Proposed apartments raise concerns
The Hot Springs Planning Commission unanimously approved the site plan for a 61-unit apartment complex last week despite traffic safety concerns raised by neighborhood residents.
The Heights at Seneca, comprising five three-story buildings between Seneca and Terry streets, will transform almost 10 acres of pasture land into a residential development. Residents living to the immediate southeast told planning commissioners that Terry Street’s elevation change made it a perilous location for the complex’s only exit and entry.
“I assume you have gone over the hill in both directions,” Michael Preble told commissioners at last week’s hearing. “It’s a hill of great chaos and danger now as it is. You’re asking for chaos, and you’re asking for catastrophe to happen.”
Jim Miles echoed his neighbor’s concerns, telling commissioners the site plan’s 125 parking spaces suggest traffic volumes incompatible for a single access. He suggested additional access on Seneca Street.
“There’s going to be wreck after wreck coming in and out of there if you don’t put something over on Seneca to help some of the load on that traffic,” Miles said. “It’s going to be a disaster.”
Robert Brown, the engineer hired by applicant Morgan Warden of PDC Hot Springs LP, told commissioners the city engineering department determined the entrance-exit location. He said the parcel’s topography, sloping from west to east and north to south, made Seneca Street access impractical.
“The location is exactly where we were instructed to place it,” he said. “It’s at the top of the hill, so there is sight distance each way north and south. The buildings are at the high point of the property. Seneca Street is probably 25 or 30 feet lower. An additional access point is not really physically feasible.”
Preble and Miles told commissioners the complex will disrupt the integrity of the neighborhood, removing trees that insulate the area from noise and artificial light.
“I consider this development to be destructive to the character of our neighborhood,” Preble said. “The ambient lighting will immediately change the nature of the neighborhood. Destroying more trees will change the nature of the neighborhood. It’s very quiet. It’s very woodsy.”
Brown said the development will be contained to the northwest section of the parcel, leaving about 200 feet of intervening woods between the buildings and homes to the southeast.
The city’s staff report said the complex’s wastewater flow can be routed to the 8-inch main traversing the property’s northeast corner, but a main extension will be needed for water access. Extending 2-inch mains on Terry Street would not provide adequate capacity, requiring an 8-inch main be extended from the 6-inch main on McMahan Drive to the south.
The report said the site plan was consistent with the parcel’s medium/high-density zoning designation. Being a large scale development, with buildings three or more stories in height, subjected it to planning commission approval.