Advancing Plan-Driven Rezoning to Support Housing Delivery

The City of Rogers is working to strengthen planning credibility and housing delivery by modernizing the implementation of plan-consistent rezonings. The FUSE Executive Fellow will help the City design and pilot a clear, transparent, and plan-driven administrative rezoning framework that reduces uncertainty, preserves public input and appeal, and supports predictable housing outcomes that integrate with regional planning priorities. This is a two-year fellowship, with Year One focused on discovery, strategy development, and early implementation, and Year Two focused on scaling effective approaches and embedding sustainable practices within City operations.

Fellowship Dates: October 26, 2026 - October 20, 2028

Salary: Executive Fellows are FUSE employees and receive an annual salary of $95,000. Fellows can also access various health, dental, and vision insurance benefits. This amount is not representative of market-rate salaries for the experienced professionals in our program but is intended as compensation for a year of public service.

ABOUT THE FUSE EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIP

FUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to work more effectively for communities. We embed private sector executives in city and county agencies to lead projects that improve public services and accelerate systems change. Since 2012, FUSE has led over 400 projects in 58 governments across 26 states, impacting a total population equivalent to 1 in 10 Americans.

When designing each fellowship project, FUSE works closely with government partners and community stakeholders to define a scope of work that will achieve substantive progress toward high-priority local needs. Projects address today's most pressing challenges and opportunities, including affordable housing, economic mobility, climate resilience, public safety, infrastructure, technology, and more.

FUSE conducts a full executive search for each individual project to ensure that the selected candidate has at least 15 years of professional experience, the required competencies for the role, and deep connections to the community being served.

Executive Fellows are embedded in government agencies working with senior leaders for at least one year of full-time work. Prospective responsibilities may include thorough data analytics and research, developing enhanced operations and financial models, building change management and strategic planning processes, and/or building broad coalitions to support project implementation efforts. Executive Fellows are data-driven and results-oriented and able to effectively manage complex projects. They build strong relationships with a broad array of stakeholders, foster alignment within and across various layers of government, and build partnerships between governments and communities.

Throughout the fellowships, Executive Fellows receive training, coaching, and professional support to help achieve their project goals.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Consistent and transparent land-use decision-making in cities is essential to ensuring that adopted plans translate into improved quality of life, housing opportunities, and long-term community trust. When cities implement rezoning processes that are transparent, rule-based, and aligned with adopted plans, they can reduce uncertainty, support housing production, and strengthen confidence in public decision-making. Transparent, rule-based rezoning processes are especially important for small-scale and incremental housing, where added time, cost, or political volatility can quickly make projects infeasible. Without intentional approaches to plan-consistent rezonings, cities risk undermining their own planning investments and creating uneven outcomes that disproportionately affect residents with fewer resources to navigate complex or contested processes.

Rogers, Arkansas, has made significant progress in addressing these challenges by establishing a strong planning foundation to guide growth and housing outcomes over time. The City has adopted a form-based code and future land use plan intended to provide clarity, consistency, and long-term direction for residents, property owners, and developers. As Rogers continues to grow, the City's ability to consistently implement these adopted plans has become increasingly important to maintaining credibility, reducing delays, and supporting attainable housing production. In 2025, Arkansas enacted Act 595, which allows cities to establish an administrative rezoning process for owner-initiated requests that are consistent with the adopted land use plan, provided transparency and an appeal path are maintained. For Rogers, this new authority directly aligns with the City's planning philosophy and operational needs by creating a pathway to treat plan-consistent rezonings as routine implementation rather than discretionary political decisions. Leveraging this authority offers Rogers an opportunity to protect the integrity of its plans, reduce unnecessary political volatility, and ensure that long-range planning efforts translate into consistent, on-the-ground outcomes.

Rogers will partner with FUSE through a two-year Executive Fellowship to design and pilot a clear, transparent, and politically durable approach to plan-consistent administrative rezonings. The first year of the fellowship will focus on discovery, strategy development, and piloting a rule-based rezoning approach in a limited context. In contrast, the second year will deepen implementation, refine processes based on lessons learned, and support broader adoption where appropriate. Ultimately, this partnership will position Rogers to strengthen plan credibility, improve housing delivery outcomes, and establish a replicable model for equitable, plan-driven rezoning that supports inclusive growth and long-term community confidence.

PROJECT APPROACH

Beginning in Fall 2026, the FUSE Executive Fellow will work with the City of Rogers' Community Development Department, Mayor's Office, and City Attorney to advance a clear, transparent, and plan-driven approach to administrative rezonings that supports housing delivery and long-term plan credibility. Through this two-year fellowship, the fellow will help Rogers translate its adopted planning framework and new state authority into consistent, rule-based implementation that reduces uncertainty, strengthens public trust, and supports attainable housing production. The fellow's work will focus on aligning policy intent, legal authority, and day-to-day administrative practice to ensure plan-consistent rezonings function as routine implementation rather than discretionary political decisions.

