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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989-03-08 Minutes• • • MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FAYETTEVILLE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION DISCUSSION OF LAND USE PLAN A special meeting of the Fayetteville City Planning Commission was held on March 8, 1989 at 12:00 noon in Room 326 of the City Administration Building, 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Ernie Jacks, Jack Cleghorn, J. David Ozment, Jerry Allred, J.E. Springborn, Julie Nash, Gerald Klingaman, Gerald Seiff & Fred Hanna OTHERS PRESENT: Al Raby - AICP/Plan Group & Eric Kelly - Land Use Attorney NW AR Regional Planning: Larry Wood City Board of Directors: Fred Vorsanger & Michael Green Staff Members: John Merrell, Mike Batie & Elaine Cattaneo Others: Robert Davis, Harriet Jasma, Don Hunnicutt, Anthony De Palma, Wilbur Watson, members of the press and others. Chairman Jacks advised that this is a special meeting of the City Planning Commission with a presentation by Al Raby and his associate, Eric Kelly who is an attorney. They will make a presentation of the Land Use Study He added that toward the end of the presentation they will welcome questions from the Planning Commission as well as the audience. Al Raby stated that in the last workshop they had in August of 1988, Jim Duncan accompanied him. This time Eric Kelly, the Land Use Attorney, is with him. He advised that they are all three involved in this from different perspectives. Today they are here basically to talk about a rough draft of the document and for the purpose of discussing their findings and the general direction they are proposing to them to get their input in how to finalize this document. He added that they have taken the input from the Workshop held earlier and have tried to bring it in this Plan. They have just signed the contract for Phase II which includes the zoning ordinance and the transportation element. Also, toward the end of the meeting Mr. Kelly will be discussing the outline of the zoning ordinance that he proposes to draft. They will be integrating, but not rewriting the Subdivision Regulations as well. Mr. Raby stated that there are three key terms that he thinks describes the Plan from his prospective: 1) Environmentally Sensitive - They understand the delicacy and the needs of Fayetteville's environment and feel like they are presenting a Plan that is sensitive to the environmental concerns in ways of preserving it. 2) Economically Viable They recognize that Fayetteville has a growing community with sustainable growth and a variety of economic opportunities in it and they want to recognize that through the Plan and Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page :2 ensure the continuation of that economic viability. The two are compatible and they believe can go hand-in-hand through the type Plan they are proposing. 3) Performance Driven - This in part relates back to the environmental aspects such as how much development can be done on slopes and how much tree removal there can be. They want the implementation of this Plan, the development of the various aspects of it, to be based on performance standards that reflect the quality that they want in all aspects of this Plan. 4) Planned/Cluster Design - a) They are considering "planned" development not just for residential (i.e., Planned Unit Development), but also for industrial, commercial and institutional. The idea is to try to encourage development to be brought in to the Planning Commission in a "planned" fashion with some additional thought in planning and design work as opposed to the more traditional approach. b) Clustering means trying to maintain densities and intensity of land use relatively high because this relates back to how they protect the environment. If they can push the development into a more clustered and planned fashion, then they can provide for the environmental sensitivity that they think is important in the community. SLOPE, SOIL AND FLOODWAY MAPS Mr. Raby referred to the rough draft document that had been distributed to the Planning Commissioners. He commented that there are some maps he will like to draw to their attention. First on Page 16 is a "Slope Analysis" which is showing those areas of the Planning Area where slope is of serious consideration with a relatively steep grading. These are areas that they recognize as being ones that they should work very carefully with or steer away from in terms of development. They are all located to the South and to the East. Secondly, on Page 18 there is a "Soil Analysis" map. This is taken from an investigation done on the soils and is colored -coded with the darker color signifying the more severe areas or that which would be difficult to use. The darker the color the more severe the use of the soils are here. This map also shows a location pattern similar to the slope analysis. Again to the South and to the East is where they find the severity of the soils, areas that are least usable for most development purposes. Thirdly, on Page 30 is a "Floodway Map" which has three colors represented dealing with the severity of flooding. The flooding areas are located somewhat to the South and mostly to the East. Therefore, three things have show up to the South and to the East: soil, slope and flooding. With these three things combined, they recognize that there are major areas in the Planning Area that are "truly environmentally sensitive". The combination of those things such as elevation, soil, slope and flooding pose serious problems. With these areas identified, they immediately identify an area where they really think it would be difficult to do any kind of development on so they have set those areas aside. There is an advantage to that because while they are environmentally sensitive, they also provide an attractive natural backdrop to this community which was indicated at the earlier workshop as being 25 • • • Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 3 very important. SUSTAINABLE GROWTH Also, from the economic standpoint, this community is continuing to experience growth, not major growth but sustainable growth and with that there is a 1.7 to 1.9 7. increase annually in the population. Along side that, there is an equally good or better increase in the number of job opportunities that are being provided in the community. That combination of population increase and job increase shows that new industries coming to town think there is something worthwhile happening here in terms of growth. The long-term trends of both of those show that it has been