Officials amend driveway plan

Proposal will return in three weeks

FAYETTEVILLE — The City Council on Tuesday made some exemptions to a proposal to reduce driveway widths in certain zoning districts and will take up the measure again in three weeks.

Driveway width would be limited to 20% of the overall width of a lot for a single-family home, or at least 10 feet, in some parts of the city.

Matt Hoffman, Planning Commission chairman, presented the proposal to the council Oct. 1. He said the districts the change would apply to currently cover about 15% of the city. It most practically would affect two

zoning districts that make up about 3% of the city, he said.

Hoffman and council members backing the proposal cite safety, walkability and environmental concerns as the reasons to bring it forward, and to have newer developments be consistent with older ones.

Developers and real estate professionals say the proposal would dictate what kinds of homes can be built and add burdens to the development process. Twenty-three people spoke Tuesday against the proposal, many from the Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors and Northwest Arkansas Home Builders Association.

Proponents of the regulation also say it would reduce the preponderance of garage-scapes that line conventional suburban neighborhoods. Reducing the width of driveways would effectively dictate the orientation of garages in certain zoning districts. The proposal would apply to 16 of 24 zones that allow single-family homes.

Council Member Sarah Marsh said the proposal was about safety and promoting a sense of community. She referred to the principle of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, which says homes built with a sense of “eyes on the street” pre-emptively deter crime.

Realtor Doyle Yates said the proposal is well-intentioned but misguided. If builders thought homes with garages to a side or in the back sold, they would build them, he said. Designing neighborhoods to de-emphasize cars doesn’t do away with cars, he said.

“I think you’re stepping into a realm to dictate what the public ought to buy, what they ought to want,” Yates said.

The council voted 7-1 to add an amendment making an exemption for projects in midstream. The exemption applies to all unexpired preliminary, concurrent and final plans and lot splits approved after Dec. 31, 2014, and those approved within a year after adoption of the ordinance.

Attorney Erik Danielson said the proposal skirts the intention of a state law passed this year prohibiting cities from regulating residential design standards, even with the amendment. He argued the proposal isn’t about health and safety, but aesthetics.

“I can tell you with certainty, if passed, it will result in litigation,” Danielson said. “The paperwork’s already been started. The groundwork is being laid.”

In other business, a proposal to establish an entertainment district downtown was tabled indefinitely.

The proposal would allow people attending events downtown to walk around with alcoholic beverages. Organizers of those events would have to ask for administrative approval to allow outdoor drinking.

Devin Howland, economic vitality director, said he wanted to come back with a proposal within a few months after holding facilitated discussions and public meetings with business owners and residents. He asked he be able to do that without a hard time limit.

The council took up for the first time a proposed ban on expanded polystyrene foam products in restaurants, food trucks, coffee shops and other food-service providers. Discussion began after 9:30 p.m.

Jordan opened the meeting with an announcement that City Clerk Sondra Smith died Monday. Jordan told the council during its Oct. 8 session Smith was in hospice care.

Smith was elected city clerk in 2004 after being appointed the year before. The Arkansas Municipal League named her Municipal Clerk of the Year in 2015.

“She loved her family. She loved her staff,” Jordan said. “She loved this city, and she was loved by all who knew her.”