Resident Approaches City Council For Help

PRAIRIE GROVE —A Prairie Grove resident last week asked the City Council for a waiver or another type of action to be able to use a small remodeled structure as a rental house.

Marcus Nall said when he bought the building at 108 Boston St., he thought he was purchasing a small residential house because it had been used as a house in the past. He later learned the building did not meet the minimum square foot requirement for a residence.

“I didn’t know it was an office,” Nall told the council members Jan. 21. The property currently is zoned commercial.

In a memo to the council, Larry Oelrich, director of administrative services and public works, said he told Nall that the building could not be used as a residence based on its size but that Nall proceeded to rent it as a residence anyway.

“When the city determined that it had been rented, he was notified that he was in violation,” Oelrich said in the memo.

Nall’s building is 28 feet by 14 feet, with a total of 392 square feet. He said he completely remodeled the structure and it now has one large room with a small kitchen area at one end and a bathroom with washer and dryer connections. He rented it to a mother and child but they have since moved out.

The city adopted standards for residential structures about five years ago and the minimum size for a single family structure is 960 square feet and the minimum size for a multi-family apartment unit is 480 square feet.

Oelrich, in his memo, stated that two issues were considered when the council adopted minimum residential standards. One was to prevent just any small building from being converted into living quarters and the other issue was to limit the number of people, such as multiple families, from living in a single structure.

Nall told the council that he wants to use the income from the rental property to help with a plan to restore the old Washington County Milling Co. property on Mock Street. He said the mill property was built in 1919 and is an historical structure in Prairie Grove. He said he foresees the building being used for weddings, receptions and family reunions, similar to the Pratt Barn and War Eagle Mill.

He noted that the building on Boston Street would rent for more as a residential property rather than as an office building.

Oelrich said the Prairie Grove Planning Commission declined to make a recommendation on Nall’s request.

The council did not take any action last week but agreed to take the request under consideration and place Nall on the agenda for the council’s February meeting.