FAYETTEVILLE : Veterans oppose rezoning 9 acres beside cemetery

BY ROBIN MERO NORTHWEST ARKANSAS TIMES

State Sen. Sue Madison joined military veterans Wednesday at the Fayetteville National Cemetery and asked the public to attend a July 7 City Council meeting to object to the rezoning of nearby property for apartment development.

"Anyone who has been to a service here was deeply moved by the sanctity of the place. This is a quiet, tranquil part of town, and I think that atmosphere needs to be preserved. A multistory apartment complex would be very incompatible – and tragic. We have enough apartments in Fayetteville already," Madison said.

"He was very receptive to the idea," said the Fayetteville Democrat.

Veterans said they need one year to raise at least $2 million – preferably $4 million – to purchase the 9 acres of the old Washington County Sale Barn property.

After more than 70 years selling livestock, the barn’s final sale is today, and owner Billy Joe Bartholomew said he will close the business.

He has a contract with Campus Crest LLC of North Carolina to buy the land and build apartments geared toward university students.

"Students are the worst kind of neighbor you can have," said Jim Buckner, senior vice commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart in Arkansas. "In 2023, this cemetery will be filled, and the only way we can expand enough to take us up to the end of this century is to acquire this property."

Buckner said he’s guessing at the sale price being around $2 million, since neither Bartholomew or Campus Crest have revealed the contract price.

Veterans have raised $2,475 in private donations toward the purchase, said Ron Butler of the Regional National Cemetery Improvement Corporation.

The corporation has nonprofit status to collect and hold the funds.

The city’s Planning Commission recommended the rezoning be approved. The City Council tabled the request June 16, and it was moved to the July 7 agenda.

The rezoning request is a change from the current heavy commercial/light industrial zoning.

The land is south of Martin Luther King Boulevard and west of School Avenue, directly across Government Avenue from the cemetery.

Andy Aldridge, Campus Crest representative, said Wednesday the company’s contract with the Bartholomew family is contingent upon approval of the rezoning.

Bartholomew said veterans never approached him about buying the land until after the contract was entered. In May, he told the Planning Commission he could not afford to give the land to the cemetery and needs to sell it instead.