Springdale planners tire of no-show developers

SPRINGDALE — The Planning Commission is fed up with residents being left waiting by developers who don’t show up at a scheduled meeting to consider disputed projects, commission members said Tuesday.

The commission instructed planning staff to consult with the city attorney’s office to see if the commission can take up an agenda item if the requesting party is represented or not. If not, the commission will consider asking the City Council for power to levy punishments such as fines, members said. The discussion on the issue took place at Tuesday’s meeting, which began at 5 p.m. at Springdale’s city administration building.

Commission rules require an agenda item be tabled for a month if the requesting party or its representative doesn’t attend the meeting for which a proposal is scheduled.

Tuesday night, that meant at least a dozen residents of the Legendary subdivision in the city were told the commission couldn’t take up the topic they were interested in. That topic was a proposed permit so a developer could use a model home in the subdivision as an office.

Commission chairman Kevin Parsley, among other members, noted this wasn’t the first time multiple residents from that subdivision had shown up only to find no action could take place. In some cases, residents have come to a meeting, watched an issue be tabled, and then

have a developer drop the request later. Subdivision residents Adam Grubb and Michael McClain, among others, took the opportunity Tuesday to present some of the resident’s objections with the understanding that no action could be taken that night.

Parsley noted Tuesday evening was dark, cold and had freezing precipitation. One resident, a young mother, arrived with three young children in tow, Parsley noted after the meeting.

Many of the residents concerns could be addressed through the subdivision’s property owner’s association, but the developer involved wouldn’t meet with other members through the association either, Grubb and McClain said.

The developer, the Rausch Coleman Homes company, also owns most of the lots in the subdivision, giving it the most votes under the property association’s bylaws, Grubb said. A call to the developer’s office gave no after-hours number Tuesday night.