sustainable for nearly two decades and appears that it will be sustainable into the next decade. The horizon year for all their planning work is 2010. There may be some changes in the growth over those years, but they will probably continue to see this relatively stable growth much like the historical trend that Fayetteville has had thus far. With the completion of the interstate to the west side of the community, there is a new factor coming in for growth. They think that the interstate will both attract growth as well as direct growth. By virtue of the interstate coming into the community here, it is going to open things in general and industries that maybe were not looking at Fayetteville before, will begin to look more seriously at Fayetteville now because there will be greater access between production centers and markets. It will open up a whole new road system by virtue of the interstate and that is a very healthy sign. Time after time other communities where interstates have recently opened have experienced considerable growth and it almost always pulls the growth toward it. In this case it means to the West of the community. If you look at the developed pattern of this community, it has historically been in the center portion and to the East. The majority of the residential areas are to the East. Part of that relates to where the water and sewer system have been developed and they have traditionally been to the East along with the treatment plant. Now the growth is going to come to the West and will probably have some impact on the water and sewer growth. They anticipate that with the growth, they may have to look very carefully at a plant on the East side of the community to serve the growth out there. Also, as a region, this area is growing. There are very healthy signs throughout the region of this growth. It is occurring to the North of Fayetteville to a significant degree and there is something of a twin -city evolving although the two communities aren't comparable. While at times the two cities are competitors for industries and such, they are also in alliance in the sense that it is the draw of the two combined that will attract even greater growth to the community and Fayetteville continues to be the center of that activity. This shows that a lot is going to happen here on the west side and and the northwest side of this community. This is supported by what was discussed earlier about the environmental problems. There are several environmental barriers to the South and to the East that would make growth difficult so the community really has one primary choice to grow which is to the West. On page 113 of the document, they have included some of the growth factors which include the interstate and industrial expansion which they have already talked about. Also included is the population expansion whereas the population of the City now is about 47,000 people and there are about 53,000 people in the Planning zc� Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 4 Area. They envision the City growing by 22,000 or more and the Planning Area will see comparable growth; so by the year 2010, this will be a community of about 70,000 people. The University of Arkansas continues to have a stabilizing effect. There was a phase when it was a significant contributor to the growth of the City but not any longer. Now it is providing a very strong support base that stabilizes the economy and allows certain things to happen that would not normally happen in a community of this size. It provides certain cultural and economic activities. Therefore, it is an important factor in the continuation of the growth. EXISTING LAND USE On page 102 of the document they provide a generalized land use pattern which shows the percentages of existing land use within the City (not the amount of land zoned, but what is currently existing) as follows: 47% Undeveloped 1.8% University Properties 6.37. Public Activities 1.6% Transportation Elements 3.2% Industrial 4.47. Commercial 12% Miscellaneous 237, Residential Residential is by far the largest use excluding vacant -and undevelopable land. - The pattern of the residential is largely to the East as far as the newer community and around the central business district as far as the historical growth is concerned. Then the university is on the west side. The major industrial park is to the Southeast with some small scattering around other areas to the South and West. While the industrial park is located close to railroad and to the airport, unfortunately it doesn't have the kinds of connections that make an industrial park really work well. It doesn't have good highway access; it doesn't link up well with Highway 71 or the future interstate or with the airport. EXISTING ZONING The zoning map isn't included in the document booklet but the percentages are as follows: 61% Residential (46% - low density, 14% - medium density, 1% - high density). 6% Commercial 8% Industrial 57. Public Therefore, for the most part, those figures are in some fairly reasonable balance with what the existing land use patterns and are fairly typical of other communities that they have worked with. z7 Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 5 In terms of formulating the future land use, they have taken both the existing zoning and what is currently in use into consideration. Out of the future land use, there are several areas that they need to address as what they see as being major activities for the future. TRANSPORTATION They met with the Transportation Committee that serves this area on March 7th. They too are working on portions of the transportation plan. What is being presented today as far as transportation has not been blessed by the Transportation Committee. Today they are presenting a concept but it is not necessarily a final resolution of how the transportation works out. The community has grown in a north/south direction primarily because of the mountain and valley situation. Because of the way the ridges run, it is very difficult to have east/west connections. Therefore, they have been looking at how to get some good east/west connections. Three or four cross-town routes were looked at but most of them had to be discarded because of development being to intense, of such a character that it would be inhibitively expensive to acquire or topography was a problem. However, they were able to come up with one that it appears could work reasonably well which is the 6th Street/Huntsville Road connection over to the interstate. The Transportation Committee agrees also that this is a possible east/west connector. Highway 265 on the East side of town