Fayetteville Planning Commission goes virtual

FAYETTEVILLE — The Planning Commission got business done as usual Monday despite having to make decisions virtually.

Eight of nine commissioners attended the commission’s meeting through the Zoom conferencing app. Kris Paxton was absent.

Only Commission Chairman Matt Hoffman, Development Review Manager Jonathan Curth, Assistant City Attorney Blake Pennington and members of the city’s Information Technology staff were at City Hall. Developers, engineers or property owners who had requests before the commission phoned in, as did city staff.

Members of the public were encouraged to join in as well. Throughout the meeting Hoffman repeated ways for the public to join by calling a phone number or logging into the Zoom meeting app. He also kept the floor open for members of the public to interject at any point by raising their “virtual hand.”

One resident, Donna Wonsower, commented about the block length of a proposed subdivision in the south part of town. The preliminary plan before the commission was for 43 lots for the Stonebrook subdivision, south of Huntsville Road and River Meadows Drive.

The development as proposed had a street block length of about 1,000 feet on its western boundary, which is longer than the maximum length of 660 feet.

“Over a thousand feet is a long length for a block,” Wonsower said. “Design-wise that’s not preferable.”

Wonsower was the only resident who provided public comment during the meeting. Emailed commentary on other items was included in the packet commissioners received before the meeting.

It was the first time the city tested a virtual format for meetings in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Only the City Council has met since Mayor Lioneld Jordan declared a public health emergency March 13.

Since then, Jordan ordered City Hall be closed to the public. The City Council is scheduled to have its next meeting April 7.

The Planning Commission on Monday approved the preliminary plan for the Stonebrook subdivision. Commissioners also forwarded three rezoning requests to the City Council.

The first rezoning request was for 2 acres of the Stonebrook subdivision land, to make its zoning designation match the zoning already in effect for the northern portion of the property. Another rezoning was for a lot between Mount Comfort Road and Hendrix Street, which would enable the developer to split the lot and build more residential units than allowed currently.

A third request was to change the zoning district for a patch of land west of the Razorback Greenway north of Prairie Street from its current industrial zone to match the surrounding zoning for a downtown general use.

The meeting appeared to go on without any major technical hiccups. Commissioners praised the efforts of the city’s technology staff.

“I prefer being there will all my commissioners face to face, but I think this procedure is working well,” Commissioner Tom Brown said.