Planners OK zoning change for contested devleopment

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista People left City Hall after showing up for the Planning Commission’s meeting Monday night, which included a public hearing regarding the rezoning of a parcel alongside Kingsland Road.
Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista People left City Hall after showing up for the Planning Commission’s meeting Monday night, which included a public hearing regarding the rezoning of a parcel alongside Kingsland Road.

Keith Bryant

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A rezoning request for land at the southeast corner of the Kingsland Road and Kenilworth Drive received Planning Commission approval Monday night.

"We are not the deciding vote on this," chairman Daniel Ellis said. This request will go before the City Council later this month, which has its work session May 15 and regular meeting May 22.

Community Development Services manager Chris Suneson said the proposal, from Cooper Communities, includes 12 dwelling units with a tw0-way private drive, 35 parking stalls, bicycle parking racks and motorcycle parking.

He said the proposed rezoning, which requires a public hearing, would convert the 2-acre parcel from R1 residential to R2 residential.

The biggest difference between these two zoning designations, he said, is density. R1 allows three homes per acre, while R2 allows six per acre.

"Most of those uses allowed in R1 are allowed in R2," he said. "There really isn't much of an increase in the number of allowable uses."

The proposal, he said, still falls within the city's land-use plan, which calls for low-density residential development in this area.

The increased density, he said, would increase traffic slightly. Kingsland Road, he said, is designated as a collector, and should be able to handle significantly more traffic than is currently on it.

While the commission also had to look at the large-scale development plan for what's proposed on this land, staff attorney Jason Kelley said it's important to view a rezoning in the abstract. Regardless of what the intended use is, he said, the city has a responsibility to look at all potential uses before making this decision.

"When you're determining whether a property should be rezoned from one zone to the other you're looking at all possible uses," he said. "You're not looking at what it is they're planning on doing. In fact it's quite inappropriate to do that."

After discussion, the commission opened up for public comment.

Bella Vista resident Stephen Howell stepped up to the podium to address the commission.

He is concerned, he said, with traffic, and the prospect of development that doesn't fit with the surroundings.

"It doesn't fit what's there," he said. "It's not fair to the people there and it will cause traffic issues."

Bella Vista resident Chris Taylor said he was not in favor of this rezoning.

His family moved from Centerton, he said, because they weren't happy with the increase in higher-density housing being developed.

"We chose to come to Bella Vista, to this location, because of this," he said.

Bella Vista resident Mary Stewart also spoke against the rezoning.

"It's a six-people vs 12-people housing development and I bought for the same reason all these other people did," she said, "because this is a one-home housing area."

Stewart said she did not believe that proper signage was placed.

Suneson said signs were required to be placed seven days prior to the meeting, and they were put up ahead of time and had been in place longer than required.

Bella Vista resident Timothy Hull said he didn't have an objection to this development.

"I personally don't think that this is incompatible with the area," Hull said. "I think it does fit in with the area as far as the traffic goes."

Linda Lloyd, City Council member and former Planning Commission member, said she believed the rezoning would be appropriate.

"I don't take zoning changes lightly and I don't think the commission does either," she said. "Staff has explained there's very, very little that can be done on an R2 parcel that can't also be done on an R1."

Vice chairman Doug Farner said that he does't see much reason not to suggest approval for the rezone, because the increase in traffic is not likely to be significant.

"It's not like it's 100 more acres where we could have a lot more people," he said.

In addition to suggesting approval, the commission issued conditional approval of the large-scale development that Cooper Communities intends to place on this parcel, provided the rezoning is approved by City Council.

If the rezoning fails in City Council, the development cannot go through.

The proposal, he said, has adhered almost entirely to city requirements for large-scale developments.

The commission also approved:

• A property-line adjustment on Huskins Lane

• A lot combination and split on McNelly Road

• A conditional-use permit for a fireworks stand on McNelly Road.

General News on 05/10/2017