which runs north/south could have the possibility of helping provide some more complete circulation around the community because it has the potential of becoming larger with a good bit of right-of-way where it can be expanded. As an alternative•to that, they (not the Transportation Committee) are proposing consideration of going a little farther to the East and having a north/south limited access highway much like the bypass on the West side of the City. With this they could have a loop system around the City with an east/west connection both north and south of town. Commissioner Springborn asked how many miles would be involved in the loop system that he is speaking of. Mr. Raby stated that he doesn't remember what those figures are. Commissioner Springborn stated that in this case the distance would be fairly small. He added that he hoped the Transportation Committee is far- sighted enough to recognize that generally when these sort of things are planned, the loop is planned too tight. Mr. Raby stated that what they believe will happen with a loop is that people who live on the northeast side of town would get on the loop and go around instead of trying to go through the middle of town to get to the West which would save time. Also, it would push the boundary of the City out and would encompass what they envision the growth of the community in the long-term as being. They think that future growth toward the East will be relatively small compared to the growth to the West. On just the population alone, this might now be justifiable but when you consider the cost of east/west connectors this loop would be as economically viable. Chairman Jacks stated that they would have to cross the Country Club and a mountain with the southern boundary of the loop. Mr. Raby stated that there would have to be some refinement of alignment there in order to miss these kinds of things. He added that they have looked at the topography and the land use Z8 Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 6 there and it would be just south of the Country Club. They will have site distance problems in this community regardless and there will be some problems. A SECOND PUBLIC INDUSTRIAL PARK On page 114 of the book they discuss a second public industrial park. They are proposing to locate one in the northwest sector around the interstate interchange in the future land use. This location would be good because there is a lot of flat land (1,200 to 1,500 acres) still available at a reasonable price with good connections with interstate and railroad. Perhaps the overriding reason for that location is because that is where the market is. A SECOND MAJOR COMMERCIAL AREA (MALL) As the community grows and as the west area becomes more developed, they envision a second major commercial area ( mall) evolving at Wedington Drive which would be closer to the University and the downtown and connected to the interstate. There is a potential for a planned type commercial development here of a community size (250,000 square feet). They would hope that it would not all front on Wedington so it wouldn't be stripped and because of the potential of some things happening out there. POTENTIAL REGIONAL AIRPORT In the past, this community has failed to pass an airport two or three times and. they understand that the community is presently involved in upgrading the system on the existing airport. It is a good airport with good traffic, but it is a limiting factor to this community. From what he understands, it is physically impossible to expand it for jet service because of the hills surrounding. This community needs to consider somewhere out in the long-range future, the potential of a major new regional airport occurring. A good location would be out West of town. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS RESEARCH PARR They have talked to the University and it doesn't see itself growing in terms of student population so they don't project any major growth there or any great needs in terms of additional land use. However, they do have some property that is undeveloped and they have talked about the possibility of a "Research Park" emerging out near the U of A farm area This could really help the community in terms of its industrial growth and overall economic growth. It could provide a new focus or direction for the University in terms of its service to the community. MAJOR MEDICAL CENTER Many of the doctors at the Washington Regional Medical Center are moving there practice and trying to create a major medical center out to the North of Appleby Road. Therefore, they have worked to accommodate that and include it in their zq • • • Special Meeting of the Planning Commission Marvh 8, 1989 Page 7 Plan. RESIDENTIAL: SINGLE-FAMILY They envision the trends that are already established in terms of residential growth to continue. To the northeast is the larger lot, upscale residential area and because of the topography in this region and the economic characteristics of the area, they envision it continuing there. They consider this to be of a relatively low density compared to other areas. In contrast, they see the lesser income single-family areas developing in the southeastern area with medium density. Where they see the real residential growth in the future in terms of middle income is to the West with medium to medium-high density. This would supply multiple types of housing to meet the demands of new workers in the new industries. One of the big factors that they find in attracting industries is that they have a good supply of housing with a wide variety of choices at affordable prices. Fayetteville has one of the best supply at affordable prices he has ever seen. They want to help maintain this by holding down land costs and keeping densities up. There will be some new multi -family development, but there is already a good surplus of multi -family in Fayetteville. They don't see a proliferation of Mobile Homes in this community which goes back to the fact that there is affordable housing with a wide variety of choices. Therefore, they don't see a demand for expansion of mobile homes. NEW TRANSPORTATION ENTRY FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS They have looked at new entries for the University because there isn't a good way to get to it. The traditional entry from downtown should be continued but they envision with the interstate and crowds coming in for football games there should be another entry. They have looked at the possibility of entering from the West and from the interstate coming up Razorback Road. This entry from the South would involve an extension of Razorback to the