Fayetteville City Council recap: Sept. 5, 2023

Council action

Approved

• Rezoning 0.88 acres on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
• Contract extensions for bond counsel and underwriting services.
• Addressing external noise attenuation of data centers.
• Vacating property located near North Shiloh Drive.
• Paying $50,000 to a resident for water damages from a water main break.

Denied

• Appealing a denied permit for a short-term rental on Palmer Avenue.

Held

• Authorizing the mayor to purchase real estate to be returned to the NWA Black Heritage Association.
• Rezoning 20.23 acres on Truckers Drive.

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Background:
Moore said she wanted to walk this item onto the agenda tonight.

City staff said they had seen the grant language, but were concerned about meeting the Oct. 30, 2023 deadline.

The item failed to be added to the agenda after a 4-2 vote. The item needed six affirmative votes to be added. Hertzberg and Berna voted against. Jones is absent tonight.

Background:
Moore pulled this item from Consent. She said she’d like to vote against it without voting down the entire Consent agenda.

Discussion:
There was no public comment.

Decision:
The council voted 5-1 to approve the resolution. Moore voted against.

Background:
The proposal would authorize the mayor to purchase properties that have a place in Fayetteville’s Black history and return them to the NWA Black Heritage Association.

City Attorney Kit Williams said while it isn’t necessarily unconstitutional to authorize the mayor to purchase land for a third-party association, the actual purchase would likely be against state law. Williams said he told council members Jones and Harvey about this, but neither member requested to remove the item from the agenda. He said if this resolution is passed and the mayor purchases land for the association, it would likely be considered an illegal exaction prohibited by the Arkansas Constitution, which does not allow cities to use taxpayer funds to purchase property to give to a private independent group.

Discussion:
Jones said he knows the city attorney’s job is to protect the city, but he thinks the council can somehow find a way to preserve some of the remaining pieces of the city’s Black history.

Sharon Killian, board president of the NWA African American Heritage Association, gave a presentation that outlined some of the historical examples of the remnants of Black history that are being erased around town, and spoke about a 1945 city plan that codified the removal of Fayetteville’s Black neighborhoods and allowed for the displacement of minority families.

During public comment, six people spoke in favor of the resolution. Resident Kyle Smith said he supports the intent of the resolution and if the council does also, they should consider this current draft of the resolution as a starting point instead of simply voting it down because of its questionable constitutionality.

Jones said since there are legal concerns, he wants to know if the city attorney has any suggestions for how to move forward.

Williams said he shares the concerns about the gentrification of south Fayetteville, but this particular proposal isn’t the mechanism to accomplish the restoration of lost history.

“This resolution really does not allow us to do anything,” said Williams. “What it authorizes is simply not legal under our constitution, but that should not be the end of the story.”

Williams said he has some ideas he’d like to discuss with the council for a future proposal.

“I would love to craft a vessel that could accomplish some of the goals here,” said Williams. “I believe there are things we can do to save some of the most important buildings.”

Williams said tabling the resolution indefinitely would give the council until the end of the year to rework it in a legal way to come up with a proposal that accomplishes its original goals.

Jones said he’d like to put a timeline on the tabling so it doesn’t get lost amongst the other agenda items that come up throughout the year. He moved to table the item for three months. The motion passed 8-0.

Sept. 5 Discussion:
Jones, who sponsored this item and who is absent tonight, requested this item be tabled until Oct. 3. The council agreed.

Background:
This property is in north Fayetteville between Highway 112 and Deane Solomon Road, and contains one parcel originally part of the Park West residential planned zoning district. That district was a mixed-use development approved by the council in 2006, but it expired in 2011 after no development had occurred on the property, which is now effectively without a zoning designation. The Park West development was originally planned on about 140 acres, but much of the original RPZD has been rezoned since the original approval expired. This request includes areas currently developed with a church to the north and a retirement home to the south. This item would rezone 20.2 acres of the remaining 59.6 acres of the remaining RPZD.

Staff said the request is compatible with the surrounding area, because it’s adjacent to residential properties of mixed densities to the west and south, with a commercial property to the north and another parcel with the existing RPZD zoning to the east. In fact, staff have previously recommended the property be rezoned to Community Services, which has no density cap, whereas the requested district has a cap of 18 units per acre.

Both city staff and the Planning Commission recommend in favor of the request.

Location:

Aug. 15 Discussion:
One person spoke in favor of the request and one spoke against. A third said the Environmental Action Committee should be given time to review the application before a decision is made.

The council left the item on the first reading. The discussion will continue on Sept. 5.

Sept. 5 Discussion:
Bunch said the proposed zoning is appropriate for the area. Berna agreed.

Turk said she’d prefer a less dense zoning like one of the city’s agricultural districts.

The council left the item on the second reading. The discussion will continue on Sept. 19.

Background:
The city occasionally issues bonds to provide funding for City Council approved projects and there is a need for outside legal services in connection with the bond issuance process. The city selected Kutak Rock, LLP through the RFQ process in 2018 for a five-year contract set to expire this year, 2023. Currently, the city has a voter-approved sales tax bond issue which has three phases. Two phases of the bonds have been issued with the last phase anticipated to be issued in 2024.

