LIVE UPDATES: City Council recap: Nov. 17, 2015

On the agenda

  • Vacating portions of an existing tree preservation area near a planned car lot on Foxglove Drive.
  • Several changes to the city’s Parks and Recreation laws.
  • Allowing cyclists full use of city streets.
  • Appeal of Apple Seeds Inc.’s recently granted conditional use permit on Old Wire Road.
  • Rezoning 0.6 acres at 3422 N. College Ave.

» Download the agenda (PDF)

A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council began at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 inside room 219 of the City Administration Building, located at 113 W. Mountain St. in Fayetteville.

Listed below are the items up for approval and links to downloadable PDFs for more information on each item of business.


Roll Call

Present: Adella Gray, Sarah Marsh, Mark Kinion, Matthew Petty, Mayor Lioneld Jordan, Justin Tennant, Martin Schoppmeyer, John La Tour, Alan Long
Absent: None
» View current attendance records


Consent

Consent items typically are approved in a single, all-inclusive vote.

1. Approval of the Oct. 30, 2015 Special City Council meeting minutes.
Pass 8-0

2. Office Depot, Inc. (PDF): A resolution to approve a contract with Office Depot, Inc. for the purchase of office supplies pursuant to a Western States Contracting Alliance-National Association of State Procurement Officials Cooperative Purchasing Agreement.
Pass 8-0

3. Contech Engineered Solutions, LLC (PDF): A resolution to award Bid No. 15-58 and authorize the purchase of a prefabricated steel trail bridge from Contech Engineered Solutions, LLC in the amount of $87,126.00 plus applicable taxes for installation on the Town Branch Trail over Town Branch Creek, and to approve a project contingency in the amount of $19,124.16.
Pass 8-0

4. Community Access Television, Inc. d/b/a Your Media (PDF): A resolution to approve a contract with Community Access Television, Inc. d/b/a Your Media in the amount of $153,570.00 for the provision of public access television services and the operation of the Public Access Television Channel through 2016, contingent on approval of the 2016 Annual City Budget.
Pass 8-0

5. 2015 ADEQ Boston Mountain Recycling Grant (PDF): A resolution to authorize acceptance of a 2015 Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality grant through the Boston Mountain Solid Waste District in the amount of $8,000.00 for the purchase of public space recycling containers, and to approve a budget adjustment.
Pass 8-0

6. Special Needs Assistance Programs Grants (SNAP) (PDF): A resolution to approve a budget adjustment in the amount of $414,161.00 recognizing Special Needs Assistance Program revenue, and to authorize the addition of two temporary full-time equivalent positions to the Community Resources Division to hire case managers to provide housing services for homeless Fayetteville residents.
Pass 8-0

7. Vulnerable Road Users Protection (PDF): A resolution to affirm the city’s persistent efforts and lengthy commitment to alternative and active transportation infrastructure, road and trail safety and the protection of all vehicular and vulnerable road users.
Pass 8-0


Unfinished Business

1. Tree Preservation Area Vacation for Crain Automotive (PDF): A resolution to reject the recommendation of the Urban Forester who determined that the tree preservation and mitigation areas in easements and dedications agreed to and signed by the owner/developer on June 25, 2014, should not be vacated or changed by a new development proposal for this acreage.
Tabled Indefinitely*

Notes: The applicant made changes to the site plan that negated the need for this request.

New Business

1. RZN 15-5196 (3422 N. College Ave./Scott Plaza) (PDF): An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 15-5196 for approximately 0.57 acres located at 3422 N. College Ave. from R-O, Residential-Office to C-1, Neighborhood Commercial.
Pass 8-0


2. VAC 15-5204 (722 S. Locust Ave./Southside Townhomes) (PDF): An ordinance to approve VAC 15-5204 submitted by Infill Group, Inc. for property located at 722 S. Locust Avenue to vacate portions of alley and street rights-of-way.
Pass 7-0*

Notes: This proposal was brought forward by applicant Matthew Petty, who is an alderman in Ward 2, as part of a personal project he is working on. Petty recused himself from the vote.