interstate and their recommendation is that this would be the best connection that the University could have. Therefore, in their Land Use Plan they want to promote that. They recommend that interchange be of a low-density residential character to minimize any traffic congestion so that it can be used primarily for University purposes of getting large numbers of people in and out quickly without getting bottlenecks to major commercial developments. Commissioner Hanna stated that an entry from the interstate up to Razorback Road would only benefit people coming up from the South. Since there are only three footballs games a year, it seems impractical as compared to taking the intersection at Highway 16 West on in where people can access this future mall and commercial envisioned there. He added that the extension of Razorback Road looks like a very limited access to the University for the people that are here because there are a lot of people who come in from Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville, etc. • • • Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 8 Commissioner Seiff stated that it has been proven that the majority of the game traffic comes out of Interstate 40. Commissioner Hanna stated that would only be three times a year and if there was a mall out to the West, people would be going there every day. Mr. Raby stated that they looked at the possibility of an entry from the West but because of the street alignment and some of the development it would be really tough to get through there. Commissioner Hanna stated that just north of Wedington (Highway 16 W), there is an access that ties in to Mt. Comfort Road or to Garland which looks like it would be more beneficial for long-range planning for the community than the cutoff up Razorback Road. He added that the 6th Street/Huntsville Road east/west connection would be great. PLANNED/CLUSTERED DESIGN CONCEPT Mr. Raby stated that it appears that in the historical part of Fayetteville, that they are accustomed to mixing types of dwelling units in terms of economics and style and that densities are fairly high in the more traditional part of the community. High densities are a valuable resource for future development. If densities can be kept up higher and in a concentrated fashion, they can leave the vast majority of these areas open with pockets of development with greenspace in between This is a Planned Unit Development concept. This concept also concentrates utilities. The developers have been very fortunate in having the community bear traditionally the cost of those kinds of things. As a community grows and these things become more expensive, this will have to be reevaluated in terms of how these things are going to be financed. One thing clustered growth does is cluster the infrastructure: water, sewer and streets. With this the City gets more use out of the infrastructure for the money that is spent on them. As far as community financial support, they are trying to discourage leap- frogging or dispersal of development which protects the community financially and protects the environmental. That is where the compatibility of the economic viability, economic growth and the environmentally sensitive areas come in to play. If they cluster planned development in a well designed fashion, they can recognize environmentally sensitive areas and protect them and keep the overall attractiveness of the community. Chairman Jacks stated that he is surprised that they aren't recommending that the airport be located further north where it would be more centralized to Springdale, Rogers, etc. Mr. Raby stated that since this area lies beyond the Planning Area, it is difficult for them to deal with it in a more specific site, but he feels the West is the area that makes more sense. Commissioner Springborn stated that with the difficulty that has arisen in the past between cities that come into grips with a regional airport, the hierarchy for planning is generally recognized as starting with the State to the County with the City at the bottom. He asked if there is any possibility that more could be accomplished by pushing Washington County into taking more initiative in a regional airport. Mr. Raby stated that would involve a policy decision that the County might not be prepared for. Eric Kelly advised that with the enormous decrease in federal funding for airports, looking at it from a County level makes a lot of sense from a financing perspective and because of the politics. 3) • • • Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 9 Chairman Jacks stated that ever Research Park he knows of takes more than just one university. It seems to be several universities in a research triangle. He asked if Fayetteville has the attributes to really develop one. Commissioner Seiff advised that when he was at the university, he was on that Committee and the university is very much set on developing a research park in conjunction with the City. They might be able to get more information from the City Manager. Don Peterson from the university was also involved. They do feel like Fayetteville has the necessary attributes Mr. Kelly stated that what Fayetteville would develop would not be on the same scale of the large research parks. However, successful economic development programs any place are all tying into universities. One of the problems they are getting into with all levels of industry is that almost any new plant that is opened requires new training and they are looking to the educational institutions to help provide that. A tie between the educational institution and the industrial development is very important. Commissioner Klingaman stated that the Board of Higher Education's mission for the university is research directed. Commissioner Ozment asked what type of population would they need to have in this region to get greater air service than Fayetteville has right now with just commuter flights. Mr. Raby stated that there are obviously physical limitations on Fayetteville now as far as having jet service. He added that it appears that the number of people flying in and out of this area is rather substantial and he believes that it is the physical factors that prohibit it, not the number of persons. Mr. Kelly stated that another factor to look at is the HUB system. Fayetteville is so close to so many HUB's, it is not a very logical hop for most of today's jets. Commissioner Ozment asked how they would bring Fayetteville, Springdale and Rogers together if they wouldn't be able to get the jet service. Mr. Raby stated that the airport is not critical to the Land Use Plan and they aren't dealing with