Board of Zoning Appeals - Regular Meeting

guys got their mics on. All right, I'm going to call to order the February 5th, 2026 um City of Conway Planning Commission meeting. Uh welcome to our large audience, two people. Um, our first order of business is approval of the January 8th, 2025 planning commission meeting minutes. A motion to approve as presented. Second. All right, we have a first and a second. All those in favor? Any opposed?

All righty, moving on to public input. Uh, this is the portion of our meeting where if there's anyone in the public who'd like to speak on any matter, just any general, you're welcome to do so. Seeing none, I'll make a motion to close public input. Second. A first and a second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay. Uh, moving on to subdivisions. Item A is Woodside Crossing phase one.

Yes. Um, this is the issue of the financial guarantee for phase one of Woodside Crossing located on Four Mile Road. Phase one proposed 143 single family lots and an amenity center. The amount of the current letter of credit is $1,468,647. And now that many of the homes in phase one are complete along with other major infrastructure improvements, the applicants are requesting to reduce the letter of credit amount to $445,729 and extend it for an additional year. Since it is the second time it is being renewed, planning commission is required to approve the renewal. Um TRC has reviewed the applicant's request to reduce the um letter of credit and to renew it and they have approved its reduction.

Okay. Is there any discussion from the board? Do we have a make the motion to approve as presented? Okay. We have a motion to approve. Do we have a second? Second. We have a second from Mr. Anderson. All those in favor? Any opposed? All righty. Moving on to item B, Homestead, formerly known as River's Edge Village.

Yes. Um, this time the original name was River's Edge Village. It was approved by council in May of 2024. Um, the original layout and street names were approved in June of 2024. Um however they have renamed it to Homestead and they are wanting to um reserve new street names which are listed as Foxhound Homestead and Spaniel. Um they have been reserved by Ory County um planning as well for 911 purposes. Okay. All right. Any discussion from the board? I love the old street names but

don't think they work. So, all we're changing are street names. The site plan is the same. Street names. Yep. All right. I'll make a motion that we approve as presented. Second. Right. We have a second. All those in favor? Any opposed?

All righty. Moving on to public hearings. Um, reszoning request A number one. These properties are located on Cottage Lane and both are currently zoned Ory County Highway Commercial. Recently, property at the corner of Church Street and Cottage Lane was reszoned to Highway Commercial as well, which was already in the city. These two parcels are two of four total that remain in the county's jurisdiction, but these properties are arguably one of the biggest donut holes that remain within the city limits. The applicant is having to request annexation as a requirement to connect to city utilities. There is an existing single family dwelling on each of the parcels. The county's version of highway commercial permits single family residential. So, under the current zoning, the use is allowed. The applicant is requesting to reszone or to be zoned R1 upon annexation. However, the city's future land use map identifies the property as highway commercial, which is also consistent with the zoning of the surrounding properties because city ordinance does not allow property to be reszoned in contrast to the future land use map or inconsistent with the with the zoning of surrounding property when the subject property is less than three acres in size, which could be considered spot zoning. Should planning commission recommend the R1 district or any district aside from highway commercial, an amendment to the future land use map of the comprehensive plan will be required. Alternatively, if the property is annexed as highway commercial, the existing structures can remain. However, expansion of the use is not permitted in accordance with nonconformities of the UDO in article 12. For this reason, the advertisement for this particular request was worded to give planning commission flexibility to recommend highway commercial in lie of the R1

district rather than denial of the requested zoning district. Council approved first reading of an ordinance annexing the properties at their January 5th meeting and planning commission's recommendation, if provided, will be forwarded to council for consideration at first a first reading at their February 17th meeting. Um and this is a public hearing item. Okay. Does the board have any initial questions, comments? Okay. Um is the applicant present? Sir, do you want to add anything? Um if you want to state your name and then if you have anything to add, you good? Okay. Um All right. And then since it's a public hearing, I'll open it up to the public if there's anyone has anything. I'll make a motion that we close public input.

Second. have a first and a second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay, back to the board for discussion. Um, I think it's pretty cut and dry in my opinion. Um, surrounded by HC. It's right on the 501 corridor. It's a donut hole. So, um, I'm going to make a motion that we approve the resoning request to Highway Commercial. Second that. Okay. All right. Mr. Anderson's got the second. Uh, all those in favor? I.

