Bentonville's New City Website is a Winner!

Bentonville is to be commended on their newly designed website. User friendly, it is a wonderful resource for builders, developers and real estate agents in the area, as well as for the general public. It has lots of “goodies” and could serve as an example for other towns in NW Arkansas.

In their GIS (Geographical Information Sytem), there are interactive maps for all uses, including a link to Benton County parcel and lot information as well as FEMA flood zones (present and proposed), zoning and land use information, traffic counts on major streets, and the master street plan. For builders and developers, the utility maps show water lines, sewer lines, storm drainage, and fire hydrants. There are also school district, cemetery, street construction, and census maps. One must download a plug-in to use these features, but once done, the information is all there.

The eGov-Online section has 3 sections: one for paying utilities on line and checking your utility usage, the second for builders who want to apply for a building permit or check the status of a current permit, and the third for developers and others who have applied or want to apply to the planning commission for development projects, rezoning, variances, or conditional use permits. All of the forms are there and downloadable, along with instructions, calendars, and other information needed to guide users through the process.

The site also has general information for residents of Bentonville on such topics as recycling, the compost facility, city government, tax information and the like. There are also links to other sites such as Ozark Regional Transit, Bella Vista Village, and the new Crystal Bridges art museum.

According to Bentonville officials, the new site was developed with users in mind. Many of the phone calls currently received by city officials and employees are from residents with questions that can now be answered 24/7 by information on the website.

Good job, Bentonville!

The website address of Bentonville’s new website is:

http://www.bentonvillear.com/

City limits and school district boundaries do not always match up

Homebuyers with school age children need to check which school district their new home is in. School boundaries were drawn decades ago, long before the cities expanded. When a city boundary changes, the existing school district boundaries remain as is. There are no plans to change the school district boundaries in the foreseeable future. Fayetteville, Springdale, Farmington, and Elkins are some of the local cities caught up in this situation.

To check which area a particular home is in, buyers should check the Fayetteville and Springdale School Maps or the Rogers and Bentonville School Lookup links at the right on this blog page. Another source of information would be the county assessor’s office or the school district offices.

Source Northwest Arkansas Times, February 11, 2006.

New Elementary School Boundaries for Fayetteville

At its meeting last Thursday, January 26, the Fayetteville School Board approved new attendance zone boundaries for the city, not only for elementary schools (including the new Rupple Road School), but also for middle and junior high schools. The vote was 4-3 approving the new elementary school map, and 7-0 approving the new middle and junior high school maps.

According to the NW Arkansas Times (Saturday, January 28), as many as about 1000 Fayetteville students may have to move to different elementary schools, although students who have completed at least 2 years at their current elementary school will be allowed to finish there. And contrary to previous tentative plans , the area currently served by Jefferson Elementary (which will be closed) will not be in the new Rupple Road school area, but rather in the newly drawn Washington Elementary area. However, current Jefferson students will be allowed to attend the Rupple Road school if they so choose.

For those interested, the new area maps may be seen at:
http://www.fayar.net/GIS/index.html

These maps will interest buyers who wish to purchase homes in a particular elementary school area. Previously, the NW Arkansas MLS permitted home searches by elementary school, but the new MLS system, adopted by the Metro Board and implemented in November of last year, no longer permits this capability. Thus it is up to potential home buyers to assure that the home they will purchase is in the school area they wish. These maps may help in this regard, but buyers may also wish to contact the Fayetteville school administration to confirm which area their new home is in.

The website address for the Springdale school maps is:
http://www.springdaleschools.org/schools.htm
Under "Attendance Zones" click on the type of map you want: elementary, middle, junior high, or high school to see the appropriate map.

For Rogers and Bentonville, there are no maps, but if you enter your address at the following website addresses, the system will tell you which school your children will attend:
http://www.rogers.k12.ar.us/home.php?page=Boundaries
http://www.bentonville.k12.ar.us/web/schools/zones.asp