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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-07-18 - Minutes -Meeting:Neighborhood Interest Forum Date:July 18, 2019 Location:City Hall, Room 219 Attendants:Nancy Allen, James Tolbert, Terry Michaels, Robin Devine, Lisa Orton, Donna Davis, Sarah Harrell and Mayor Lionel Jordan James Tolbert called the meeting to order at 5:35 pm. 1.Minutes from 06/20/19 were approved. 2.Neighborhood News Roundtable a.From Donna Davis i.Lots of construction currently on Mission that’s impacting travel. ii.Issue with speeders in Timbercrest neighborhood. 1.The neighborhood has bought green child shaped warning signs to caution people to drive slowly. 2.Mayor Jordan suggested contacting the police so that they can have a patrol come through at peak speeding times. b.From Lisa Orton .Homeowners around the UofA are pleased with the UofA letting them know when they’ll be working in the area. i.Vines growing across streets on Cleveland and other areas. 1.There’s a link on the city website where you can report issues like this. https://www.fayetteville-ar.gov/1782/Report-a-Concern ii.Mattress and box springs left out in the road for a long period of time. 1.Same link can be used for illegal dumping. iii.Continues to work on saving Markham Hill. Posting historical stories on Facebook, and sending them to the Mayor’s office and to local newspaper contacts. c.From Nancy Allen .Everything good overall in Woodland. i.Issue with large skunk population. Animal control will not pick them up. 1.Lisa suggested calling Wildlife X team to see if they would relocate the skunks. 2.Mayor Jordan said it is legal to trap and release the skunks into the woods. d.From Robin Devine .Went to the Parks and Rec meeting as was suggested at the last meeting to see about getting a bench. Even though she wasn’t on the agenda, they listened to her issue about the need and the cost of a bench. The next day she got a call from them to say they were installing a wooden bench until they could get a permanent bench installed. Kudos to Connie and the gang from Parks and Rec. e. f.From Terry Michaels .Ward 1 had a great block party with a great turnout g.From Rick McKinney via email .In the Washington Willows neighborhood, neighbors have experienced a number of "backpack burglaries" in the last month where unknown persons have entered carports and open garages in the early evening and gone through unlocked vehicles and even stolen cable locked bicycles. 1.Police reports were filed. 2.This seems to be a current trend in the neighborhood and we are trying to be more diligent in our efforts to curtail this activity and have requested extra patrol from FPD. 3.Presentation from City Planner Harry Davis a.Neighborhood Plans i.Neighborhood plans would help keep the character of the neighborhood ii.Criteria for a neighborhood plan is compatibility, egress, traffic, and federal guidelines iii.The goal is for all neighborhoods to have a plan and that should help with some of the concerns put forth by NIF members such as: 1.Lot splits and house built that don’t match the character of the neighborhood 2.Historic neighborhoods with new builds that don’t blend 3.Force upzoning - neighborhoods should be able to decide how the neighborhood evolves. b.Appropriate Infill .City Planning Commission hopes to address infill parcel by parcel, neighborhood by neighborhood i.They are starting to talk about “good neighbor” policies - construction time, erosion, etc. c.Homeowner Repair Assistance .The Community Development Program offers Community Block Development Grants to qualifying homeowners to help repair their homes. https://www.fayetteville- ar.gov/1262/Community-Development d.Comments and Question and Answer session .There are no places for middle income people to rent. Old houses are being torn down and 1 or more new houses are being built on the same lot at a higher price i.The planning committee is working on building “envelopes” that encourage a smaller footprint. 1.Currently in front of the council is a plan to put 2 family units on a 40 ft lot where it looks like a single family home from the street. ii.Q - are there incentives for builders to donate to CBDG fund? A - there are incentives for homebuyers who fix homes for personal use. iii.Unemployment is under 3% but poverty level is at 19%. This means people can’t afford to live here. We need to discuss living wages along with affordable/attainable housing. iv.Q - you can build any size home you want, if you build a tiny home on wheels, what would that be considered? A - if it’s on wheels then it’s considered a mobile home. v.71B corridor is changing to a mixed use to make it more walkable but it hasn’t been presented in final form yet. Q - how do they mix in high density with low density neighborhoods. A - no answer at the time. vi.One precedent for inclusionary zoning is that we can require a certain percentage of homes to be affordable 4.Committee Business a.Next meeting is scheduled for August 15, 5:30 pm, room 326. b.Charter and/or Purpose Statement i.James read Sonya’s statement again for consideration 1.Some changes suggested - mainly around the work “association” for those neighborhoods that don’t have HOAs or POAs. 2.James will send out the updated version before the next meeting. ii.We will vote on this statement at the next meeting c.Agenda for August .Vote on Charter/Purpose statement i.Community Block Development Grant representative will give a presentation around the application process and what all is covered ii.Receive an update on the bond issues being finalized and other propositions in front of the council 1.Parks and Rec bond issues 2.Plastic Bag ban 3.Styrofoam ban 4.Storm management (Chris Brown) around Lake Sequoyah. Should it be dredged because of all the silt brought in from recent storms. James Tolbert adjourned the meeting at 7:11 https://www.fayetteville-ar.gov/3659/Neighborhood-Interest-Forum