinance passed in 2022 was set to expire Dec. 31, 2023 or if Fort Smith Sound Impact Regulations – Fort Smith Regional Airport are adopted prior to that date. At the time it was passed, City Administrator Carl Geffken said they were hopeful the moratorium could be lifted by the end of 2022.