Fayetteville City Council recap: Dec. 21, 2021

Jordan thanked Petty for his hard work and vision during his time on the council.

“I can’t tell you how much you’re going to be missed by the City Council, the citizens and myself personally,” Jordan said. “I have tremendous gratitude for the work that you have done.”

Petty said he never set out to have such a long career on the council.

“But when I resigned, it was truly with mixed feelings because I loved the position,” said Petty.

Petty said he’s always considered Jordan to be one of his mentors.

“And I love you for it, thank you,” he told Jordan.

HOUSING AUTHORITY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Tiffany Henry, Traci Morgan

The Nominating Committee recommend the following candidates for appointment:

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Arnold Smith, Nathan Eikenberry

AIRPORT BOARD
David Hinton, Monty Roberts

ANIMAL SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD
Emily Sledge

AUDIT COMMITTEE
Chad Reed

BOTANICAL GARDEN SOCIETY OF THE OZARKS
Catherine Hipp

COMMISSION TO PRESERVE HISTORICAL BLACK STRUCTURES AND CEMETERIES AND TO CREATE BLACK HISTORICAL MARKERS
Lois Bryant, JL Jenning, Traci Morgan, Kaleb Turner, Joetta Walker, Wendell Huggins

ENERGY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT NO. 1
Anthony Miletus Callahan-Barile, Matthew Kelly, Jonathan Fitzhugh

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COMMITTEE
Thomas Deere, Valerie McClendon, Joe Donahue

PARKS AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD
Will Dockery, Yarri Davis, Doug Walsh

PEG ADVISORY BOARD
(no applications received)

URBAN FORESTRY ADVISORY BOARD
John Crow, Ken Eastin, William Chesser

Background:
This item is proposed to be walked onto the meeting agenda.

Staff said longtime local resident Dick Bennett has approached the mayor’s office with a proposal for a gift to establish a $100,000 endowment to address a long-term potential rise in migration and refugee resettlement services due to climate change and war.

With growing evidence that various climatic and extreme weather events are creating an increasing number of refugees being forced to leave their homes, staff said they’re recommending approval of the proposal.

From a staff memo:

The City of Fayetteville, as a caring and welcoming community, already participates with refugee resettlement services via Canopy NWA and other faith-based initiatives. It is fitting for Fayetteville to continue to look to the future and prepare to create more new ways to welcome more people to Northwest Arkansas and Fayetteville at the same time as we focus on our goals for net zero emissions and climate resilience.

Discussion:
Mayor Jordan said Dr. Bennett has been a mentor to him. “He’s always been a compassionate and caring individual,” said Jordan. “I can’t thank him enough for his generous gift here tonight he is giving to the city.”

There was no public comment.

Turk asked if others could donate to the fund in the future, and how recipients would be chosen. Staff said the fund can be added to by anyone other than the city itself, and the administration will determine which organizations would be best helped by receiving funds.

Decision:
The council voted 7-0 to approve the resolution.

Background:
This item was left on the first reading at the Dec. 7 meeting.

This property is north of Mount Comfort Road, and is the site of Process Dynamics, an engineering consulting firm. The land sits at the corner of Deane Solomon and Moore Lane, and is largely undeveloped with the exception of a roughly 7,700-square-foot office building and a cell tower.

Lewis Automotive plans to relocate their dealership from North College Avenue to this area, including the 5 acres in question here and another 20 acres next to it that are already zoned C-2.

The Planning Commission voted 8-1 to deny the rezoning, and city planners also recommend denial since C-2 is rarely, if ever, approved anymore. Planners instead tend to favor form-based districts, which encourage walkability by putting parking lots behind the buildings instead of along the roadway.

Suzanne Clark, an attorney representing the applicant, said she knows getting approval for C-2 is an uphill climb, but she’s hoping for an exception since the property abuts other the other 20 acres that the applicant owns on Shiloh Drive where the majority of the new dealership would be located.

The property is about 1,000 feet from the back side of a Subaru dealership, and nearly a third of a mile from a Hyundai dealership. Clark said a Kia dealership is also planned in the area.

» Read more about the appeal in our Dec. 1 story

Location:

Dec. 7 Discussion:
Clark reiterated that the applicant understands the city’s future land use maps don’t jibe with the C-2 zoning district, but said since this particular area already includes a car dealership to the south and more dealerships to the north, she hopes the council would agree that putting another car dealership in between them does make practical sense.

