Board may consider widening commission's autonomy

The city board may soon consider allowing the planning commission greater autonomy for certain types of resolutions, it was decided in a board meeting on Tuesday night.

The topic was raised at the end of the meeting during City Administrator Phillip Patterson's report. Patterson mentioned it due to a conversation that took place at a Nov. 27 meeting between the planning commission, some current city board members and the three board members who will take office in January -- Mindy Hunt, Marla Sappington and Lesa Brosch.

Currently, the commission votes to make a recommendation of yes or no on different proposals, and that recommendation is sent to the board for final approval. During last month's meeting, Commissioner Karl Mounger raised the question of whether the planning commission could make the final say for some of the things they vote on, arguing that it could make the board's job easier as well as expedite the development process for many project applicants.

This resulted in Patterson's request for a formal directive from the board to move forward with the idea if they were open to it. Director Bob Coleman was the first to respond and said that he received a call from a constituent earlier that day who read an article in the newspaper about Mounger's comments and was concerned that the board could be giving up too much authority.

He then asked for further clarification on what types of requests the change could apply to, and Patterson said that for now, allowing the commission final say on significant development permits would be a small, but good first step. He also mentioned that because it would be a one-step review process, there would also have to be a measure in place that allows for an appeal process for applicants and some members of the public.

Aside from this comment, Coleman said the change would be something he would support. Director Amy Smith said although she did not attend November's meeting because she is stepping down at the end of the year, she believes the more eyes there are on a project the better, and urged board members to take a "strong, close look" at the decision. No further comments were made and Patterson said that he will be bringing something back to the board in the future for consideration.

New developments

There were also a few development proposals on Tuesday night, all of which were approved. One includes a significant development permit that was requested to construct 11 townhomes that would be located on a 1.13 acre lot in the recently created "Brownstones" addition, according to a city staff report.

The addition is located at 626 N. College Ave., the applicant for the project is Chord Properties, LLC and the proposal was unanimously approved by the planning commission during their Nov. 13 meeting. The board also approved a preliminary plat development permit for the 19.95 acre property located at 3897 E. Kenwood Street, which seeks to establish the "Ridgestone Subdivision," according to a city staff report.

This will be a sizable development and could amount to 110 residential dwelling units, but, approval of the plat was subject to two conditions. The first being that five of the lots (lots 16-20) cannot be built on until the applicant -- Siloam Springs Housing Partners -- is able to construct a right of way on the northwest end of the property that would connect it to Timothy Street, which is north of the property, for emergency access purposes, according to a city staff report.

The land is located outside of city limits, so a second condition added by the city is that the applicant annex it inside city limits prior to acceptance of the final plat. Once it is annexed in, it must also be re-zoned to R-3 before the board's acceptance of the final plat, according to a city staff report.

Historic overlay changes

The board also unanimously approved a motion to place an ordinance on its second reading that would modify the city's zoning code to rein in certain provisions that apply to developments located within the city's historic overlay district, which encompasses the majority of the city. As a reminder, the ordinance was brought forth by city staff following a re-zoning dispute that took place earlier this year involving a multi-family proposal for a property located at 817 N. Mt. Olive St.

The proposed changes in the ordinance apply mainly to residential housing developments and one focus is on reducing housing densities that are permitted for different base zones within the historic overlay zone. This was a primary concern in the dispute mentioned above, as the historic overlay allows for a city-wide housing density of 20 dwelling units per acre, regardless of what the base zone allows, according to a city staff report.

To correct this problem, the proposed changes, for example, would reduce that number to eight units per acre for R-2 (residential, medium) and to 15 per acre for R-3 (residential, two-family). Additional changes in the ordinance include increasing setback requirements for R-2 and R-3 zones and increasing lot coverage requirements for R-3 zones. The ordinance will now move onto its third and final reading.

In other business, the board took the following actions:

• Unanimously approved the appointment of Isaac McKinney, Manny Anchonodo and Sarah Losh to serve three-year terms on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Daniel Bennet was also appointed to complete a mid-year term -- to replace Jason Jones who recently resigned -- which will expire on Dec. 31, 2019.

• Unanimously approved the sale of two airport hangars belonging to Stephen DeVoe and Dan Gryder, to Niley M. Church Holdings, LLC, along with the approval of new ground leases for both hangars.

• Unanimously approved a contract in the amount of $226,059.62 with 81 Construction Group for the site work and foundation needed to install a new training tower for the fire department.

• Unanimously approved a significant development permit for the construction of six, self-storage warehouse facilities on a property located at 155 N. Lincoln St., subject to three conditions.

• Unanimously approved a significant development permit for the construction of the first two of four planned self-storage facilities on a property located at 3758 U.S. Hwy. 412 E., subject to four conditions.

The board's next meeting, the last of the year, will take place at the Siloam Springs Public Library 6:30 p.m. Dec. 18 and will not be televised on the city website. The planning commission and board of adjustments will not be holding meetings next Tuesday, Dec. 11, and the next one is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2019.

General News on 12/09/2018