Any opposed? All righty. Moving on to number two. This parcel is directly adjacent to the other parcels that were just discussed and they're directly behind the parcel that was reszoned to Highway Commercial within the last few months. It's currently vacant. The applicant is requesting to zone the property highway commercial for future development commercial development and the requested zoning district is consistent with the city's future land use map and zoning of the surrounding property. Um annexation first reading of that was on January 20th by um city council and planning commission's recommendation will be forwarded for consideration of first reading at city council's February 17th meeting as well. All righty. board have any questions, comments on this one? All righty. Is the applicant present for this one? Yes, sir. Do you have anything else to add? Okay. Um, and then I'll open it up to the public if anybody else has anything to say.

I'll make a motion that we close public input. Second. A first and a second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? All right. Back to the board. Um, again, I think this one kind of ties in with the other ones. So, I will make a motion that we approve the uh resoning request to highway commercial. Second. All right, we have a first and a second with Mr. Cornell. Uh, all those in favor?

I. Any opposed? All right, moving on to number three. All right. This property is the location of what used to be a used car dealership. The property was transferred to the current owners in October of 2025, but restrictive covenants had been recorded since 1991 for the property. So, in order to connect to city utilities, the new owners must request annexation in accordance with city requirements. The rear adjacent property as well as the property on one side is within the city limits. The city's future land use map identifies the property as highway commercial and the requested zoning upon annexation is also highway commercial. Council approved first reading of an ordinance annexing the property at their January 5th meeting and planning commission's recommendation of the requested zoning if provided will be forwarded for consideration at council's February 17th meeting. All righty. Board have any initial questions, comments? All righty. Is the applicant present for this one? Nope. Okay. Uh, open up to the public if anybody has any thoughts on this matter. Seeing none, I will make a motion to close public input.

Second. Have first and a second. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? Okay, back to the board. Make a motion to approve the zoning for highway commercial. All right, we have a first. Second. We have a second from Mr. Cornell. All those in favor? I. Any oppose? All righty. And thank you guys for both being in attendance. You're you're you're all you are our entire audience. Wow, that was a tongue twister. Sorry. Okay. Um moving on to B text amendments.

All right. Um this amendment has been discussed at previous planning commission meetings. Um it is an amendment to articles 2, four, five, um of the unified development ordinance for permitted and conditional uses in various zoning districts. It would establish new or additional standards and restrictions for new and/or existing regulated commercial uses to include but not limit to vape, smoke, tobacco shops, alternative financial services, gas, and service stations, outdoor event facilities and spaces, and other high impact uses in the city of Conway. Previously, it only included certain uses that warranted additional regulation. The amendment has was advertised this time to include other items such as outdoor event facilities and spaces which was previously its own amendment. There have also been issues that have arose over the last couple of months that staff felt needed to be addressed in this amendment. The intent of this amendment includes article 2, four, five, and 14 if you include um item B under text amendments is to restrict certain uses that have had secondary negative impacts to surrounding properties or that there may be a proliferation of in certain areas particularly when those uses are in close proximity to residential uses. Whereas previously the amendment focused on uses in highway commercial and the industrial districts, the amendment has evolved into a focus on uses and all the districts in which the use is currently permitted and where the use is permitted but with additional standards. Some of these uses will also require special exception approval from the board of zoning appeals under certain circumstances. This amendment also provided staff the ability to correct administrative errors, make housekeeping revisions, divine define terms that are already used throughout the UDO or that would be necessary as part of the other

amendments being proposed. One of the biggest changes proposed is to the use tables which will have different codes than currently. Whereas conditional uses were identified with a C, they will now be used in as supplemental standards will apply and be coded with an S. Accessory uses will be identified with an A rather than a PA. Special exceptions where required will be identified with an SC in the table. A note in the use tables was also expanded. Note five in section 4.1 to clarify that the absence of a use from the use table shall not be interpreted as permission to establish a use. If there's no code in a block, the use is not permitted in that district. However, staff retains the ability to consider a proposed use that is similar in nature to uses that are listed. There were several instances where a use was listed as being permitted but then listed in article 5 as a conditional use in the same zoning district or the zoning district was listed under a specific use but then not listed in the use table for that zoning district. So these amendments sought to clean that up as well. Article 5 will be renamed to supplemental use and development standards to be in line with the intent of article 5 and the use tables of article 4. The biggest issue with the conditional use language is that it implies that a conditional use permit is given for certain uses which is not the case. The proposed amendment title of article 5 better reflects what the article actually does. It establishes additional sightspecific standards that apply to certain uses beyond those of the base zoning district. Clarifies what uses can be approved administratively

