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 22, 2027

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,