With only two items on the night's agenda, the city board is set for a brief meeting on Tuesday night.
Of the two items, one is to make a correction on a textual error that was made in a newly-approved section of the city's zoning code, and the second will be the consideration of certain amendments to the board's goals that were approved for 2019-2020. The list of goals was approved in July 2018 and includes 12 things the board hopes to see accomplished by the end of 2020, according to a city staff report.
Two of those objectives include creating a new comprehensive plan as well as creating a form-based zoning code for the historic downtown area. In short, a form-based code is primarily focused on the design guidelines of developments and is less focused on what those developments will be used for, according to a September 2018 report from the Herald-Leader.
The idea behind implementing this in the downtown area is that it would allow for a variety of different uses among developments, while also requiring the designs of those developments to remain consistent with the historic architectural style of the downtown area. The proposed amendments on Tuesday simply suggest altering this goal to create a "unified development code," for the city as a whole, while still including a form-based or a "hybrid" (a mix between form-based and current/traditional zoning codes) code for the downtown area, according to a city staff report.
A unified development code takes into account a variety of city regulations, such as landscaping or storm-water management requirements, and essentially combines them with traditional zoning and subdivision regulations. Before this code can be created, however, it is necessary that a new comprehensive plan be developed and approved by the board, according to a city staff report.
That said, city staff is recommending that the timeline for creating this comprehensive plan be fast-tracked to 2019 instead of 2020. This amendment will likely be more costly than the original plan of only developing a form-based code for downtown because a consulting firm will need to be hired, according to a city staff report.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall and a workshop will take place at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the design plans for the upcoming upgrades for city's water treatment plant. Both meetings are open to the public. For questions or comments, visit siloamsprings.com or call City Hall at 479-524-5136.
General News on 03/17/2019