FAYETTEVILLE -- Architects of single-family homes and developers of small lots will have more room with which to work because of an ordinance the City Council passed on Tuesday to relax standards for garage-door placement.
The newly branded Small Lot Design Standards ordinance stipulates homes on lots 50 feet wide or fewer shall have "a clearly defined front door and windows on the facade facing the street." It also requires garages not protrude past the home's front face -- a design known as a "snout house."
Next meeting
5:30 p.m. Aug. 30
Room 219, City Hall
113 W. Mountain St.
Garage doors also have to make up less than half of the principal facade unless the house has a second floor with windows facing the street or has a balcony or deck flush with the garage door.
The ordinance originally came up during an Aug. 2 council meeting. Alderman Martin Schoppmeyer Jr. of Ward 3, with support from City Attorney Kit Williams, presented an amendment then that would have given the City Council the power to grant a variance to garage door standards, rather than the Planning Commission, on the basis of promoting affordable housing.
The Single-Family Infill Standards ordinance, which the council passed unanimously in October, required garage doors be recessed at least five feet from the front of homes in lots fewer than 70 feet wide. The idea was to deter theft and promote pedestrian safety through greater visibility, Williams said.
The proposed change to grant variance power to the City Council sparked hours of discussion between aldermen and planning commissioners. The Ordinance Review Committee took up the matter Thursday and sent planning staff recommendations to the City Council.
Aldermen left the ordinance on its second reading during the Aug. 2. meeting. It was essentially a different ordinance when the council motioned for its third reading on Tuesday.
Alderwoman Sarah Marsh of Ward 1 was the sole vote against the third reading. She argued more discussion and public notice was warranted because of the major changes to the ordinance between readings. Alderman John La Tour of Ward 4 pointed out the council, Planning Commission and Ordinance Review Committee discussed the matter for two weeks and all of the meetings were available online.
The amended ordinance passed unanimously.
Alderman Matthew Petty of Ward 2 said he saw the ordinance as part of a broader change needing to happen to the city's design standards.
"In general, our design standards are written incorrectly, if not broken," he said. "I'm not saying that we should throw them out, but they certainly need to be re-calibrated according to what we really want."
Developer Mark Marquess praised the city's effort to change an ordinance that put one of his housing projects on hold.
"I know that this may have shocked some of the citizens, may have created some controversy and some emotions on all ends," he said. "But I think when we look at what the staff did through their hard efforts ... we see that this has worked out for the best for everybody to not have to keep bringing in a variance every time."
Another developer, Aaron Wirth, said he learned about the ordinance from reading the newspaper and agreed with La Tour's assertion to do away with the requirement altogether.
"It certainly limits what we can do on the lots," he said. "As a developer, it just adds a lot of complication to an already complicated process."
Aldermen also authorized Mayor Lioneld Jordan to sign a grant of conservation easement to the Northwest Arkansas Land Trust to preserve 384 acres at Kessler Mountain in southwest Fayetteville.
The city bought the land just to the west of the regional park for $3 million in March 2015. The Walton Family Foundation covered half of the cost and the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Foundation, which on Tuesday presented the city a $60,000 check, committed another $300,000.
Part of the deal with the Waltons was to create a permanent reservation for greenspace and maintain the trails, Development Services Director Jeremy Pate said. The conservation easement is a voluntary agreement between the city and the land trust to permanently limit the use of the land in order to preserve it.
The basic development rights of the city will be revoked and use of the property has to be consistent with conservation, such as wildlife viewing, trails, habitat management and streamside restoration, Pate said. Construction of structures, roads and utilities would be restricted.
La Tour was the sole vote against the conservation easement, saying there's no way to know what the future may hold development-wise and people in the future should have the right to do what they want with the land.
"It's just the duration that I question," he said.
Jordan said future generations will look back and be glad someone had the forethought to preserve hundreds of acres of urban forest, arguing that once it's gone, it's gone forever.
"It's important that we support our natural heritage," he said.
Kessler Mountain Regional Park opens Saturday.
NW News on 08/17/2016