Bentonville adopts new Community Code for development rules

Bentonville City Council adopted the Bentonville Community Code on April 14, creating a combined framework for zoning and land-development regulations as the city continues planning for population and commercial growth.

The code is intended to align those regulations with Bentonville’s Future Land Use Plan, which guides how different areas of the city are planned for future development. The city’s Development Services materials identify the Community Code as the framework for applying those rules.

How applications are handled

Bentonville’s planning and development departments continue to administer development applications under the updated framework. That places zoning and land-development review within one set of regulations for proposed construction and redevelopment in the city.

The change affects the rules city staff use when evaluating future development, including projects involving housing, retail and infrastructure. The code establishes the regulatory framework for those decisions, but city materials do not quantify changes in housing capacity, density or development fees resulting from its adoption.

Growth-related workload

The city’s 2026 State of the City address reported that Bentonville Planning processed 288 zoning and development applications in 2025. That figure provides recent context for the volume of land-use work the city’s planning system handles as development continues.

The Community Code’s adoption gives the city’s planning and development departments the updated rules for reviewing applications. The city has not identified a separate deadline or transition schedule in the materials describing the code, and the number of projects already approved under it has not been reported.