it because it is beyond the Planning area, they are just saying there is a possibility there for the future. Commissioner Klingaman referred to Mr. Raby's comment about the development of Fayetteville having a low-income side and the higher income side. He asked if as a planning policy, that was a good policy to setup or should they try to encourage integration of the two. Mr. Raby answered that through the types of housing, it can be integrated more. Mr. Kelly stated that Land Use Controls in many communities go against integration, but he sees nothing in Fayetteville's regulations that is forcing those patterns. They won't be doing anything from a planning perspective to prevent the continuation of this kind of development but economics may change that. Commissioner Seiff stated that in reference to the transportation loop , that loop to the South is so far that it would be a tremendous drive and might not be used even if it was there unless there was another east/west route across maybe where Township is. The problem would be trying to get from the middle of town to the loop. Mr. Kelly stated that a lot of communities have this loop and it can save time. He added that there are two advantages with a loop road; it relieves some traffic off of the middle of town so it will speed up traffic and it insures that you don't get more pressure on the streets as the community • • • Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 10 grows. Chairman Jacks stated that the Planned Unit Development ordinance is not restricted to residential, but the problem is trying to get developers to take advantage of it. They need some sort of incentive. Mr. Kelly stated that their new regulations have some environmental sensitivity built into them that discourages development on steep slopes. Also, on property with a slope they could also offer an disincentive to encourage them to cluster everything on the lower part of the property by offering them full credit for the steep ground. You could also give some zoning incentives such as a density bonus. He advised that the current P.U.D. regulations are very badly written and hard to work through, although the concept is fairly sound. Chairman Jacks stated that so far the P.U.D.'s have been used to circumvent the zoning ordinance to build apartments in R-1 areas, etc. Commissioner Seiff stated that he thinks the second industrial park is a very good ideal but it is also going to need some incentives. Commissioner Hanna stated that he noticed there is only a small amount of commercial land use that has been allocated to the Highway 62 intersection and interstate and he wondered what the reasoning is behind that. There is a very high traffic count out there coming in from the West which they don't have coming in from the West on Highway 16 West. Mr. Raby stated that what he has shown is long-term and will only occur as the population grows. Commissioner Hanna stated that he was surprised that the proposed mall wasn't projected as being on Highway 62 with the proposed east/west corridor through to Huntsville Road. Chairman Jacks stated that the amount of commercial -that is- projected on Wedington seems to be a lot. Mr. Raby stated that it may be a little out of proportion but he was trying to indicate that they wanted to cluster development there setting back from the road. Commissioner Allred asked what Mr. Raby foresaw as far as the service road between Highway 62 and Highway 16 because there is a demand for some commercial zoning there right now. Mr. Raby stated that they hope the City can hold the line until this plan gets into place so that won't be stripped. He added that there is already so much stripping, it has reduced some opportunities. Commissioner Nash stated that in August they had discussed making sure any new entrance into the university passed the research park. Is there a reason that the research park needs to be where it is shown or is there enough land available for it to be located down to the South where the new proposed entrance is planned. Mr. Raby stated that they would have to help the University acquire the land, but there is a possibility that it could be located down there. He stated that the overriding concern is that it be visible. Commissioner Springborn asked if they would consider adding the faults to the "soil analysis" map. Mr. Raby answered, yes, if they can figure out a good way to do it. Larry Wood from Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning stated that he understands the clustering concept and the incentive to do it would be for the City to probably finance some or all of the infrastructure to get that cluster located where they want it. What other things can be built into the ordinance to keep it • • • Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 11 from becoming an individual by individual partial of development. Mr. Kelly stated they could give intensity increases, signage increases or any kind of incentive so that ideally they would have four or five adjacent owners along a strip who would join together and file a common plan with only two driveway accesses to the five properties because there are enough incentives built into the regulations for doing that. One of the things they need to find out is what will push the button to the local development to encourage them to do that. Also, it is not so much that the community would start paying for the infrastructure but the community would keep paying for the infrastructure for certain types of development and perhaps not keep paying for it on others. Dr. De Palma asked what Mr. Kelly would recommend in terms of the composition of that cluster development. Mr. Kelly stated that with "cluster" they are talking about good design. It doesn't have to mean mixed uses; it could be all single- family residential or a mixture. Those techniques can be applied without mixing uses or you can apply those techniques and mix uses. Mr. Kelly added that whether you cluster is a separate decision from whether you mix uses. He gave an example of something similar that they are doing in another community where they have created three classifications: 1) purely residential with very limited services, 2) designed for business property which allows industrial uses and wholesaling type commercial uses yet will only allow retail uses if they are totally internal, and 3) a mixture of retail office, high density, medium density and low density residential. Commissioner Springborn stated that he felt the big benefit they could get out of a regional type airport would be some in-between flight stops by jet between Memphis & Tulsa, between Springfield & Tulsa and between Houston & Tulsa. Harriet Jasma stated that they have talked about the movement of traffic and one of her concerns toward the landscape in Fayetteville has been the parking and storage of automobiles. There is close density of residential development and a lot of cars so there is a lot of pressure on the little bit of parking space around the residences for the cars. This is a concern that they need to think about that is not related at all to new development but is related to maintaining what is existing. Mr. Raby stated that they haven't looked at that kind of detail but the nature of the downtown is going to continue to be such in terms of the traffic coming in it and they will continue to have that kind of limit. One of there proposed policies is to try to encourage more of an integrated transportation system that might involve some utilization of the university's transit system to alleviate that problem to some extent. Commissioner Cleghorn asked Mr. Raby if they had any guidelines to follow as far as where the City wants to be or do they just say this is the way they are going so this is what is recommended. "What if the City says they don't want to be 100,000 population, they want to be 75,000 or 150,000"? Mr. Raby stated that the workshop they had in August was set up with all the Planning Commissioners, City Directors and other folks represented to obtain input for this. They had also previously done a random sample survey on the residents which was like a 20% sample. Mr. Kelly advised that this is the City of Fayetteville's plan and if someone doesn't like something it in, they can change it. This is just their professional team's attempt to respond to all of the input received so far plus Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 12 some obvious topography characters. Wilbur Watson stated that the individual parking within three blocks of the university is a problem. Mr. Raby stated that they went to the university and asked them if they needed more off-site parking so that they could make provisions in the plan. Their general response was that they didn't think that they needed it. A member of the audience stated that one of the realities of Fayetteville is that there is more than one or two school districts in the area. He suggested that it would be beneficial in the development of these plans to identify the districts and lay it out so that they are bringing investments that will be going to the this district. Mr. Raby stated that they had outlined the school districts in their document and they have set it up so that the major uses are in the Fayetteville School District. NR. KELLY'S PRESENTATION At this point Mr. Kelly made his presentation. He stated that they are getting ready to start on the new zoning ordinance which will in some respects look like the old zoning ordinance and in some respects it won't. A proposed outline was handed out to the Planning Commissioners for their review. He advised that they made their recommendations in an earlier report on zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations. Mr. Kelly stated that he has three fundamental questions that he would like to address. 1. Which type of organization would be preferred: a) unified development where they merge the subdivision and the zoning regulations all into one document and they would be regulating the development of land or b) separate where there will be two separate ordinances. He stated that they can do a better job with integration but if there are a lot of people opposed to this they could do them separate. 2. Environmental Concern: There has been great concern expressed about the environment yet the existing zoning and subdivision regulations express very little concern with the environment. Are they ready to start including some basic controls that address some environmental issues in some regulations and make them at least somewhat environmentally sensitive. 3. What do they want to keep in their current zoning regulations: If there is anything that they really want to keep in the existing zoning regulations, please let them know now. Commissioner Seiff stated that he would like to hear Mr. Kelly's professional opinion on the pros and cons of a unified plan. Chairman Jacks asked if a unified plan would make the document so complex it would scare a developer. Mr. Kelly answered, no, the fact that it is unified would make it shorter rather than longer. For example, with a unified document 3Z • • • Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 13 you only have one set of definitions instead of two. Mr. Kelly stated that the advantages of unifying are a) there is only one book, not two b) you have one set of definitions and administrative provisions with no duplication c) it would eliminate minor inconsistencies and things that fall between the gaps of the two. If it is all one document, then everything is covered by something. In general it is an easier tool to use and from a management perspective, they strongly recommend that it be integrated particularly where there are environmental problems to deal with. Mr. Kelly commented that from an administrative legal perspective, Arkansas Law talks about regulating development rather than subdivisions. One of the problems they run into is when a developer comes in with a piece of land that has already been subdivided and wants to build a huge project and the question is what kind of control do they have over it other than zoning. Arkansas Law has a very good definition of development which means that you can regulate land that has already been subdivided or doesn't need to be subdivided and deal with some of the environmental issues through what most people would call "subdivision regulations" but we are calling them "development regulations". The only reasons for not integrating subdivision regulations into zoning regulations is: a) weak City Attorney which isn't the case here, b) if people are so used to having two separate documents that they can't cope with having them merged into one or c) in a special case. He advised that whatever they leave the City of Fayetteville with has to work for them so if they are more comfortable having separate ordinances, it can be done that way. Commissioner Hanna asked if they be brought in to the Planning brought directly to the Planning Subdivision Committee first. Mr. is a change they want to make technical details before the valuable. It would be looked at than as being zoning and subdi and make it a little faster. are trying to set it up where a development can Director for review and recommendation and then Commission instead of