Planners face busy meeting Tuesday

Just one month after a meeting was canceled due to lack of actionable agenda items, members of the Siloam Springs Planning and Zoning Commission will face the longest agenda in months on Tuesday. The hefty agenda includes 11 items for consideration by planners, and the Board of Adjustments, which will meet Tuesday as well, has its own 2-item agenda.

The agenda, the longest of 2017, includes three significant development permit applications and three proposed code amendments as part of the city staff's efforts to update city zoning and land use code. Three rezoning permit applications and a pair of lot split permit applications round out the day's agenda.

The three code amendments on the agenda are 15 months in the works, according to the city's staff report on Tuesday's meeting. The amendments cover a variety of areas, including pharmacies and medical marijuana facilities, accessory building requirements, driveway and parking requirements, non-conforming use requirements, special use permit acceptance criteria and permit expiration.

In a presentation in early July, Senior Planner Ben Rhoads divided the proposed changes, excluding those related to medical marijuana, into a few groups. The first was general housekeeping measures meant to clarify codes and make administration easier. Second, the city is addressing accessory structures like sheds and carports. Rhoads said city staff was taking measures to regulate accessory structures because an informal survey found that four out of five accessory buildings in Siloam Springs were built over utility easements.

To address that, one proposal that will be considered Tuesday would establish a permit that would be required for the establishment of a new accessory building. Rhoads said that the permits were not designed to slow development, only to avoid construction in prohibited areas.

The revisions would also focus on parking code, grandfather clauses and more. A full copy of the revisions is attached to the city's staff report for the meeting, which can be found at http://www.siloamsprings.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08082017-264

Also included in the revisions is a proposed set of amendments to municipal code regarding medical marijuana. The changes have been in the works since a 180 day development moratorium was approved in June. The revisions would make pharmacies and medical marijuana facilities subject to a special use permit, which would be approved by the city board.

The agenda also includes:

• A significant development permit for a Freddy's Steakburgers restaurant and a pair of retail spaces directly to the west of Bank of the Ozarks. The development would be located at 2325 East Main Street.

• A significant development permit for four self-storage units at 3758 Highway 412 East.

• A significant development permit for the construction of a gymnasium south of Harvard Avenue Baptist Church.

• A rezoning application for 708 E. Main Street from R-2 to C1A. The city has not received any plans for a new business on the site.

• A rezoning application for East Kenwood Missionary Baptist Church from R-2 to G-I

• A rezoning application for 829 S. Mt. Olive Street from C-2 to R-3.

• Lot split development permits for the 2100 block of Talia Trail and the 400 block of E. Helena Street.

General News on 08/06/2017