The fellow will begin with 90 days of in-depth discovery and assessment. During this phase, the fellow will conduct a comprehensive listening tour with key stakeholders, including Community Development leadership, planning staff, the City Attorney, the Mayor's Office, City Council members, Planning Commission leadership, neighborhood representatives, and members of the development and building community. This process will surface insights into how rezonings are currently processed, perceived, and contested, and will identify challenges related to timing, risk, public understanding, and internal coordination. The fellow will also conduct a landscape analysis to review existing rezoning workflows, adopted plans and policies, prior rezoning cases, appeal patterns, and relevant administrative data, alongside research into best practices from comparable communities that have implemented administrative or rule-based rezoning systems. Drawing on insights from the discovery phase, the fellow will develop refined project goals, priorities, and anticipated Year One deliverables and present them for review and approval by City leadership.

The fellow will then focus on advancing Year One strategies that translate analysis into action. This will include evaluating and designing one or more plan-consistent administrative rezoning pathways enabled by Act 595, such as ministerial rezonings, pre-approved districts, or rule-based overlays. The fellow will work closely with City staff and legal counsel to translate these approaches into a draft ordinance, internal implementation playbook, and clear documentation standards that define eligibility, notice, and appeal processes. Throughout the year, the fellow will support structured engagement with elected officials, Planning Commission members, neighborhood leaders, and the development community to build shared understanding, reduce surprise, and strengthen confidence in the proposed framework.

The fellow will also support early implementation efforts that test the approach in practice. This may include designing and launching a limited pilot program, documenting early cases, and refining processes based on real-world application. These early efforts will help the City assess feasibility, identify adjustments, and build momentum while maintaining flexibility as priorities evolve.

By the end of Year One, the fellow will have helped establish more transparent, more consistent rezoning processes, improved internal alignment, and early evidence that plan-consistent rezonings can proceed with less delay and political volatility while preserving transparent opportunities for public input and appeal. The fellow and City leadership will collaborate to define more specific goals, success measures, and scope for the second year of the fellowship, informed by lessons learned and early results.

The second year will then focus on deepening implementation, scaling practical approaches, and embedding durable rezoning systems, tools, and practices within City operations. By the end of Year Two, the north star of this fellowship is for Rogers to operate within an institutionalized, plan-driven rezoning framework that consistently implements adopted plans, supports housing delivery, and strengthens long-term community trust in land-use decision-making.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

By Fall 2027, at the end of Year One, the fellow is expected to have:

• Developed a Plan-Consistent Administrative Rezoning Framework - Worked with City leadership, planning staff, and legal counsel to define clear eligibility criteria, documentation standards, notice requirements, and appeal procedures for administrative rezonings enabled by Act 595.
• Produced a Draft Rezoning Ordinance and Implementation Playbook - Translated the administrative rezoning framework into a draft ordinance and practical internal guidance to support consistent, transparent application by City staff.
• Designed and Piloted an Administrative Rezoning Program - Supported the launch of a limited pilot to test feasibility, refine workflows, and demonstrate real-world application.
• Established a Public Engagement and Communication Framework on Plan Implementation- Developed clear materials and engagement strategies to support understanding of adopted land use policies among elected officials, Planning Commission members, neighborhood leaders, and the development community, and identified the appropriate timeframes for and level of public input on plan implementation, if any.
• Established Staff Capacity and Year One Knowledge Transfer Resources - Developed documentation and internal tools to ensure staff can maintain, evaluate, and refine the administrative rezoning process beyond the first year of the fellowship.

By Fall 2028, at the end of Year Two, the fellow is expected to have supported the following high-level outcomes:

• Institutionalized a Plan-Driven Rezoning Framework - Embedded durable, rule-based rezoning processes within City operations that consistently implement adopted plans while maintaining transparency and due process.
• Advanced Sustained Implementation and Long-Term Plan Credibility - Strengthened the City's ability to deliver housing, reduce political volatility, and sustain public confidence in long-range planning by implementing the adopted policies through rezoning.

KEY STAKEHOLDERS

• Executive Sponsor - Greg Hines, Mayor, City of Rogers
• Project Supervisor - John McCurdy, Director of Community Development, City of Rogers

QUALIFICATIONS

• Synthesizes complex information into clear and concise recommendations and action-oriented implementation plans.
• Develops and effectively implements both strategic and operational project management plans.
• Generates innovative, data-driven, and result-oriented solutions to complex challenges.
• Respond quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies, and other processes.
• Communicates effectively verbally and in writing and excels in active listening and conversing.
• Fosters collaboration across multiple constituencies to support more effective decision-making.
• Establishes and maintains strong relationships with diverse stakeholders, both inside and outside of government, particularly community-based relationships.
• Embraces differing viewpoints and implements strategies to find common ground. Demonstrates confidence and professional diplomacy while effectively interacting with individuals at all levels of various organizations.

FUSE is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply for this position.