3. Amend § 150.02 Purpose (PDF): An ordinance to amend § 150.02 purpose of the Unified Development Code by enacting further language.
Pass 7-1*

Notes: Alderman La Tour voted against. He did not say why.

4. Amend Chapters 160, 161 and 167 (PDF): An ordinance to amend § 160.01 Establishment of District, § 161.10 District RSF-18, Residential Single-Family, 18 Units Per Acre, and Table 1 Minimum Canopy Requirements of § 167.04 Tree Preservation and Protection during development, all within the unified development code.
Pass 8-0


5. Amend Chapter 97 Parks and Recreation (PDF): An ordinance to amend Chapter 97 Parks and Recreation of the Fayetteville City Code to allow twenty four (24) hour access to shared use paved trails; to add leash requirements for animals in certain parks; to prohibit certain activities in parks including unauthorized vehicle operation, use of paddle boards on city lakes, and shooting of model rockets; to provide for certain activities in parks including camping, horseback riding, limited vending at park events, and posting of temporary signs; and to make other technical revisions.
Left on the first reading

Notes: Amended (as proposed by Alderman Long) to prohibit unleashed animals that have been deemed as aggressive or dangerous as defined in the Animals portion of the city code. City Attorney Kit Williams requested the item be held on the first reading to allow time for parks staff to help draft the amendment.

6. Amend § 73.04 Riding on Roadways and Bicycle Paths and § 73.05 Riding on Sidewalks (PDF): An ordinance to amend § 73.04 Riding on Roadways and Bicycle Paths to provide for the safe operation of bicycles on roadways and bicycle paths, and to amend § 73.05 Riding on Sidewalks to provide for the safe operation of bicycles on sidewalks.
Left on the first reading


7. Adopt the 2016 Annual Budget and Work Program (PDF): A resolution to adopt the 2016 annual budget and work program.
Pass 8-0


8. Appeal of the Planning Commission’s CUP 15-5217: Conditional Use (2648 N. Old Wire Road/Apple Seeds) (PDF): A resolution to grant the appeal of aldermen Justin Tennant, Martin Schoppmeyer and John La Tour of conditional use CUP 15-5217 (2684 N. Old Wire Road/Apple Seeds, Inc.) granted by the Planning Commission on Oct. 26, 2015 and to deny the conditional use (or to return the conditional use to the Planning Commission for renewed consideration).
Fail 1-7*

Notes: The applicant, Kevin Phillips, owns land at 2650 Old Wire Road adjacent to a city-owned parcel that was recently approved for a conditional use permit to allow an office and a teaching farm for Apple Seeds, Inc., a local non-profit that plans to lease the land from the city. Phillips said he was under contract to sell his land, but the buyers backed out after learning that the conditional use permit was granted last month. Phillips said the buyers did not want to build a home on land that was next door to an office and a farm. Phillips claimed he was not notified about the conditional use permit hearing, and that the notification sign on the property was laying on the ground and not visible. In order to move forward, Phillips needed to have both aldermen in Ward 3 and a third council member agree to hear his claim, which aldermen Tennant, Schoppmeyer, and La Tour did.

City staff said they use First Class mail to send notifications to property owners with land adjacent to parcels that are under consideration for changes, but they do not purchase proof of delivery for those notices.

Several residents who spoke – one who lives across the street from the planned teaching farm – said they think the new facility will be beneficial to the neighborhood and won’t contribute to the lowering of nearby property values.

Mary Thompson, co-executive director of Apple Seeds Inc., read letters from two local real estate agents who each said they believe Phillips’ land is worth more than the $42,500 he was asking before his buyer backed out.

Aldermen who spoke said while they can appreciate the applicant’s situation, they agree with the Planning Commission’s decision to grant the conditional use permit. Some members said they stood by the city’s notification process, while others said they would like to see the city consider a new method of notifying property owners about potential changes.

Alderman La Tour was the only council member to vote in favor of the appeal.


Announcements

– City Hall will be closed next Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.


Adjourned

This meeting was adjourned at 7:05 p.m.