Board to consider apartment controversy
The development permit for Nottingham Apartments narrowly passed the Planning and Zoning Commission last month.
Budget season in Siloam Springs starts Tuesday with a budget review workshop at 5:30 p.m., an hour before the regularly-scheduled Board of Directors meeting. This will be the first of three scheduled budget review workshops, said City Communications Director Holland Hayden.
This first workshop will serve as a “10,000-foot-view” of the budget, giving both directors and the public an idea of the basic aspects of the upcoming 2017 city budget. The two remaining workshops, which will be held before the Board meetings on Oct. 18 and Nov. 1 will go more in depth and give more detailed information.
After the budget workshop, the Board of Directors will have its regular meeting, which is highlighted by a Significant Development Permit application for Nottingham Apartments.
The proposed apartment complex would be located at 2200 E. Little John Street and two lots on East Sherwood Street. It would include four buildings built on three lots, totaling 80 new apartment units. The complex would be 81,450 square feet in area and its 80 dwelling units will meet the maximum allowable unit density if approved. Proposed parking is the minimum required amount, which is 160 parking spaces.
Several area residents spoke
out against the proposed complex on Sept. 13, when the development gained the approval of the Planning and Zoning Commission. The permit was approved by a 4-2 vote, with the dissenting voters citing safety concerns.
Concerns raised during the public comments portion of the meeting centered around traffic, overcrowding, nuisance to current residents and potentially inadequate drainage. Numbers presented by one speaker, who works for one of the duplex owners in the neighboring complex, show that the apartment complex will more than double the cars in the area, from 98 to potentially 258.
An article from the Herald-Leader in March 2007 shows that the rezoning of the properties, including the duplexes that surround it, was protested when it was rezoned from agricultural to light industrial and residential. A chief cause of concern was traffic.
There was no opposition when the industrial properties were rezoned to residential in preparation for the apartment complex earlier this year, according to minutes from that meeting.
The staff report for this week’s meeting addressed a few of the concerns raised in September’s Planning and Zoning meeting. The report said there is no evidence that the proposed development will cause a disturbance to the surrounding duplexes.
“Enforcement of the City Code’s nuisance chapter will ensure that excessive noise, or unsightly debris, etc. is mitigated,” the report said. “These rules ensure that the proposal will not inherently decrease the quality of life standards already in place across the City.”
The report also said that because the proposed apartment complex is not low rent or rent-assisted, it will not damage the value of the surrounding properties. The report said the determining factor to whether a development damages the value of surrounding buildings is not population density, but how well the apartment complex is kept up and its rent price point.
Next, the report addressed traffic. The report said that as long as current traffic does not exceed posted speed limits, the addition of more traffic will not cause safety concerns. More policing enforcement along the road may be needed to ensure speed limits are being observed, the release said.
The report estimated that the project will increase traffic from 1,600 vehicles per day to 2,130 vehicles per day, a 25 percent increase.
The staff report also included three letters that were sent to the city protesting the development. One of the letters, dated Aug. 23, had the signatures of 63 people who were opposed to the development.
The regular meeting will also feature a life-saver award presentation and a presentation from the dog park committee. Also on the agenda are two rezoning ordinances, the third reading of an ordinance establishing rental rates for the Sager Creek Soccer Complex, a budget amendment for the landscaping related to the Mt. Olive Street Diet and an affidavit for destruction of old city documents.