Planners approve controversial lot split

A controversial lot split development permit was approved for the Chattering Heights Addition on Tuesday. The Siloam Springs Planning and Zoning Commission started their regular meeting on Feb. 9 with the application, which was tabled from Nov. 8 at the applicant’s request.

Owner Dennis Brown submitted the application to split the two lots at 1147 West Jefferson Street into three lots, where two more houses could be built.

According to several residents of the neighborhood, the neighborhood covenant prohibited the project. As of the writing of the staff report on the application, Brown was five votes short of an amendment to the covenant that would make an exception for his lot.

During his opening comments on the permit, Senior Planner Ben Rhoads said the city and the Planning and Zoning Commission should not consider the covenant during deliberations because neighborhood covenants are private agreements and the city is not involved in them.

During the public comments portion of the hearing, five Chattering Heights residents stood to speak against the permit application. Linda Miller

said the proposed lots were too small to be allowed in the covenant, and that the large lot sizes were an important feature that attracted residents.

Miller also said the new driveways would cause traffic problems and the new houses wouldn’t blend with the 53-year-old subdivision. Miller asked that the permit be delayed until she could obtain a legal opinion on the covenant.

Mike Castleman spoke next and said the new smaller lots would damage the first impression given by the neighborhood, where he said he moved because of the large lot sizes.

“We respect the guy who’s applying for this, but we don’t agree,” Castleman said.

Mike McGooden, another resident of the area, said the permit would be unfair because he and other residents had an expectation that the lot sizes of the neighborhood would stay the same after they arrived.

“We do not want to live in cluster housing,” McGooden said.

“We just want to respect the people of this neighborhood,” said Nathan Gunneman, the contractor on the project. Gunneman represented Brown at the application hearing.

Gunneman said the houses would be a minimum of 2,000 square feet each, which Commission Chairman Karl Mounger said was larger than some of the other houses in the area. Gunneman also said the developer was planning to move the lot line between the two smaller tracts to better match the line on the other side of the street. Such a move would not require the approval of the commission, and could be accomplished at a later date, City Attorney Jay Williams said.

Williams said the alleged covenant violation would have to be taken to court, where a judge would need to determine if the covenant was in effect and if it was violated.

“The question before the commission this afternoon is if this does or does not meet our city code,” Williams said.

“It isn’t always our job to do what people like,” added Commissioner Kolin Blakely.

The lot line adjustment was approved by a vote of 6-1, with Mounger voting “no” in favor of tabling the application again until the lot lines could be finalized. The commission also: • approved a lot split on the 1000 block of Cheri Whitlock Drive. The lots will be used for businesses, though Rhoads said he wasn’t at liberty to discuss the names of the company or companies interested.

• approved rezoning and lot split permits for 1803 Dawn Hill Road.

• approved rezoning and significant development permits for Camp Siloam, which is building a new dining hall.

• approved a rezoning permit for 471 South Lincoln Street, which is the site of Iron Core Gym.

• approved a significant development permit at Cecil Smith Field, where a new hangar and office are going to be constructed, pending FAA approval.

• heard staff-approved lot consolidation permits for Northside Elementary and Camp Siloam, both of which were conditions for significant development permits.

All rezoning permits and significant development permits will be reviewed by the Board of Directors during their meeting on March 7.