New board members to be sworn in Wednesday
Three newly elected members of the city board will be sworn into their posts during the first meeting of the year on Wednesday.
This will take place at the start of the meeting prior to the regularly scheduled agenda items, and the new members are Mindy Hunt, Marla Sappington and Lesa Rissler (formerly Brosch). Hunt will represent Ward 1, Sappington, Ward 3 and Rissler, Ward 4.
The board will also vote on a resolution at the end of the night to adopt the rules and procedures that local governing bodies abide by. This is required by State Act 235, which was passed in 2015 and requires that the governing body of a city or town hold an “organizational” meeting every January to establish the rules and procedures for public hearings relating to things such as public comments or the responsibilities of board members.
Another task on the night’s agenda is for the board to elect one of its members serve as vice mayor. The vice mayor serves a two-year term and presides over the board during public hearings as the acting mayor in the event the mayor cannot attend, City Administrator Phillip Patterson said.
Director Carol Smiley has filled the role for the last two years, but this could change because any board member can nominate themselves or another member if they choose, Patterson said. Once someone is nominated, a simple majority vote confirms the choice.
Regularly scheduled items
The board will hear the third reading of a proposed ordinance that would amend the city’s zoning code as it relates to housing density and setback requirements for residential areas that are located in the city’s historic overlay district.
The ordinance is in response to concerns that were raised earlier this year about a proposal to rezone a property located at 817 N. Mt. Olive St, according to a city staff report. The property is currently zoned as R-2 (residential, singlefamily) and the applicant wanted to rezone the area to R-4 (residential, multifamily) to make way for a number of multi-family housing units.
Residents living near the property expressed considerable opposition to the idea at the time and the proposal was also deemed by city staff to be inconsistent with the city’s future land-use map. Despite this, city staff recommended the proposal be approved because the proposed location is within the city’s H-1 overlay district.
This district encompasses a large portion of the city, and it is different from regular zones in the city zoning code, which are called “base zones,” according to a city staff report. The provisions outlined for the district are also thought to take precedence over those of the base zones within it.
This is where the problem arose for this proposal, because the housing density regulations for the H-1 district permit up to 20 dwelling units per acre, and the setback requirements it stipulates are considerably lower for residential developments.
A city staff report describes this as “one-size fits-all” approach, and due to this the proposal suggests that the dwelling units per acre for singlefamily uses be set at eight per acre and that the limit for two-family (duplex) uses be set at 15 per acre. It also recommends increasing the setbacks from five to 10 feet on the sides, 12 to 15 feet for the side to corner and 15 to 20 feet in the rear of a given property.
The board will consider two additional items,
• First reading of an ordinance that would vacate a right-of-way on a property located on the 100 block of North Country Road, according to a city staff report.
• Approval of a change order requested by the fire department in the amount of $89,896.46 for the purchase of additional soil that is needed to satisfy the requirements of a geotechnical engineer that is assisting with the construction of the department’s new training tower.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall and for those who cannot attend, it will be recorded and uploaded to siloamsprings.com