As a point of negotiation, applicant Matt Lewis said he and his brothers are willing to rezone a portion of the property they’re vacating on College Avenue from C-2 to the form-based UT-Urban Thoroughfare district since that is more compatible with what planners envision for College Avenue. He said that process has already begun.

Hertzberg said she’s inclined to vote in favor of the request. She said she’s talked to the applicant who has said they’d be willing to do some landscaping and lighting that could alleviate some of the concerns about the land being near residential properties.

Kinion agreed and said it’s more of a practical decision to him. “I know the future plans state that it would be nice if the area were residential, but it’s not,” said Kinion. “It’s an auto park area.”

Turk said she knows the area well and said if the city didn’t want an auto park in the area, something should’ve been done about it long ago. She suggested holding off on a decision tonight to give everyone more time to consider the proposal, or to give the applicant a chance to include a Bill of Assurance that a car dealership will indeed be built on the land.

Bunch said she has no reason to believe that the Lewis Brothers would build anything other than a dealership, but she would feel more comfortable if some more formal type of guarantee were in place, including some of the landscaping ideas Hertzberg mentioned.

Clark said she’d be happy to put something together in regards to those things.

The council agreed to hold the item on the first reading. The discussion will continue on Dec. 21.

Dec. 21 Discussion:
Clark said the applicants have a Bill of Assurance about the landscaping and lighting planned on the property if it’s rezoned. It also includes a guarantee that the property will only be used for a car dealership.

She said the the landscape buffer along Deane Solomon Road will be increased from 15 to 20 feet. The standard 3-gallon planter pots will also be increased to 5 gallons.

Along Moore Lane, the tree density will be doubled with a tree every 15 feet instead of every 30 feet. 5-gallon pots will also be used along Moore Lane, she said.

The lighting in those areas will include fixtures that have 0% uplight and in the areas facing the residential homes, the fixtures will have a guaranteed light bleed of less than 1%, Clark said.

The council amended the ordinance 7-0 to include the Bill of Assurance.

During public comment, former council member Kyle Smith said while a dealership would fit with the area, the council should remember that if the specific piece of property is rezoned for strictly commercial use, it cannot be developed with homes by right if the dealership doesn’t work out. And other undesirable uses allowed by C-2 would also a possibility, he said. City Attorney Kit Williams said the Bill of Assurance won’t allow anything other than a dealership.

Turk said she appreciates the applicant working with the neighbors in the area and the council to accommodate some of the concerns.

Decision:
The council voted 7-0 to approve the ordinance. The appeal was successful.

Background:
This item was left on the first reading at the Dec. 7 meeting.

The property is in west Fayetteville, includes three parcels, and is located roughly 300 feet north of the intersection of Double Springs and Dot Tipton roads. The parcels are immediately south of the Emerald Point subdivision, and are currently developed with two single-family residences. Most of the area is an undeveloped greenfield site and the topography is flat. The applicant said the intent of the rezoning is to develop the property with a residential subdivision.

Both the Planning Commission and city planners recommend approval of the request.

Location:

Dec. 7 Discussion:
Hertzberg said she’s in support of the project. In looking at the surrounding areas, she thinks the request is compatible with the neighboring properties, especially considering it’s directly next to RMF-6.

Turk said she has reservations about increasing density in that area.

Hertzberg moved to send the ordinance to the second reading and Bunch seconded. That motion passed 6-1 with Turk voting against and Mayor Jordan electing to vote in favor.

Turk asked if the council would hold the item on the second reading. Hertzberg agreed.

The discussion will continue on Dec. 21.

Decision:
The council voted 7-0 to approve the ordinance.

Background:
This item represents the third year of the second five-year renewal for wastewater services with CH2M Hill. Staff said an unprecedented cost overrun in 2020 means that all agreements moving forward will include an agreed-to contingency amount.

Discussion:
There was no public comment.

Decision:
The council voted 7-0 to approve the resolution.

Background:
Mayor Jordan has proposed a one-time payment to city employees as a thank-you for work during the pandemic. All eligible full-time and part-time city staff will receive service appreciation pay. Payments will be prorated for employees who worked from Nov. 1, 2020 through Nov. 28, 2021.

