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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982-10-22 - MinutesMINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SUBDIVISION COMMITTEE A meeting of the Subdivision Committee of the Planning Commission was held at 1:30 P.M. on Friday, October 22, 1982 in the Chamber of Commerce Board Room, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Don Hunnicutt, Barbara Crook, Melanie Stockdell, David Williams MEMBERS ABSENT: None OTHERS PRESENT• Gary Carnahan, Arthur Miller, Rick Johnson, Udell Luttrell, C. Forbes, James Cramer, Bobbie Jones, Suzanne Kennedy The minutes of the August 20, 1982 meeting MINUTES were considered. Barbara Crook moved to approve the minutes. The motion was seconded by Don Hunnicutt, and passed, 3-0, with only three Commissioners present at this point in the meeting. The next item to be considered was approval of the preliminary plat of Winchester Square Subdivision, Phase II, located south of Highway 16 West and east of County Road 11650 (outside City Limits); Johnie Bassett, Owner and Developer. James Cramer and C. Forbes were present to represent the owner. Bobbie Jones explained Phase II did not go back through Plat Review as it had been covered fully during the consideration of Phase I. She said she had received two phone calls in connections with this Subdivision: 1) a call from Millard Goff who was concerned about surface drainage and asked to be informed of future meetings. She said he had been sent a copy of the agenda for today's meeting; 2) a call from Bud Allen saying the Subdivision has met all the county specifications on Phase II and he expected the County Planning Board would approve it as their next meeting on November 1. Don Hunnicutt read a letter from General Kendall, "The county approves street plans in Phase II, Winchester Square Subdivision - curbs and gutters and hot mix asphalt." Hunnicutt stated he believed all easement requirements and other requirements of Plat Review have been met, including the addition of the driveway on Lot 3 being moved back 40 feet. Barbara Crook asked about the Covenants, and it was explained the plat shows a statement that there are no covenants. Barbara Crook noted, as she had at a prior meeting, elevation variations are shown across the lot on the Concept Plat which she stated might be part of the caller's concern. Cramer stated there were none on this phase of the property but that there could be a change of as much as five feet on the Bassett property. Mr. Udell Luttrell, owner of the property to the south and west, was present. He stated his interest is in the drainage as water passes his property. He said he had lived there since 1969 and welcomes the Subdivision to the neighborhood, but when the Barnes development (Northwest Acres) came into the area, it was the first indication of a change in the water flow across Highway 16. He has taken photos of extra ditches he has cut for drainage because of those changes. He PRELIMINARY PLAT WINCHESTER SQUARE SUBDIVISION PHASE II OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS JOHNIE BASSETT 78 • • • Subdivision Committee October 22, 1982 Page Two stated his concern and Mr. Goff's concern is they anticipate an increase in the water flow again because of the drainage in Phase II, Lots 3 and 4 on Block 2. He said the water has been backing up and going across driveways and across County Road 650. He stated he had paid $3,000 to pave that road two years ago. He said he considered putting another culvert across the road, but was concerned about the effect of this on the other neighbors further down the road. Bobbie Jones said when General Kendall brought in the letter mentioned earlier, she told him Mr. Goff had called, and he said that drainage was going southeasterly. Mr. Cramer said he and Gen. Kendall had discussed this at great length and drainage will be to the south, and when Phase III comes in, there will be sufficient enough grade to turn the drainage to the south and east and then down Winchester road south. He said he can't see where Lots 3 and 4 pose that much of a problem. He said they were about the same elevation as Lot 1, although there is a dip between Lots 3 and 2. Barbara Crook and Don Hunnicutt both stated it appeared the general drainage in the area is to the south and west. Mr. Luttrell stated he thought the removal of a pond and cutting of terrain intensified the water flow. Mr. Cramer said it wouldn't be much of a problem to cut a ditch through the botton of Lots 4, 3 and 2 and turn the drainage to the east, down to Rifle Road. Barbara Crook asked if he would then take the drainage through Lot 3, Block 3, Phase III. Mr. Cramer said he could do that, putting in a flood easement there. Don Hunnicutt pointed out the County will have jurisdiction over the drainage and explained to Mr. Luttrell that he would have to work with the County as the subdivision lies outside the City Limits. Barbara Crook stated one of the reasons for requiring a contour map is so that you can tell what is happening with the drainage. Don Hunnicutt said the contour map in this case is required on the final plat. Bobbie Jones quoted from the Code the exceptions for subdivisions outside the City, and Mr. Cramer stated these were wiped out when they required curb and gutter. Chairman Hunnicutt said it should be noted to Planning Commission that the drainage situation should be looked at by the County. Rick Johnson said C & F Surveyors will submit this to the Health Department's central office and then the County Health Department will make a determination about the availability of Phase II for septic systems. David Williams moved to recommend approval of Phase II of the Preliminary Plat of Winchester Square Subdivision, subject to Plat Review comments. The motion was seconded by Barbara Crook and passed, 4-0. The next item on the agenda was to consider approval of the Concurrent Plat of Replat of Lots 8 and 9 of Miller Addition located north of Willoughby Road and east of Highway 71 South; Arthur Miller and Ann W. Tom Trust, owners and developers. Property zoned R-1, Low Density Residential District. Arthur Miller was present. Rick Johnson, Sanitarian with the County Health Department, stated the City had approved the Final Plat of the Miller Addition without it going through the State Health Department. He said the soil would not perc within their range when they tested it. In order to get away from the State's definition of a subdivision, the owners increased the size of one of the lots to be three acres or greater but this does not correct the soil problem. CONCURRENT PLAT OF REPLAT OF LOTS 8 & 9 MILLER ADDITION ARTHUR MILLER & ANN W. TOM TRUST 79 Subdivision Committee October 22, 1982 Page Three Rick Johnson read from the State's definition of a subdivision: "Subdivision means land divided or proposed to be divided for predominantly residential purposes into such parcels as required by local ordinance, or in the absence of local ordinances, subdivision means any land which is divided or proposed to be divided by common owner or owners for predominantly residential purposes into three or more lots or parcels, any of which contains less than three acres or if platted or unplatted units, any of which contain less than three acres as a part of a uniform plan of development." Johnson stated he interprets their ordinance to mean whatever the local, or City, ordinance is and therefore, it should meet the health department requirements. He said, if they had caught the subdivision at the start, they could have done a pre -site test on it to make sure the lots would pert before Mr. Miller had already sold the lots. He said not one of the lots they have tested meets their perc requirements. Mr. Miller read a statement on the plat which reads, under Item C, that all water and sewer disposal systems installed fully meet the requirements of the Arkansas State Board of Health and are hereby approved, and noted that this statement had been signed. Rick Johnson explained that it had not been signed by an Arkansas Health official, but was signed by a City Engineer, for the City Water and Sewer Department. Don Hunnicutt stated that this committee only has authority to approve the change in the lot size. Bobbie Jones said the increase in the lot size would enable the owner to work tract by tract with the Health Department on septic systems, but that this is an exception for this Subdivision only. Bobbie Jones read the City's definition of a subdivision: "A subdivision is the subdividing of land into lots and blocks, the parceling of land resulting in the need for access or utilities or the dividing of an existing lot or parcel into two or more lots or parcels." She said there was to be an exception that allowed a concurrent plat under certain circumstances, and it lists the circum- stances, but it doesn't have the wording codified in the Code book. For concurrent plats, the wording is the division of land into parcels of five acres or more. Bobbie said Mr. Miller's property is considered to be a subdivision under the City's definition. Johnson said, therefore, it is considered to be a subdivision under the State's definition and, if it were to be submitted for Health Department approval, it would not pass. He said, assuming the City has already approved the subdivision, if the Health Department takes it on an individual lot basis, they still haven't solved the problem of getting something that will work for Mr. Miller. The ideal solution he thinks would be sewer but, according to the City Engineer, this would be extremely expensive. David Williams asked does this change help to solve the problem or to give more options to Mr. Miller. Rick Johnson said he thought it would - because Mr. Miller enlarged the lot size to be more than three acres, the Health Department will basically ignore the City's definition of a subdivision and they will work on an individual lot basis on this subdivision. Bobbie Jones explained that Lot 9 is being increased to three acres by taking some acreage from Lot 8. Mr. Miller said part of the easement and property line between Lots 8 and 9 will change, that there are no utilities in that easement to date. Don Hunnicutt said the City only requires 11 acres for a septic system, so this is not in violation in that regard. 3o • Subdivision Committee October 22, 1982 Page Four Mr. Miller said, if he had known he had to have three acres to start with, he could have resurveyed between Lots 8 and 9 and made a change then. Bobbie Jones said she has told Rick Johnson that for anything coming into the Planning Office for review which is outside the city or which we know is not on sewer, we will inform the Health Department at the Plat Review level from now on. Until this problem came up, she was leaving it to the developer's engineer to contact the Health Department because this is their responsibility. She said she recalled one instance when a consulting engineer had told her submission to the Health Department did not apply because of the size of and number of the lots. It was generally agreed that the State's definition of a subdivision should prevail. Barbara Crook brought up the one comment in Plat Review which had not been taken care of, that the dotted line on the plat on Lot 9 should be a solid line because it is a part of Lot 8. After some discussion, Barbara Crook moved to recommend approval, subject to Plat Review comments and with a portion of the private drive on Lot 9 being indicated as a part of Lot 8 by a solid line along the edge of the drive. Bobbie Jones confirmed that this complies with the original plat. The motion was seconded by Melanie Stockdell and passed, 4-0. The last item on the agenda was to consider approval of the Large Scale Development Plan for Township Plaza on Lot 1, Block 1, Colt Square, located south of Township Road and west of North College Avenue. Property zoned C-2, Thoroughfare Commercial District; G. A. Sexton and Jim Lindsey, owners. Gary Carnahan was present to represent the owners. Gary Carnahan explained their building will be divided into about 15 units of 1,000 square feet each, and they hope to lease these spaces to small commercial businesses or office persons. He said the units will be 25' x 40', with 6' of sidewalk, 2' of landscaping, and the building is designed with an 8' overhang. Most of the lot will be paved, with parking in the rear. Bobbie Jones stated the street widening was done on the plat. Mr. Carnahan said he had changed the setback to conform with zoning regulations Carnahan said he had talked to Freeman Wood on the flood plain permit and Mr. Wood indicated there would be no problem. David Williams moved to recommend approval, subject to Plat Review comments. The motion was seconded by Barbara Crook, and passed, 4-0. LARGE SCALE DEVELOPMENT PLAN TOWNSHIP PLAZA COLT SQUARE LINDSEY & SEXTON With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:25 P.M.