Planning Commission

November 26, 2012 The Russellville Planning Commission will hold its Regular Meeting on Monday, November 26, 2012, at 5:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers of City Hall. PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA Welcome Visitors 1. Review and approve the minutes of the October 22, 2012 regular Meeting. 2. A Public Hearing requesting a recommendation of approval to the City Council to rezone property presently R-1 (Single Family Residential) and C-4 (Neighborhood and Quiet Business) to PUD (Planned Unit Development), located on the east side of Vancouver Avenue between West Main Street and West Second Place, submitted by Attorney Stephen R. Giles on behalf of Ann Carpenter Marks/Trustee of the Robert Carpenter Revocable Trust. (ZO.12.11.164) 3. A Public Hearing requesting a recommendation of approval to the City Council to rezone property presently R-2 (Medium Density Residential) to M-1 (Light Manufacturing), for property located at 3323 East 6th Street, submitted by Judy Summitt on behalf of James Baker. (ZO.12.10.163) 4. A request for approval for a Preliminary Plat Shiloh Manor Phases IV V and VI located north of Shiloh Manor Phase III on Shiloh Road, submitted by Dave Garza of Barrett & Associates on behalf of Bucky Croom and Cliff Goodin. (SD.12.11.258) 5. A Public Hearing to consider the City of Russellville amending the Zoning Code in regard to landscaping of multi-family, commercial and industrial developments. (MS.12.10.72)  Russellville Planning Commission Minutes November 26, 2012 @ 5:30 p.m. The Russellville Planning Commission met in its regular meeting on Monday, November 26, at 5:30 p.m. in the Russellville City Hall Council Chambers. Members Present Chairman Dennis Boyd Jimmy Davenport Vice-Chair Eric Westcott Jimmy Sims Secretary Aldona Standridge Nick Patel Gaylon Smith Members Absent Burke Larkin, Council Liaison Herschell Hargus Richard Perkins Also present: City Planner David Harris, City Attorney Trey Smith, City Engineer Michael Oakes, Jim Lynch/City Corp, Planning Assistant Lequitta A. Jones, Judy Summitt/Petitioner, Cliff Goodin, Price McMillan, and David Garza/Barrett & Associates. WELCOME The First Order of Business (Agenda Item #2) (Pulled at applicant's request until the December Meeting) was a Public Hearing requesting a recommendation of approval to the City Council to rezone property presently R-1 (Single Family Residential) and C-4 (Neighborhood and Quiet Business) to PUD (Planned Unit Development), located on the east side of Vancouver Avenue between West Main Street and West Second Place, submitted by Attorney Stephen R. Giles on behalf of Ann Carpenter Marks/Trustee of the Robert Carpenter Revocable Trust. (ZO.12.11.164) The Second Order of Business (Agenda Item #1) was to review and approve the minutes of the October 22, 2012, regular meeting. Commissioner Standridge made the motion to approve the minutes as written. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Sims and passed unanimously. The Third Order of Business was a Public Hearing requesting a recommendation of approval to City Council to rezone property at 3323 East 6th Street from R-2 (Medium Density Residential) to M-1 (Light Manufacturing), submitted by Judy Summitt on behalf of James Baker. (ZO.12.10.163) No outstanding issue noted. Commissioner Patel made a motion to approve as submitted. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Westcott and passed unanimously. The Fourth Order of Business was a request for Preliminary Plat approval for Shiloh Manor Phases IV, V and VI, located north of Shiloh Manor Phase III on Shiloh Road. Submitted by Dave Garza of Barrett & Associates on behalf of Bucky Croom and Cliff Goodin. (SD.12.11.258) City Planner Harris said this is a continuation of Shiloh Manor and the previous phases are well done and are approaching build-out. This Plat appears to be in good order. It has four proposed access points; two connecting with the older phase of Shiloh Manor, one at the southeast corner of Phase IV, and one that offers a potential future connection back to AR7 at the northwest corner of the subdivision. City Engineer Michael Oakes said he had no concerns and that they are very close to completing their review of the drainage plan. In response to a comment regarding the plat lacking sidewalks, City Planner Harris said the proposed plat complied with current subdivision regulations which do not require sidewalks to be provided under these circumstances. Commissioner Westcott made the motion to approve the Preliminary Plat as submitted. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. The Fifth Order of Business was a Public Hearing to consider amending the City of Russellville Zoning Code to include requirements for the landscaping of multi-family, commercial and industrial developments. (MS.12.10.72) City Planner Harris said the Landscape Ordinance draft before the Commission had been offered for their consideration three years earlier, but it had been decided that, with the slow economy, that it was not the appropriate time to add more development regulations. Consequently, the draft was tabled. Chairman Boyd voiced concern at the lack of public interest in this item evidenced by the small number of attendees at the meeting. He said even though a public notice was published in the newspaper, he was hesitant to move forward without feedback from the stakeholders. 2 Mr. Cliff Goodin said he was part of the last debate. He said he thought it was brought forward primarily because of one building. The building is completed now and appears to be fine. He said he didn’t think it looks particularly bad. Mr. Goodin said he didn’t understand why the City is bringing this ordinance back again. He said he thought the public had expressed their views three years ago. Mr. Goodin said he knew it was being presented again, but that he had not read the draft. Commissioner Standridge said that three years ago she made some calls to developers but that she did not do it this time. Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday the legal notice may have slipped by a lot of people. Mrs. Standridge said in her opinion the new development in the City has been done quite well with regard to landscaping. Mr. Harris said a primary requirement of the ordinance was that not less than 6% of the total site area be landscaped, which is a very minimal requirement compared to many other cities. City Planner Harris said he was in favor of the proposed landscaping, and that he felt strongly that some requirements are better than none. City Planner Harris also provided commissioners with a City-by-City Ranked Comparison that included the following information: Landscaped strip along street frontage Fayetteville 15' 1 tree per 30' Conway 10'/5% depth 1 tree per 30' Springdale 10' 1 tree and 7 shrubs per 25' Little Rock 9' 1 tree per 30' / 3 shrubs per 10' North LR 6' 1 canopy tree per 40' or 1 understory per 30' Russellville 10' 1 tree per 60' / can be grouped Landscaping along interior lot lines Conway 6' (all interior) 1 canopy per 30' or 1 understory per 15' Springdale 5' (all interior) 1 tree per 25' Fayetteville 5' where parking 1 tree per 30' (side & rear) NLR 4' (non-ROW lines) No plantings required Russellville 5' one side only No plantings required Parking lots NLR One tree per 6 spaces Fayetteville One 150sf island w/tree per 12 spaces Little Rock One tree per 12 spaces Springdale One island per 15 spaces Conway No space more than 60' from tree Russellville No space more than 150' from landscaped area Fayetteville Not more than 12 spaces in a row w/o landscaped island Conway Not more than 12 spaces in a row w/o landscaped island Russellville Not more than 20 spaces in a row w/o landscaped island 3 Large Parking Lots Conway 200+ spaces, then lot must be bisected by 12' buffer w/6' paved walk Fayetteville Continuous 8' strip between rows w/1 tree per 30' Building Perimeter Little Rock 3' landscaped strip between bldgs and parking w/1 tree and 4 shrubs per 40' Conway 3' landscaped strip around all buildings Misc requirements Little Rock 8% of parking lot (including drives) must be landscaped Springdale Depending on area - 8, 10, or 15% of parking lot must be landscaped Rogers M-2 zones - 15% of total site area must be landscaped M-1/C-2 zones - 20% of total site area must be landscaped C-4/RO zones - 30% of total site area must be landscaped Mr. Harris said he understood different opinions as to whether landscaping requirements were necessary, but he went on to state that objectively speaking the draft was not nearly as burdensome on developers as the regulations in most other cities. Mr. Harris said he didn’t think we need to be in any rush to take action. If there are any questions that need answered that would help make a decision, he said to please call or email him. He pointed out that if the ordinance is recommended for approval by the Planning Commission, it still has to go to the City Council. Commissioner Standridge said she believed the commission needed to reach out to make sure the public is aware of the proposed changes. The other commissioners agreed. In response to a suggestion that another legal notice be run, Mr. Harris said he would prefer to use word-of-mouth and other means of contacting the public. After a short discussion the commission decided to table this item until the January meeting, but City Attorney Smith said the rules would not allow tabling it until January; it could only be tabled until the next meeting. Commissioner Davenport made the motion to table until the December meeting. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Patel and passed unanimously. Adjourned at 6:15 p.m. ________________________________________ Chairman Dennis Boyd 4