SPRINGDALE -- The City Council on Tuesday voted 7-0 to rezone the areas that were formerly Bethel Heights.
The Bethel Heights property will go into Springdale zoning districts most closely matching the districts in Bethel Heights.
The council also voted 7-0 to rename three streets sharing the same names in both cities. Amethyst Avenue in Springdale becomes Opal Avenue. Onyx Avenue in Bethel Heights becomes Black Onyx Avenue. Mulberry Lane in Bethel Heights becomes Loganberry Lane.
"This was done to avoid confusion and expedite our 911 response," said Mike Overton, City Council member, of the street renaming.
Springdale officials chose to change the names of streets affecting as few residents as possible, Mayor Doug Sprouse said.
Springdale annexed Bethel Heights in August after voters in both towns voted for the move. Residents of both Springdale and Bethel Heights gathered signatures on petitions calling for the Aug. 11 election.
No community members addressed city officials about the changes during Tuesday's council meeting or the Oct. 6 meeting of the Planning Commission. The commission approved the changes and forwarded the measure to the City Council.
Patsy Christie, director of the Planning Department, introduced the proposed changes to about 25 residents of Bethel Heights during an information session Sept. 28 in the former city hall. She offered the former residents a chance to suggest new names for their streets; none were submitted, Christie said.
City Attorney Ernest Cate on Tuesday said the zoning was one of the last steps needed to transition about 3,000 people into Springdale.
Sprouse said the City Council still will determine the dispensation of some property owned by Bethel Heights.
Colby Fulfer, assistant to the mayor, said the financial records of the former city remain open. State law requires Springdale to keep the money of the former city apart from its own money until all bills owed by Bethel Heights have been paid.
Fulfer said that will happen after the first of the year.
Springdale city code says all land annexed into the city comes in zoned for agricultural use, which usually works when the land lies in unincorporated, undeveloped areas, Christie said. But much of the land in the 2.5 square miles of Bethel Heights has houses, businesses and industrial operations already in place.
Springdale officials decided to break from the practice because they didn't want every property owner in the former Bethel Heights to have to apply to rezone their land in Springdale after it was designated agricultural on intake, Christie said.
Christie said the zone designations in Bethel Heights were very similar to those in Springdale for describing similar properties and structures, making the job fairly easy.
Christie said former Bethel Heights property owners can continue to use their land for purposes not included in zoning classifications. The property would be identified as a nonconforming use and could stay that way as long as the use doesn't change, she said.
Among the many measures needed to align the two cities, the Planning Department tackled zoning early to keep growth moving forward, Christie said.
"We did not want any obstacles if someone had already started or was looking at new development," Christie said.
Laurinda Joenks can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWALaurinda.