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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-19 - Minutes - City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 1 of 20 Council Member Sonia Gutierrez F A Y E TT Council Member Sloan Scroggin Ward I Position I o F� Ward 3 Position I Council Member Sarah Marsh Council Member Sarah Bunch Ward I Position 2 Ward 3 Position 2 Council Member Mark Kinion Council Member Teresa Turk Ward 2 Position 1 '" ! Ward 4 Position 1 Council Member Matthew Pe 9 R K A N S Ps tty Council Member Kyle Smith Ward 2 Position 2 Ward 4 Position 2 Mayor Lioneld Jordan City Attorney Kit Williams City Clerk Kara Paxton City of Fayetteville Arkansas City Council Meeting May 19, 2020 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council was held on May 19, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 219 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Mayor Jordan called the meeting to order. In order to create social distancing due to the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic, Council Members Sonia Gutierrez, Sarah Marsh, Mark Kinion, Matthew Petty, Sloan Scroggin, Sarah Bunch, Teresa Turk, and Kyle Smith joined the meeting via online using a video conferencing service called Zoom. Mayor Lioneld Jordan, City Attorney Kit Williams, City Clerk Treasurer Kara Paxton, Chief of Staff Susan Norton, Police Chief Mike Reynolds, Fire Chief Brad Hardin, Chief Financial Officer Paul Becker,and two staff members from the IT Department were present in City Council Chambers while demonstrating recommended social distancing. Pledge of Allegiance Mayor's Announcements, Proclamations and Recognitions: Mayor Jordan: In light of the current health concerns, Fayetteville City Hall is closed to the public. This meeting is being held virtually. I am present in Council Chambers with a handful of essential support staff. City Attorney Kit Williams, City Clerk Treasurer Kara Paxton, Chief of Staff Susan Norton, Police Chief Mike Reynolds, Fire Chief Brad Hardin, Chief Financial Officer Paul Becker, and two representatives from the IT Department. City Council Members, City Staff, and the public are participating online or by phone. Other than those of us you see before you, the 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 2 of 20 voices you hear during the course of this meeting are being recorded for public record and piped into the Council Chambers. Participation remains of the upmost importance to the City of Fayetteville. We have provided many ways to participate in the meeting,which includes contacting Council Members, City Clerk office or city staff prior to the meeting. The meeting can be viewed through Fayetteville's government channel online, YouTube, joining the Zoom conference by smartphone, tablet or computer. Instructions are shown onscreen. Staff can view when you join the meeting and when you raise your virtual hand. We ask that you refrain from doing this until the public comment portion of the item on which you wish to comment. I will provide a longer than usual period of time for you to raise your virtual hand. When recognized, please state your name and address for the record. Each speaker is allowed five minutes to comment, which staff will monitor. City Council Meeting Presentations, Reports, and Discussion Items: None Agenda Additions: Reconsider to Amend §96.02 Unreasonable or Excessive Noise Prohibited: An ordinance to amend §96.02 Unreasonable or Excessive Noise Prohibited; Exceptions to extend the city's noise regulations to all vehicle-related businesses. Council Member Gutierrez: I would like to make a motion to reconsider the sound vote of Ordinance 6305. At that time,we amended the ordinance and unanimously voted to include people on bicycles. I agree that our sidewalks and trail users should consider other users and neighbors in regard to sound, which is why I supported Council Member Marsh's original amendment. Now that I have had time to think on it further and discuss it with the Active Transportation Committee, I would like to reconsider the amendment ordinance to make sure to include the multiple modes of transportation that occur on the trails. We don't want to single out the bicycles. I would like for it to say, all people using sidewalks and trails. With the amended language,the intention would be to include any particular mode of transportation that people may be using such as walking, scootering, skateboarding, and biking. At the Active Transportation Committee meeting we learned there is a 130% increase in cycling and the overall trail use is up 55% since we have been in our quarantines. Rather than singling out the bicycle users on the trail, we need to be broader and include all the people on sidewalks and trails. I am agreeable to tabling the recommendation to allow for time to work on the language. Mayor Jordan: The motion is to reconsider the amendment on Ordinance 6305 at the last City Council meeting? City Attorney Kit Williams: It is an amendment for the ordinance itself. The ordinance was amended,which was the last thing that was done. Her motion to reconsider would put the ordinance back in front of the City Council as it was right before it was voted on. This requires a second and a simple majority to pass. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 3 of 20 Council Member Bunch: When we phrased that the first time, it was people on bicycles. If we include everybody on the trail, would that also cover people just yelling and stuff of that nature? Mike Reynolds,Chief of Police: It would not include people yelling the way it is currently written in the ordinance. What the ordinance states is that if it comes from an amplification device, which would be some kind of speaker. If you want to amend the ordinance to include all different kinds of sounds, you can do that, but it makes it difficult for me and my officers to enforce. Council Member Marsh: Thank you Council Member Gutierrez for bringing this forward. The other day there was a guy with a boom box walking slowly down the sidewalk back and forth in front of my house. Our previous ordinance wouldn't apply to that, so this helps. Most people who are using the trails that have some sound, it's really about them hearing, but there is a certain point where the volume is a lot to deal with. My neighbors have put up signs asking people to be quiet. This is a way to help us all be respectful of each other's space. Council Member Smith: Is there a reason why we are looking at this as a motion to reconsider, instead of just bringing another amendment to the ordinance separate? City Attorney Kit Williams: She could present a new ordinance that would also amend the noise ordinance and accomplish this. The other way to do this is to reconsider the ordinance that you passed last time and put a new amendment to that. Council Member Smith: Do we have language ready tonight that you hope to amend and revote on the ordinance overall? City Attorney Kit Williams: I do not. I would like to have a chance to look at trying to include sidewalks. I am not ready to make any recommendation tonight. Council Member Smith: My preference would be to not reconsider or nullify the previous amendment. I would be happy to look at this issue as a new amendment to the ordinance where we look at how we want to handle it going forward. Council Member Gutierrez: I have another reason for the reconsideration. The main thing we were talking about is that it was easier to reconsider it because it hasn't been enforced yet. I wanted it to be more inclusive before it's enforced. It is a time sensitive thing with allowing the reconsideration to go into effect. Council Member Turk: The ordinance we passed two weeks ago does not go into effect for 30 days. If you were able to bring the written version of your reconsideration to Council next week at Agenda Session and then we get it on the Agenda for the City Council meeting in two weeks, we can still do a reconsideration, correct? City Attorney Kit Williams: Yes. The first ordinance would not be in effect at that point. Council Member Gutierrez: I can have something prepared. I will work with Blake and Kit if they feel they could help me get that ready for Agenda Session. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 4 of 20 City Attorney Kit Williams: We will do what we can to look at this issue. There are First Amendment things we have to think about when we start regulating sidewalk speech, which can be amplified. I've got a little bit of concern on that because sidewalks are so traditional of a public forum and extremely difficult to regulate. Trails are part of our park system, but they are not a traditional First Amendment public forum. I am more concerned about sidewalks because there has been a lot of litigation about city's attempting to regulate activities that would involve First Amendment free speech rights on sidewalks. I need to look into this before I can make a recommendation. Council Member Scroggin: Would staff have to start doing anything because we give them 30 days to become effective, which is only a couple of days before it would go into effect? Mike Reynolds, Chief of Police: The Police Department has to make sure that on our E-ticket system it includes the statute number.Nothing says that we have to enforce it through a citation or a ticket. We could use warnings,which is what we typically do whenever we change some type of law. There is a certain time of education for our public that we try to accomplish through PSA's and through a warning campaign. That would be my goal with this too. Council Member Marsh: I appreciate Kit bringing up the free speech issue because while I think this is really important, especially in residential areas, I would hate for it to restrict a megaphone at a political protest. How would we handle that kind of issue? City Attorney Kit Williams: This is something I need to look at and research before I can give you a very good answer. I have found in the past that it's probably better I don't try to immediately give an answer when I haven't had a chance to reflect and research. Council Member Marsh: This is a great concept, but it sounds like we aren't quite ready to act on it tonight. I hope we take a thoughtful approach and get it right to protect neighborhoods and allow free speech. There was a brief discussion about reconsidering and tabling the ordinance until the next City Council meeting. Council Member Gutierrez moved to reconsider Ordinance 6305.Council Member Scroggin seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed 7-1. Council Members Kinion, Petty, Scroggin,Bunch,Turk,Gutierrez, and Marsh voting yes. Council Member Smith voting no. Council Member Scroggin moved to table the ordinance to the June 2, 2020 City Council Meeting. Council Member Marsh seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed 7- 0.Council Members Kinion,Petty,Scroggin,Bunch,Turk,Gutierrez,and Marsh voting yes. Council Member Smith voting no. This ordinance was tabled to the June 2, 2020 City Council Meeting. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 5 of 20 Consent: Approval of the April 28, 2020 Special City Council meeting minutes and the May 5, 2020 City Council meeting minutes. Approved Arkansas Department of Aeronautics Grant: A resolution to authorize acceptance of a grant from the Arkansas Department of Aeronautics in the amount of$183,494.74 for reimbursement of the city's 10% share of a 90-10 Federal Aviation Administration grant associated with the Drake Field Taxiway B Widening and Rehabilitation Project, and to approve a budget adjustment. Resolution 137-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Aurora Aviation, LC, dba Elite Aircraft Services: A resolution to approve a one year lease agreement with Aurora Aviation, LC, dba Elite Aircraft Services for office space in the Airport Terminal Building at 4500 South School Avenue suite E for rent in the amount of$300.00 per month. Resolution 138-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Crafton, Tull and Associates, Inc. Amendment No. 1- 2019 Transportation Bond Program: A resolution to approve Amendment No. 1 to the contract with Crafton, Tull and Associates, Inc. for the Rupple Road Extension Project in the amount of $9,500.00, and to approve a budget adjustment- 2019 Transportation Bond Program Resolution 139-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk RFQ 20-01 Selection #6, Crafton, Tull & Associates, Inc.: A resolution to approve a professional engineering services agreement with Crafton, Tull & Associates, Inc., pursuant to RFQ 20-01 Selection#6, in the total amount of$37,000.00 for analysis of Clabber Creek between North Deane Solomon Road and North Rupple Road for potential improvements to help alleviate flooding in the area. Resolution 140-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Watershed Conservation Resource Center (WCRC): A resolution to approve a Stream Restoration and Easement Agreement with the Watershed Conservation Resource Center for the continuation of the stream restoration project on the West Fork of the White River on City of Fayetteville property. Resolution 141-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Watershed Conservation Resource Center Task Order No. 5: A resolution to approve Task Order No. 5 with the Watershed Conservation Resource Center in the amount of$60,000.00 for 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 6 of 20 streambank restoration projects on the White River and Niokaska Creek, and to approve a project contingency in the amount of$9,000.00. Resolution 142-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Thermal Process Systems, Inc.: A resolution to authorize a contract with Thermal Process Systems, Inc. in the amount $618,319.61 to repair the roofs on the six solar drying houses at the Biosolids Management Site,to approve a project contingency in the amount of$61,832.00,and to approve a budget adjustment. Resolution 143-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Northwest Arkansas Land Trust: A resolution to approve a payment of a stewardship fee to the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust in the total amount of$20,000.00 to create an endowment for long term habitat management and monitoring of the West Side Prairie. Resolution 144-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Washington County Memorandum of Understanding (HIDTA): A resolution to approve a Memorandum of Agreement with Washington County regarding funding from the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area in the amount of$118,734.80 for the Police Department, and to approve a budget adjustment. Resolution 145-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk North Game Day View Street Renaming: A resolution to change the name of North Smith Avenue to North Game Day View. Resolution 146-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Council Member Marsh moved to accept the Consent Agenda as read. Council Member Smith seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. Unfinished Business: RZN 20-7014 (1324 W. Mt. Comfort Rd./Tillman B, LLC.): An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 20-7014 for approximately 0.27 acres located at 1324 West Mount Comfort Road from RSF-4, Residential Single Family, 4 units per acre to RI-U, Residential Intermediate-Urban.At the April 21, 2020 City Council meeting this item was left on the first reading. At the May 5, 2020 City Council meeting this item was left on the second reading. Council Member Marsh moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Gutierrez seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed 7-0. Council Members Kinion, Petty, Scroggin, Turk, Smith, Gutierrez, and Marsh voting yes. Council Member Bunch was absent during the vote. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 7 of 20 City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Garner Stoll,Development Services Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. He stated several weeks ago the applicant discussed that additional similar request had been submitted in this neighborhood. He stated two of the requests are on the Planning Commission agenda next week. He spoke about a Bill of Assurance. Council Member Scroggin: I got an email from somebody that said there is a Bill of Assurance and that they are only going to be single family. Is that correct? Garner Stoll: It is correct for the large requests on the south side of Hendricks. It is not correct for the RSF-8 on the other side of the street. Terri Phelan, Citizen spoke in opposition of the ordinance. She stated her property is on North Maxwell and is a member of the neighborhood. She stated the RI-U request would permit apartment type housing within in her RSF-4 neighborhood. She stated this goes against the promise her neighborhood received from the Council at a previous City Council meeting years ago and from the Planning Commission. She stated the promise was that they would not have any more such buildings within her neighborhood. She requested Council to not pass the rezoning without a Bill of Assurance with the commitment to build only single-family homes. Council Member Turk: I have driven by this place several times and it's an extremely narrow lot. Mount Comfort Road is narrow, overused, and probably needs to be widened. We have heard from the neighbors many times. It is a modest and well-established neighborhood. To go from RSF-4 to RI-U is a huge jump. There are no safeguards to the neighbors about changing the very nature of their neighborhood. This is too large of an up-zone and I will not be supporting it. Council Member Kinion: We have heard about this neighborhood before and this is the same thing about changing the nature of the neighborhood. We know it was a city error that allowed an apartment type building in this neighborhood. There was worry at the time that it was going to set precedent for allowing RI-U type zonings in the future. At the time, the City Council and the Planning Commission made a promise to the neighborhood that they would help preserve the neighborhood as single-family. I see Council Member Petty shaking his head no,but that's exactly what happened. Is that correct, Mayor Jordan? Mayor Jordan: As far as my part goes, I don't remember everything, but I know I made that promise as a Council Member. Council Member Kinion: There were promises made and it's not a time for promises to be broken. If you look at the neighborhood now, you look at the possibility of ruining the fabric of the neighborhood as a single-family neighborhood that has affordable housing. The argument for higher density has always been that it's going to develop more affordable housing and it hasn't happened. I know it's somewhere along the linear progression where we reach a tipping point of something that will allow more affordable housing. What we have in this neighborhood currently is affordable housing and I don't see why we need to destroy affordable housing. I'm going to always side with the neighbors because if the neighbors get together and have a united front to 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 8 of 20 protect their quality of life, then I respect it. I can't support this rezoning without a Bill of Assurance. Council Member Marsh: Apartments, duplexes and townhouses are residential units. Healthy communities grow, change,and evolve to meet the growing and changing needs of their residents. Economics and demographics change and what we are looking at is a parcel of land that is within walking distance of our university, which is our largest employer. It's within walking distance of a grocery store,restaurants,trail network,and transit network. This is where we should be building more density. The applicant is asking for the ability to build on smaller lots sizes, which is better for our environment. It is good to cluster houses together and it's a sign of a healthy city that people are wanting to live here and live closer in. Look at the reality of today's economy and who is in a position to take on a 30-year mortgage for a single-family home versus those that are capable of renting an apartment or a duplex. All residents matter regardless of their economic circumstances. I'm not going to be a part of prejudicing towards people who can afford to own homes when there are a lot of other housing models that are really needed in the community. Council Member Petty stated it's obvious that housing provisioning and housing affordability is too complex for them to make simple sense of. He feels frustrated when they compare the relative affordability of older housing stock with new construction. He stated it's important for the city, planning staff, and elected officials to compare like versus like. He stated if you look at a 1940's neighborhood, perhaps you should look at some 1940's apartments. He stated most of Fayetteville's old apartments are affordable. He spoke about seeing sticker shock on new construction on new apartments and homes. He spoke about data on an average price of a newly constructed home in a subdivision that is zoned for four units per acre. He stated he suspects the average mortgage and average down payment is substantially higher than the average rent for new construction. He spoke about per capita metrics. He stated he suspects many of their decisions would be better deliberated if they had the data for per capita allotments. He spoke about crisis such as COVID and climate change, which in every decision they should consider the impacts on all generations in the future. He stated it is hard to not be frustrated when they talk about housing needs they have today and try to push those aside with criticisms of population projections. He spoke about the homelessness crisis in the city, which has grown by 150% in the last decade. He spoke about political calculations. He stated is it more politically risky to support a rezoning for one parcel or is it more politically risky to support a mass rezoning for an entire neighborhood. He believes experimentation is better for the city. He spoke about the discriminatory history of the city's zoning ordinance. He stated if people look at the history and data of what has been built in the city since the codes were adopted, people will find that houses and lot sizes have grown every decade. He stated he will be supporting the ordinance. He is skeptical of supporting a Bill of Assurance that restricts a zoning request to single-family because he believes that's holding new housing hostage so they can get higher housing prices. Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed 5-3. Council Members Petty, Scroggin, Bunch, Smith, and Marsh voting yes. Council Members Kinion,Turk, and Gutierrez voting no. Ordinance 6313 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 9 of 20 Chambers Baseball Complex: A resolution to name the baseball complex at Kessler Mountain Regional Park the Chambers Baseball Complex. At the May 5, 2020 City Council meeting this item was tabled until the 05/19/2020 meeting. Council Member Petty: I let you know at Agenda Session that I had requested a resolution be drafted that would make it our intent to update the prior parks fundraising RFP that was issued, but not executed in 2017.That resolution has been drafted and will be appearing on our next agenda for discussion. I am appreciative of the gift and the circumstances we have been able to obtain and develop for Kessler Mountain. I still have concerns about the way we got here. I appreciate what is trying to be done, but I have concerns that our fundraising strategy has come from our City Attorney's office, not that he isn't capable, but it is unusual. This has been done in an ad hoc manner and Fayetteville is large enough for us to do a little bit better. I have some discomfort with the proposal to establish the name of the ballfields for a 30-year period without having a more comprehensive fundraising plan in place. I would be more comfortable if this proposal was for a shorter length of time. Mayor Jordan: Your concern is the length of time is too long? Council Member Petty: Yes. City Attorney Kit Williams: Even though I'm happy to take as much credit as I can for this, it actually was a project of both the Mayor and myself. It came from the Mayor to the City Council on the agenda request form. I did think it was very appropriate for a bank, such as Chambers, which has probably donated more than $10 million to the Kessler Mountain park to receive some recognition. I believe that even though my Rotary Club has built a playground there and has some recognition for that, there has not been too many projects that have been bringing forward donations. I thought Chambers Bank being recognized with a sign would be inspirational to other organizations that they too should support our parks with a donation. Mayor Jordan: My part in this is that when the City Attorney approached me with Chambers Bank,we knew they had given a large amount to the city. We also ran it through the Park Advisory Board before we ever brought it to the City Council. It's not going to affect the fields of the future, but it's the fields that are already there. Is that correct, Connie? Connie Edmonston,Parks and Recreation Director: Yes. City Attorney Kit Williams: That's exactly what the resolution says. Mayor Jordan: You ran it through the Parks Advisory Board? Connie Edmonston: Yes. It was voted unanimously to name it and I am good with that. Council Member Kinion: We are talking about a specific piece of property that has been developed due to the generosity of Chambers Bank. This has transformed our city and it has left a center piece to be protected for the future. It's offered a big boost to the south side and the west side of town. Every element of this park is absolutely remarkable. It is going to leave a historical 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479) 575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 10 of 20 future by preserving this in a big way. Chambers is who made it happen and this is appropriate. It is okay in the future to talk about a funding plan. It has been talked about a little bit in the past. Tonight, this is to honor the business that made this happen for our city. We have a world class cycle cross event coming to town that's based on part of this property. This is incredible and Chambers deserves every honor for their generosity. Council Member Scroggin: Thank you to Kit and the Mayor for bringing this forward. Thank you to Chambers for their donation and I will be voting for it. I agree with Council Member Petty that we need to set some metrics. We need to know if it is the right ratio for what they have given. It would be good to have that in place moving forward. I agree with Kit that this has got the conversation started and will continue. Council Member Smith: I talked to a number of residents about this. I wasn't sure if this was named for Chambers, the bank or Chambers, the person who happens to be President of the bank. It matters because residents would rather their parks be named after people from the community and not after businesses. Centennial Park was part of the conditions of accepting that,which makes sense. Iams Park was named before I was on Council. I don't know the origin, but people refer to that park as the dog park at Bryce Davis. I haven't done enough local history research to learn about the other parks that are named after people. I suspect they were important people that contributed something beyond land or cash. I would like to see our parks serve as a cultural marker that references our history and gives people an opportunity to learn about their town. I let go of that idea because I wasn't sure how to articulate it,especially up against this idea of an intentional fundraising effort. That sounds like it has a lot of merit and having a formalized process for doing good for our parks system would soften my stance on that philosophy of community recognition. It's convenient that both the bank and the man had the same name and don't have to wonder. He was on the Board of Directors for Tech University. I'm glad he pushed the bank to give us this land and maybe that's enough of a contribution to the city to be an influential person in our history. Council Member Bunch: Chambers Bank was started as a family bank and they named the bank after their family. Parks like Gulley was named after the family. I am confident with naming it Chambers. Council Member Gutierrez: I appreciate Council Member Petty's questions about process and procedure. It is good to figure out what and how we are doing that. Connie has done due diligence to take it back to the committee and have them go through the motions. Moving forward, it would be great to answer all the questions that Matthew Petty has. It's okay for staff to be involved in the process to help make sure we give credit, where credit is due. I encourage staff to be involved in the process and to inform us on when we are missing steps. I support the naming, appreciate the gift, and what it's going to do for our community. Mayor Jordan: When I came into office, I thought we had a deed to the 200 acres,but we didn't. The.Council at that time decided to go on with the Regional Park. Matthew Petty was on that Council. We began to negotiate with Mr. Chambers on the 200 acres. After staff negotiated, they gave us the 200 acres and the deed to go with it. They have been very honorable in their negotiations with the city. Kit, what was the other gift they gave? 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 11 of 20 City Attorney Kit Williams: There are two other things. They sold us over 300 acres at less than $10,000 an acre, which was a very good price. Then they returned two and a quarter million dollars' worth of parkland credits. Rather than losing those credits as other people would develop and use the credits so that we would not receive any more parkland money, we received all of those credits back with the value according to our own determination of how much parkland is worth. If you look at the 200 acres,that is well over$8 million dollars even if you just look at our parkland credit cost at that time. We are in the realm of$10 million and we would not have Mount Kessler Regional Park without Chambers Bank's help. Mayor Jordan: I agree with Kit. We wouldn't have that park if they had not donated the land to us. I felt it was the right thing to do to name the baseball complex after the Chambers Family. Council Member Petty, we need to set up a fundraising program and we will do that. Council Member Petty: Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Kinion moved to approve the resolution. Council Member Turk seconded the motion. Upon roll call the resolution passed unanimously. Resolution 147-20 as recorded in the office of the City Clerk Appeal RZN 20-7035 (618 N. Rupple Rd./Rupple Rd. LLC.): An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 20-7035 for approximately 8.60 acres located at 618 North Rupple Road from NS-L, Neighborhood Services-Limited to CS, Community Services.At the May 5, 2020 City Council meeting this item was left on the second reading. Council Member Gutierrez moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Smith seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Garner Stoll, Development Services Director stated at the last meeting, City Council amended the application to Community Services. He stated both the Planning Commission members and City Council expressed a desire to protect the pedestrian environment along newly constructed Rupple Road. He stated the City Attorney had some issue with being careful to not violate the constitution of federal law regarding regulating churches. He stated the applicant put another alternative on the table for Council's consideration, which includes a Bill of Assurance. Mr. Stoll read the Bill of Assurance. Council Member Kinion: Please explain what assurance this Bill of Assurance gives so I can understand exactly the impact that it has. Garner Stoll: The building would be located addressing Rupple Road, approximately a 35-foot setback with a front entrance. It is very important that it addresses the street. The parking would be entirely on the east side. The access would be a single row access on the north side of the site. The Bill of Assurance is written at the rezoning stage and the Large Scale needs to go to the 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 12 of 20 Planning Commission for approval. The intent of the Bill of Assurance is to generally reflect this conceptual plan, but give enough flexibility as it goes through the Large Scale Development process to make it reality. The absolute in the Bill of Assurance is that no parking will be located between the building and Rupple Road. Council Member Turk: This rendition you are showing, is everything completely in compliance with our P-1 designation? Garner Stoll: Yes, I believe it is. Council Member Turk: The parking is not in excess of what we would allow or any other kinds of requirements? Garner Stoll: Yes. Part of the parking would take a variance from the Planning Commission, but you are not granting in that variance with accepting this Bill of Assurance. Council Member Turk: If we accepted this Bill of Assurance,they would still have to go through the Planning Commission to get the variance that's shown here in this illustration? Garner Stoll: Yes, that is correct. Council Member Scroggin: For this Bill of Assurance we would also need to rezone to what? Garner Stoll: It goes with the P-1 district. Council Member Scroggin: Can we make the motion for all that? City Attorney Kit Williams: Yes, both the title and body would need to be slightly amended if you want to accept this Bill of Assurance and rezone to P-1 Institutional. Council Member Smith: Regarding the variance, do you anticipate any sort of Religious Land Use Institutional Persons Act problems with regulating the size of the parking? Would they be forcing our hand to the variance like that? City Attorney Kit Williams: I don't think that would be a problem with the number of parking spaces. They are seeking an increase on the number we would normally allow for a building with the amount of seats and space this building has. I would make an argument that it would not affect any of their RLUIPA rights or their religious freedom rights. I know they would rather have more parking, but I think that's a fairly safe decision the Planning Commission could make and on appeal to City Council. Council Member Smith: Can you describe the difference between the CS zoning we amended to last time and the practicalities of P-1 with this Bill of Assurance? If we amend like Council Member Scroggin asked, what are we losing from CS and how is it different? 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 13 of 20 Garner Stoll: The difference would be that the CS zoning setback is 10 to 25. They are seeking an additional setback and with the scale and massing of the building, that's probably something the Planning Commission might grant anyway. The other issue that gives them pause is the commercial design standards that are invoked with the CS zoning. Council Member Smith: With respect to the design standards, we already know that they are deficient, especially in our ability to enforce them with this RLUIPA law. Do you have any feedback about which design standards give your client pause and concern? Dennis Blind, Olsson, Applicant's Representative spoke about the non-residential design standards not being applicable to a building of this size. He stated CS doesn't fit for this scale of the building. He spoke about respecting the urban form on the corridor. He spoke about the welcoming look of the church building. Brett Harrington, Construction Team Leader for the Applicant stated the building will be of extremely high quality and will be an attractive building. He stated he will be applying many elements that are within the design guidelines, but will want to do it along side of the city staff and figure out which ones make sense. He stated as part of the P-1 zoning, putting the church in that zoning and designing a building for the church makes sense when it's at a build to zone. Council Member Smith thanked Mr. Blind and Mr. Harrington. He stated the plan looks much better than what Council was presented with previously. Mayor Jordan restated the proposed amendment. Will Dockery, 4143 Bradstreet Lane stated he appreciated the applicant for listening to the neighborhood and concerns about walkability. He stated government zones need to be separated from religious zones. He spoke in favor of the amendment and the Bill of Assurance. Council Member Smith spoke about compliance with design standards regarding size of the building and scale. He spoke about wishing there was a way to better clarify churches by their size. He spoke about window placement concerns. Council Member Scroggin made a motion to amend the ordinance to P-1 Institutional and accept the Bill of Assurance. Council Member Turk seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. Council Member Kinion: With the Bill of Assurance this is more palatable. I still have concerns because we can't consider a design. With the Bill of Assurance I can support this, but it's not easy because it's not applicable to the zoning. I appreciate the applicant being a good neighbor. Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed unanimously. Ordinance 6314 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk 113 West Mountain Fayetteville,AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 14 of 20 New Business: Credit Card and Debit Card Transaction Fees: An ordinance to approve the assessment of a 2.95% fee for credit card and debit card transactions other than utility bill and parking fee payments. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Paul Becker, Chief Financial Officer gave a brief description of the ordinance. Council Member Smith moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Scroggin seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Smith moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Scroggin seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Smith: It doesn't sound like there is going to be a whole lot of controversy. I expect the first time that you all ask somebody for a 3%fee, staff may get some complaints. There is a real expense associated with processing credit card transactions. They are convenient and that is why customers love them,but they do cost extra to run. It is important for us to think about who pays that. The government doesn't have profits,we have people's taxes. This is an incredibly wise way for us to manage people's taxes and not have them subsidized.Thank you to staff for bringing this forward and saving taxpayers some money. Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed unanimously. Ordinance 6315 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk RZN 20-7041 (2340 E.Huntsville Rd./McClain):An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 20-7041 for approximately 1.81 acres located at 2340 East Huntsville Road from RSF-4, Residential Single Family, 4 units per acre to CS, Community Services. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Garner Stoll, Development Services Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. Chris Bakunas, McClelland Engineers is the Applicant's Representative. He stated he was available for questions. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 15 of 20 Council Member Marsh moved to suspend the rules and go to the second reading. Council Member Scroggin seconded the motion. Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Council Member Marsh moved to suspend the rules and go to the third and final reading. Council Member Kinion seconded the motion.Upon roll call the motion passed unanimously. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Mayor Jordan asked shall the ordinance pass. Upon roll call the ordinance passed 7-1. Council Members Kinion, Petty, Scroggin, Bunch, Smith, Gutierrez, and Marsh voting yes. Council Member Turk voting no. Ordinance 6316 as Recorded in the office of the City Clerk Appeal: ANX 20-6995 (Hughmount Rd. North of Mt. Comfort./Hughmount Annex): An ordinance to approve annexation petition ANX 20-6995 and annex 152.00 acres located along Hughmount Road North of Mount Comfort. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Garner Stoll, Development Services Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. Brad Hardin, Fire Chief spoke about the fire response time. He stated it is just a little over four minutes travel time from Station 7. He stated the Rupple Road improvement helped with that. Robert Rhoads, Hall Estill Law Firm Representing the Applicant stated he was under the impression that the ordinance won't advance to a second or third reading tonight. He stated his clients are hopeful to present the item and see what Council has to say. He stated he is representing Johnelle Hunt and Phil Phillips,as well as the majority of the landowners that fall within the subject property asking to be annexed and rezoned. He spoke about sending a letter to Mr. Stoll, Kit Williams,and Council Members. He stated the letter expresses the position,reasons,and rationale on why they would like the property to be annexed into the city and rezoned as requested. Council Member Turk: In 2012 or 2014,there was an agreement that this area follow all the city standards. Was Hughmount North included in that agreement? Which sections were included in that discussion? Robert Rhoads: It is the belief of Mr.Phillips,who signed the agreement along with Mayor Jordan and who presented at the time to the Council and staff, that the entire subject property,except for some odd lots we added, but the entire project of Hughmount North, Hughmount East, and Hughmount South was to be part of it, not just the part that was developed. It was because of economics that all of it didn't get developed at the same time. I included an exhibit in my letter and it shows a 2009 rendering by Robert Sharp, our architect at the time. The entire project 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 16 of 20 included the North, South, and East. There are about four or five other reasons why my clients are adamant that the entire project was contemplated and not just that central part. Council Member Turk: On Exhibit B, was that included in the materials that were presented to the City Council at that time with the ordinance you have included? Robert Rhoads: I don't know the answer to that. When I first started this project with my clients, I didn't even know there was an agreement and a resolution in 2012 and 2014 that said as soon as Hughmount can be available, it needs to be annexed into the city. I found that by researching the archives. I followed up with past providers to my clients, which Mr. Sharp told me that was one of the things that he used to present to the city. I can't tell you for a fact that it was given to the city at the time that either the 2012 or 2014 resolutions were enacted. Garner Stoll stated the exhibit that Mr. Sharp put together as the Master Plan for Hughmount that was attached to the 2012 agreement refereed to the exhibit. He stated this was getting city services, but county regulatory process. He stated the county took out the alleys and had other issues with the Master Plan. He stated there were three agreements, which was 2012, 2013, and 2014. He stated the 2013 amendment no longer refers to this exhibit. He stated the amendment says it takes a different parcel for parks and tree preservation and doesn't refer to the trail construction, other than for the one section that was built. He stated the paper trail shows that it's clear that the 2013 amendment abandons this Master Plan. He stated the Master Plan does not show Hughmount North. Council Member Turk: I would appreciate copies of all the agreements. Garner Stoll: I will email them to the entire Council. Council Member Kinion: I recall when we went on the tour out there. I don't remember ever considering Hughmount North. Mayor Jordan: We didn't. Garner Stoll: The stub outs are built that are showing here. It anticipates developing to the North. Council Member Smith: My natural inclination is to go with the staff and Planning Commission recommendations and our Comprehensive Plan on the North segment. I want to give Mr. Rhoads a chance to tell us what the consequences of that would be for his clients and their plans. I would like to hear from Mr. Stoll about the consequences of a development being developed under county regulations instead of city. Robert Rhoads: Are you referring to just the Hughmount North part or the entire requested annexation subject property? Council Member Smith: Just the Hughmount North. The staff and Planning Commission recommendations are to annex everything except the Hughmount North portion. I would like to know what that means to your clients? 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 17 of 20 Robert Rhoads: The client that owns the piece of land, which is all part of what we consider the Hughmount Village Estates,is hoping he gets annexed into the city so he can start the development and provided you also rezone in the way it allows him to do the development. If that does not happen, then his options are to try and sell at a loss or try to develop it within the county. Council Member Smith: Garner, can you tell us what that would look like developed under county, instead of city? Garner Stoll: My understanding is by right, they allow one unit per acre in that area. I think they have a conditional use permit to go above that. I don't think you have a service agreement to provide water and sewer there. You have some leverage, in terms of using the pipe to manage your growth boundary. Mayor Jordan: I would like to hold this for at least two weeks and get some information. I would like to check into some things. Russ Collin,2789 North Gray Squirrel stated he is a resident in Hughmount Village. He spoke in favor of the annexation. He spoke about not being in support of RSF-8 due to the infrastructure, drainage issues, and safety concerns. Garner Stoll: If the additional territory isn't developed or annexed, it then would be under the city's development review process. The next step would be platting. When the preliminary plat goes to the Planning Commission, both the infrastructure to serve that plat, plus all the offsite improvements that can legally be extracted are usually considered and there are some improvements to Hughmount Road. That would happen whether it's RSF-4 or RSF-8. If you had more dwelling units you would have more capacity to make public improvements. Henry, 4828 West Townbridge spoke about sustainability, regeneration, and renewal. He stated there are a lot of issues with Mount Comfort Road. He spoke about supporting the personal,public, and animal plant life. He spoke about home affordability. Mayor Jordan: I suggest we leave it on this reading. There was a brief discussion about leaving the ordinance on the first reading. Council Member Petty: I am curious to see, not just what infrastructure is required, but what it will cost to maintain that infrastructure. As I understand it now, we have provisioned water and sewer service. I don't recall how I voted back in 2013 on that item, but we do not yet have responsibility to maintain the streets that have already been built. I believe we would if we annexed them. I believe we would have the responsibility to maintain all the new infrastructure that would be associated with any of the developments that may come forward. Regardless of the zoning, when it goes to the Planning Commission,we review for all of that,but what we don't do is review what the cost of maintaining that infrastructure is going to be for the long term. We don't compare that number we don't have to the expected revenues. I am concerned the proposed neighborhood format is going to run, not just environmental deficits, but actual financial deficits for the city. Considering there is something of an expectation, that at least the original Hughmount 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www.fayetteville-ar.gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 18 of 20 development would be annexed,I want to be cognizant of that and I'll be reviewing the agreements carefully. Most of all, how can we ensure we have a full and complete picture of what the cost of the annexation actually is. If we aren't going to talk about total cost of annexation, I worry we are betraying our agency to the public. Garner Stoll: We are getting annual cost of the street maintenance. We are calculating, not only what's out there today,but what we would expect if the rest of the property is developed. We have those numbers now. I will be sharing that with you in two weeks. Council Member Petty: Fantastic. Thank you, Garner. This ordinance was left on the First Reading. RZN 20-6996 (Hughmount Rd. North of Mt. Comfort/Hughmount Rezone) Appeal: An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 20-6996 for approximately 152.00 acres located at Hughmount Road North of Mount Comfort Road to R-A, Residential Agricultural;RSF-1,Residential Single Family, 1 unit per acre; RSF-8,Residential Single Family, 8 units per acre; NC, Neighborhood Conservation; and NS-G,Neighborhood Services-General. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. Garner Stoll, Development Services Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. Robert Rhoads, Hall Estill Law Firm Representing the Applicant: My comments that I made on the annexation part is all true to this as well. I look forward to hearing what you all have to say. Council Member Turk: During the original discussions back in 2012 to 2014, was there discussion about what zoning type would be brought into the city when it became available? Was it RSF-4 or was it RSF-8? Garner Stoll: I am not aware of any discussion. I did find that the plan that was approved, not all of those lots meet the RSF-4, but that's the only thing that pertains to the zoning I could find. Council Member Turk: Could we go back to the minutes of those meetings to be able to see what the discussion was like during that time? Garner Stoll: We could see what we could find. Susan Norton,Chief of Staff: Garner, I would happy to help you with that. Council Member Gutierrez: Garner, whenever we do come back, please help us understand any drainage improvements. This ordinance was left on the First Reading. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 19 of 20 Appeal: RZN 20-7067: (523 N. Genevieve Ave./Dillaha): An ordinance to rezone that property described in rezoning petition RZN 20-7067 for approximately 12.14 acres located at 523 North Genevieve Avenue from RSF-4, Residential Single Family, 4 units per acre to RSF-8, Residential Single Family, 8 units per acre. City Attorney Kit Williams read the ordinance. • Garner Stoll, Development Services Director gave a brief description of the ordinance. He stated staff recomrfends the rezoning as requested. He stated the Planning Commission suggested that it stay RSF4 •Blake Jorgensen, Representing the Applicant spoke briefly about the proposed rezoning. He stated he doesn't feel like this rezoning from RSF-4 to RSF-8 is unreasonable. He stated it helps offer diversity, lot size, and housing type. Council Member Petty: I was reading the staff report of the Planning Commission's deliberations. I noticed one of the things they discussed was that this is just outside the pedestrian shed of tier 3 center and a tier 2 center. I heard you say housing proceeds services,but with respect to this location as compared to tier 3 and tier 2 centers, how effective do you think allowing this housing to be constructed would be at producing a new neighborhood center? Garner Stoll: The difference on 12 acres on RSF-4 versus RSF-8 in itself isn't going to magically support services, but more housing will get us closer to that threshold. This isn't all that is being built in the area. There are a lot of other houses under construction. The west part of Fayetteville will eventually get services. It's not just walkability. The low hanging fruit is shorter trips, which happens immediately because people don't choose to drive long distances for typical weekly services when they are available on shorter distance. Council Member Smith: I would like to hold this. Mayor Jordan: I agree. There was a brief discussion about holding the ordinance on the first reading. This ordinance was left on the First Reading. Announcements: Susan Norton, Chief of Staff spoke briefly about City of Fayetteville news. Information can be viewed on the City of Fayetteville website. City Council Agenda Session Presentations: Agenda Session Presentation- Energy Action Plan Update 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2020 Page 20 of 20 City Council Tour: None Ad'ou Ad ent: 8:08 p.m. • •TRF �i �,� ``.�C. GAT y CF .sG�.. �i.i i:.. /jri-._ ay,fi�7 FAYETTEVILLE : Lioneld : i . ayor Kara Paxton, City Clerk Treasurer ; 47 • 'i .iii ;1 �`S``�. 113 West Mountain Fayetteville.AR 72701 (479)575-8323 www fayetteville-ar gov