having to go to the Kelly answered, no, not necessarily unless that . The Subdivision Committee would look at the Planning Commission sees it which would be very as the development of a piece of property rather vision. It will normally streamline the process Chairman Jacks stated that he thinks the Plat Review Committee is a good thing. They have talked about the possibility of a joint committee of the Planning Commission and the City Board. Mr. Kelly stated that the Subdivision Committee is advantageous to the developers because that is where they work out problems. Chairman Jacks stated that they have a Plat Review Committee that works out problems with utilities and such. Then there is the Subdivision Committee which is members of the Planning Commission and they sort out problems before it goes to the Planning Commission. Mr. Kelly stated that maybe they could eliminate that middle meeting. Chairman Jacks commented that he feels the Subdivision Committee serves a good purpose. Chairman Jacks stated that in reference to what part of the ordinance they want to keep, the structure of the ordinance from District to Use Unit to Use Condition has become ingrained. Mr. Kelly stated that they could keep the concept but organize it around a system that will grow as needed. He added that they recommend that they reorganize the commercial and industrial uses around the standard industrial classification system published by the Federal Government Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 14 which gives them an "automatic updating mechanism". In that way, if there is something that isn't defined, the Planning Director can look in the SIC handbook published by the Federal Government and see what category it should go in. This system can also be used to organize the Use Units by changing the numbering on the Use Units to follow the SIC numbering system which gives room to add on without messing up the numbering system. Commissioner Nash commented that she would like them to have a "Land Development Committee" rather than just "Subdivision" that would start with land and site preparation and not just look at a plat. She added that she would like to see historical zoning included in the ordinance having to do with structures. Mr. Kelly stated that their contract isn't big enough to do the historic zoning. He can create the zone and say it is there, but writing the standards for a historic zone is a lot of work and will take more work later by the professional staff or another consultant or them under another contract to develop the standards. Commissioner Allred stated that he would like to see the R-0 zone redefined. Chairman Jacks advised that as a residue of the Zoning Update Committee that was chaired by Fred Hanna, they had made a list of things they saw as faults in the ordinance and a copy was given to Mr. Kelly. John Merrell stated that he has extensive experience in historic zoning and he would like to see Fayetteville have some historic district zoning that at least at a very minimum addresses demolition for example, in the Washington/Willow Historic District. He advised that in Virginia, they had regulations on everything down to putting storm doors and windows in. Commissioner Nash stated that for many years they have wanted ordinances to protect the environment but they haven't managed to get them through the Board yet. She added that her opinion would be to integrate them throughout the document rather than just having a section on it. Mr. Kelly stated that there are elements of Fayetteville's zoning and subdivision regulations that encourage environmental destruction. Developers generally won't object to reasonable environmental regulations if you build in features to make that work. Typical zoning and subdivision regulations are designed for flat land with well -drained soils and this area doesn't fit that. By building in some flexibility at the same time that they build in some restrictions, he fills that they will get a lot of support from the development community. Environmentally sensitive development saves money and creates more valuable sites that are more attractive with more trees. Commissioner Seiff asked Commissioner Nash if she was including the grading, the tree ordinance, etc. in the one development stage of the planning process. She answered yes, it would start at "site preparation" and not with just a plat. Commissioner Seiff stated that he thinks one of the most important ordinances they have to have is a grading ordinance. Mr. Merrell stated that the grading ordinance was removed from the Phase II contract not because they didn't want to see it in there but because they felt there was enough talent in-house to do it. They plan to form an in-house committee of himself, Mike Batie (Public Works Director) and the City Engineer to prepare a grading ordinance and send it to the Commission about the same time that they do the new zoning ordinance and the landscaping & tree ordinance. Mr. • • • Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 15 Kelly stated that it all needs to be integrated. Commissioner Klingaman stated that they need to look at the issue of when the development is actually started because there have been times when the grading has taken place and left havoc on the appearance of the property. He stated it was mentioned that trees are valuable assets which is true in a residential setting but how do they plan to make this for commercial sites such as malls. Mr. Kelly stated that with commercial sites, they may want to build in a transitional provision for the first six months or so after the ordinance is adopted for the developers who have already bought land to develop. Mr. Raby stated that in most communities as larger and more sophisticated growth comes in, they are starting to look at the concerns of trees and a lot of developers now are hiring "urban foresters". These are specialists who do nothing but figure out how to save trees on the site or how to relocate them which can be less expensive than setting all new landscaping. In most cases there is strong resistance to it, but yet it has been proven that having the trees helps the development sell. Chairman Jacks stated that he feels they might have had some minor type of tree preservation ordinance if they could afford the enforcement. Mr. Kelly explained that the strongest opposition they will get when they get into the control and enforcement of this for commercial development is from the people who are doing the most damage to the community which is the little strip commercial developments. Robert Davis stated that the City provides some facilities to the area