Uniformed Police and Fire: $2,000
Full-time Employees: $1,500
Part-time Employees: $750

Discussion:
Paul Becker, Fayetteville’s chief financial officer, said the $1.8 million needed for the bonuses will come from the $17.9 million the city received from the American Rescue Plan Act, which provided municipalities with funds to help them recover from the pandemic.

Becker said a provision in the measure allows for employee premium pay, but the city will take a different approach.

Becker said the city will instead pay for the bonuses now and then reimburse itself using American Rescue Plan money because planned bonuses were postponed in 2020 after the pandemic hit. Those deferred bonuses, he said, were essentially losses, which are eligible for reimbursement using the federal money.

Mayor Jordan said as the mayor of a city, you can only be as successful as your staff makes you.

“We have a tremendous staff that has worked very hard during the pandemic,” he said. “This is but a small way to show how much we appreciate their hard work.”

» Read more about the bonuses in our story from the meeting

Decision:
The council voted 7-0 to approve the resolution.

Background:
The property is in the Houston Meadows subdivision at the southern end of Linda Jo Place. It is developed with a two-family dwelling, and about half of the property is encumbered by general utility or drainage easements along the east property line. No water, sanitary sewer, or stormwater utilities currently lie within either easement. The property owner proposes use of the vacated area for an addition.

The Planning Commission doesn’t hear vacations of utility easements, but city staff recommend approval of the request with the following conditions of approval:

1. Dedication of utility easement overlaying the existing 17-foot drainage easement; and
2. Any damage or relocation of existing facilities will be at the applicant’s expense.

Location:

Discussion:
There was no public comment.

Decision:
The council advanced the ordinance to the third reading, and voted 7-0 to approve the ordinance.

Background:
The property is on the south side of Wedington Drive about one mile west of Rupple Road. It is a residential lot with one single- family home. The property has about 100 feet of frontage along Wedington and is surrounded by low-density, residential and agricultural land, with the exception of the property to the east where subdivision construction is underway. The property to the east was rezoned to NS-G and RI-U last year with a Bill of Assurance that limits density to 8 units per acre, dictates a street stub out to the east and west, and removes residential uses from the portion zoned NS-G.

Both the Planning Commission and city staff recommend approval.

Location:

Discussion:
Robert Rhoads, an attorney representing the applicant, said he’s been asked by a council member why the area at the south end of the property by the stream was included in the RI-U request. Rhoads said that was done because he thinks there’s sufficient protection for the stream already in place through the city’s own ordinances.

“I would ask that you depend on the strength of the engineers, city staff and the codes you have in place,” said Rhoads.

If the council isn’t satisfied with that, he said, the applicant would be willing to remove the southern portion from the request.

Turk said she is the council member who’s concerned about the stream, and she’d like to leave the request on the first reading to allow the applicant time to revise their request.

The discussion will continue on Jan. 4.

Background:
The area includes seven parcels and is located on the south side of Dot Tipton Road near its intersection with Double Springs Road. The parcels are currently undeveloped. A portion of the rezoning request is adjacent to Farmington city limits.

Several rezoning requests have been made for these group of properties.

In 2008, staff and the Planning Commission recommended denial, but the City Council eventually approved a PZD request to construct 182 single-family homes divided into three residential planning areas with 3.5 acres of public trails and green space. The overall proposed density for the project was 4.55 units per acre. The project was never developed.

Seven years later, after the previous PZD expired, the City Council reverted the property to its R-A designation in 2015.

Another request in 2020 sought to rezone the property to RSF-4. Both city staff and the Planning Commission again recommended denial over concerns about density and the project’s location on the outskirts of town. The 2020 request failed at the Planning Commission, and was not appealed to City Council.

Staff said rezoning and development under the proposed density could result in a subdivision that may be appropriate at a later date, but it is not currently supported by adequate levels of infrastructure or services.

Location:

Discussion:
The applicant said the current plan is for about 50-55 homes on the property.

Scroggin said he was the real estate agent who represented the sale of the property so he’ll be recusing from any vote on this item.

Turk said she’s concerned about how narrow the road is. The applicant said he acknowledges that the road is not currently wide enough, and the plan is to address that.

During public comment, one person spoke in favor of the request.

Hertzberg moved to go to the second reading. That motion passed, but Turk said she’d like to hold the item on the second reading to allow more time to consider the request. The council agreed. The discussion will continue on Jan. 4.