Discussion:
There was no discussion.

Decision:
The council voted 6-0 to approve the resolution.

Background:
This item is related to the previous item concerning the city’s issuance of bonds. The city selected Stephens, Inc. through the RFP process in 2018 for a five-year contract set to expire this year, 2023.

Discussion:
There was no discussion.

Decision:
The council voted 6-0 to approve the resolution.

Background:
Councilmember Moore is sponsoring an ordinance to address external noise produced by data centers and to prevent noise disturbances in the city. The ordinance contains an emergency clause and would go into effect immediately.

Discussion:
City Attorney Kit Williams said this ordinance was also proposed by the Municipal League.

Turk said she doesn’t want to create something that would invite crypto mining data centers.

Williams said by creating a limited area that those businesses can operate within, an ordinance like this is the most responsible thing the city can do at this time.

Decision:
The council advanced the ordinance to the third reading, and voted 6-0 to approve it, along with an emergency clause.

Background:
The property is south of Mount Comfort Road and west of I-49, where N. Shiloh Drive dead-ends. A portion of the site was rezoned from I-1, Heavy Commercial and Light Industrial to CS by City Council in 2022, and a large-scale development for a multi-family residential development was approved by Planning Commission earlier this year. An appeal to deny the project was heard by City Council in May, but the approval was ultimately upheld. The applicant proposes to vacate a portion of an existing general utility easement in order to continue with their large-scale development.

Location:

Discussion:
There was no discussion.

Decision:
The council advanced the ordinance to the third reading, and voted 6-0 to approve it.

Background:
The property is in southwest Fayetteville near the intersection of Razorback Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. It is currently split zoned R-O, Residential Office and C-2, Thoroughfare Commercial, and is not part of an overlay district. The project is currently developed with a Boss Man Tacos, Burrito & More Restaurant split between three parcels. The building is bisected by both the split in zoning and a parcel line. In 2008, a conditional use permit was approved permitting a Taco Bell restaurant. While C-2 allows restaurants and drive-thrus by-right, the R-O zoning district only permits restaurants conditionally.

Both the Planning Commission and city planning staff recommend approval of the request.

Location:

Discussion:
There was no discussion.

Decision:
The council advanced the ordinance to the third reading, and voted 6-0 to approve it.

Background:
The city experienced an 8-inch water main break on East Shadowridge Drive in October 2022. Laura Gray owns the home located at 1284 E Shadowridge Drive. This water main break caused flooding to the Gray residence. Laura Gray’s insurance company denied her claim, so she filed a damage claim with the city after the incident. Estimates were received for foundation repairs, landscaping repairs, painting and drywall repairs, and pool and spa repairs.

The estimates total $69,746.86 as follows
– Foundation Recovery Systems – $50,811.81 • Ecograss Landscaping – $5,000.00
– CR Painting and Drywall – $3,600.00
– Burton Pools – $349.01
– The Pool and Spa Store – $493.88
– Spa Replacement (depreciated using NWA Claims) – $9,492.16

Staff recommends joint payments to Laura Gray and the repair vendors to allow for the damage repairs to be completed to restore the home, landscaping, pool and spa.

Discussion:
There was no discussion.

Decision:
The council voted 6-0 to approve the resolution.

Background:
This item would appeal a July 24 decision by the Planning Commission to deny a permit needed for the owner of the property to operate a short-term rental business in the home.

The home is located 700 feet west of the University of Arkansas’ John McDonnell Field track complex. A building permit for a kitchen, bathroom, and basement game room remodel was granted in November 2022, but is not yet complete.

City planning staff recommend approval of the permit.

Location:

Discussion:
Berna said he sponsored the appeal because the applicant appeared to be a “star pupil” when it comes to applying for a short-term rental permit. Hertzberg agreed.

Some neighbors who spoke against the appeal, said the property owner has previously advertised the home as a short-term rental before they ever obtained a business license or permit.

The owner said they did add the home to a rental website, but that was only to get the basics of the home onto the site, and he turned off the ability for people to actually rent it while he waited on the outcome of his permit application.

Turk said she’s familiar with the neighborhood and there are frequent complaints about people parking on the streets. She said several short-term rental permits have already been denied for homes in the area, and there are others that are operating illegally. She said she’ll support the Planning Commission’s decision to deny the permit.

Berna asked city staff if gatherings are allowed at short-term rentals. Staff said no, the city’s STR rules prohibit gatherings of people other than those who are staying at the property.

Hertzberg asked the status of the work that the group the city commissioned has done in studying the city’s short-term rental stats. Jonathan Curth, the city’s development services director, said so far they have only delivered raw numbers without address data. Curth said they have so far found 183 non-compliant short-term rentals and 122 more with an unknown status, on top of the nearly 400 approved STRs.

Decision:
The council voted 4-2 to deny the appeal. Berna and Hertzberg voted in favor.