Developer in Conway fails in bid to rezone

CONWAY — Conway’s Planning Commission voted 7-1, with one abstention and one absence, to reject a rezoning request on Tuesday for the construction of 63 single-family home lots under the Planned Unit Development zoning district.

The chair of the commission, Rebekah Fincher, acknowledged what she said was an unusual level of public interest, something multiple other commissioners also noted during the discussion period of the proposal.

The meeting was standing-room-only when it began at 6:30 p.m., with some community members crammed in the open doorways. The applicant’s representative, Landon Sanders, and the developer, John Pennington, were the only ones to speak in favor of the rezoning of land in Ward 3 near Padgett Road.

One of the community members who spoke in opposition, Kevin Leach, asked the gathered community members to raise their hand if they were in support of the proposed rezoning. Out of the dozens gathered, none rose their hands.

“I hope this won’t pass,” Leach said at the end of his allotted time.

Noted concerns from community members included worries about increased runoff to Spencer Lake, the project’s fit with the existing community, and density concerns.

Another speaker in opposition — former Planning Commission Chairman Brandon Ruhl — noted that in his professional capacity as an architect, he didn’t think the development was appropriate.

“This is being requested as a PUD because the applicant cannot get the number of units that they need to put in there to get the return on investment,” Ruhl said.

During the commission’s discussion period, almost all commissioners expressed opposition to the rezoning approval. Commissioner Jensen Thielke said the smaller lot sizes were out of place with the larger lots already present in the area.

“It seems like this will open the gates for more, and I just don’t think that’s appropriate,” he said.

Another commissioner, Drew Gainor, expressed concerns about running out of affordable housing, but ultimately voted against the rezoning proposal.

“At some point, we are going to run out of affordable housing — and don’t hear me saying low-income housing, affordable housing and low-income housing are not the same thing,” Gainor said. “I imagine the inventory is very low at anything under [$250,000] right now, and if we say that we’re going to continue growing as a city … at some point, it means smaller lot sizes.”

Pennington, the developer, said he wasn’t sure what to expect coming into the meeting, and said he will likely appeal the issue to Conway’s City Council. He said he had no other comments.

“We’ll weigh our options and see where we go from there,” Pennington said.