around the perimeters of Fayetteville but a lot of that area is subject to County ordinance such as septic tank regulations. He asked if in terms of the consultant's unified plans, are they unifying anything with the County. Chairman Jacks stated that according to the Enabling Legislation the Cities have jurisdiction within the Planning Area of everything but roads. Fayetteville has an acre and one half minimum size limit for a septic system within the Planning Area. Chairman Jacks asked if they intend to work with the land within the City itself with the Future Land Use Plan or just the outlying planning area. Doesn't the contract include the land within the City as well as the planning area? Mr. Raby answered, yes, there are areas within the City Limits that they will be dealing with. For example, they have discussed where the Art Center is going in and how that relates back to Downtown and to the University because they see that as being critical to the maintenance of the downtown area and keeping that connection between University and downtown. Mr. Kelly advised that they are looking at the whole area but they aren't taking a clean slate. If there is something drastically wrong, it needs to be addressed but they aren't going to look at every piece of ground in the City to see if it needs to be changed because the political cost of changing it isn't worth the benefits. Mr. Raby stated that they are targeting certain areas where they think they can help, but where zoning is set and they don't see any great advantages to fighting that battle. Instead, they are leaving those areas alone and building that into the Land Use. He added that they are looking at the historic areas to make sure they aren't doing anything to deteriorate from those. • • • Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 16 Commissioner Nash asked if any of the preservation ordinances can be made retroactive such as making someone dig up a parking lot. Mr. Kelly answered, no, they probably couldn't make them retroactive but by integrating the ordinances and regulating "development" rather than just "subdivision" they can make sure that when someone reuses a piece of land that has been badly done once, it is done right the second time. Mr. Raby stated that they hope the Planning Commission can hold the ground for a few months and not make any drastic changes out there until these new ordinances are in place. He stated that the Land Use Plan will probably be deliverable within about thirty days subject to everyone's approval. They will be submitting a document to John Merrell and then there will be a review process before they print the document. He suggested that the adoption process begin now. There are two ways of approaching this: 1) take each one separately and try to get them adopted separately so if they run into a snag with one, they aren't holding up the other. or 2) muster all the forces and have them all adopted at the same time but then everything is in one bag. Chairman Jacks clarified that contractually the Zoning Ordinances, etc, are due at the end of August. Mr. Kelly stated that he intends to deliver way before then. He added that he hopes that at the same time they are adopting the Plan, they would be going through this informal process on the ordinances. He stated that it is appropriate to hold neighborhood hearings with the Land Use Plan, but not with the Zoning Ordinance. Chairman Jacks advised that he felt differently. When they went through this before, the general public never understood the difference between Land Use and Zoning. Most of the questions and arguments occurred over zoning. He noted that the Planning Commission will spend a good deal of time among themselves going through these things also. Harriet Jasma stated that the last ordinance hearings proposed a lot of major changes in areas that are built up now. This time they aren't talking about that kind of controversy so maybe it won't take as long. Commissioner Allred referred back to the landscaping and stated that part of what the developers have been objecting to with development of shopping centers, etc. has been that in order to meet the parking requirements they have to pave every square inch of their lot. It is less expensive to put in landscaping than it is parking. Would there be some sort of flexibility with possible waivers of some of the parking spaces to encourage landscaping since they may only fill up their lot at Christmas time? Mr. Raby stated that they have found in a lot of cases that the communities have been too stringent on parking requirements. However, when you make reductions in the parking, you need to make sure you get something in return. It needs to be a tradeoff. Commissioner Ozment asked if they have gotten input from the developers in general to locate "beartraps" in the system. Mr. Raby stated that they have had communication with some of the developers on an individual basis. Mr. Merrell stated that he plans to put together a general questionnaire asking for basic concerns with the present ordinance and what they would like to see in the new ordinance. Mr. Kelly stated that they could give him a questionnaire to use. Mr. Raby stated that they did meet with the Chamber of Commerce and got input from some of the people that way. • Special Meeting of the Planning Commission March 8, 1989 Page 17 Chairman Jacks stated that one complaint with the Zoning Ordinance was that they need to put everything in one place for easy access because there have been complaints that people would come in to the Planning Office and get two different answers to their questions. Mr. Merrell stated that probably in 1990, they are planning to create the position of a Development Coordinator to get as close as they can to a "one stop" permitting process. Mr. Raby stated that Mr. Merrell has come up with a good idea that he has requested be added to the contract which is to add a developer's guide in which would be an information source that would illustrate in as simple terms as possible how they work through the system. Mr. Kelly stated that if they have any comments after they look at this, let John Merrell know or call them directly. Mr. Watson suggested that the City make a bunch of copies of this booklet and sell them to the public. Mr. Merrell asked if everyone is happy calling the Plan a "General Plan" as opposed to "Land Use Plan", "Comprehensive Plan" or "Master Plan". There wasn't any opposition to this. Chairman Jacks stated that they appreciate the attendance of the two Board members at this meeting. That coordination is needed between them. The meeting was adjourned around 3:30 p.m.