without additional review or those that are subject to needing a special exception when additional review is needed. Because there will be uses that will require special exception approval under certain situations. Using the term conditional use could blur standards and expose decisions to being challenged. Additionally, these changes align with modern UDO best practices that have moved away from the term conditional use and in favor of supplemental standards, use specific criteria, and clearly defined review triggers. So, the biggest changes to article 5 include the addition of restricting certain uses by adopting additional supplemental use standards for those uses, which include the requirement for them to receive special exception approval based on proximity to residential uses or residential zoning districts. Those uses include tobacco, vape, smoke shops, alternative financial establishments such as payday, title loan, or other deferred payment loan establishments, gas or service stations with or without convenience stores, and a new use of outdoor event facilities and spaces. And this particular use will be permitted via special exception only in certain zoning districts. There have been some changes since you received the packet, including a table being inserted for locationbased standards for the outdoor event facilities ordinance and removing subsection G um altogether which was 5.1.40G that that part will be removed. You should have rece you do have a new table of changes and with the changes made since you received it, they're highlighted in light pink. So those blocks or cells are are highlighted and I can go into further detail if you like. I know we've talked about this

several times so I didn't want to get too ind depth on it but just for your information before it will be considered by city council for first reading. It will be discussed at their upcoming budget retreat. So if in the event planning commission would like more time to review the amendments, we do have time. um they would not go for first reading until the earliest would be the March 16th city council meeting. Um and this amendment and the next one on the agenda for the creation of a special exception process, they go hand in hand. So if you choose to defer this one, then you would need to defer that amendment as well. Um but again, I'll be happy to answer any of it in detail. I know, like I said, this was a big amendment. It changes a lot of things, but the most important thing that it does is it it doesn't necessarily take the right of any any particular use. It just there's certain uses that if they don't maintain a certain distance and I can give you an example of so this is three different properties in the city. All three of them abut a single family residential neighborhood and all three of them are vacant right now. Um, one of them is on North Main Street, one of them is on Highway 378 and the other one is at the corner of Oak Street and Culture Road. So, somebody wanted to put a gas station there with a service station. Currently, there's no restrictions. They would just have to meet the standard setbacks. But under the new guidelines, if they are less than 200 feet away from a residential property line or from a property line that is zoned residential, they would have to ask for a special exception. It doesn't mean they can't do it. It just means that the board will review the request and they can assign additional conditions upon approval. Um, so that's also it's

like a safeguard, you know, to to give the public an opportunity to know that this use is coming. Um, that could cause secondary negative impacts depending on how close it is. Some properties are bigger than others, so it may not have an impact, but in highway commercial, you only need 8,000 square feet in order to do a gas station. So something like that could have a a a huge impact if the lot is a minimal size and you have a neighborhood directly behind it. Um so creating something like this gives a little bit more protection to the existing um residential areas. Okay. All righty. Um it's a lot to digest.

Yeah. Can you go back to that new table? Yeah, the one with the outdoor.

I just wanted to read it again.

This just is really for the board of zoning appeals. So when they're considering the special exception that you know you have the standard like the max number of events that this this particular property would have um the size of the event the hours of the event the amplified sound buffers if necessary any temporary structures or environmental protections and then you have the areas that those would take place whether that's in your immediate downtown area which you may not have as much restrictions versus it being you know in neighborhood commercial or highway commercial and then you have a big neighborhood next to it. Um, so this is going to be more out of the box type of establishments. It won't be a facility or a brickandmortar establishment that's built. It's more for things like this if somebody wanted to take the old tractor shed and turn it into an event facility. um you know, and have different things certain days of the week. Or this um vacant space on Laurel Street, something like that, where you might build some temporary structures uh that could be easily removed, or you might have food trucks um but not an actual brickandmortar establishment, but these are things that they could use to determine what those conditions would be. So stem like max number of events permitted, max event size, you know, medium to large, higher, moderate. Like what are the actual definitions of what is a large, what is a small? Do we have somewhere?

No, we don't have like a number. It's, you know, it's like a special event. You know, somebody has to get a special event permit and let's say it's only going to be for 25 people. Well, that might not warrant police presence. it might not warrant, you know, having sanitation or having more bathrooms, but let's say that you're going to have an event facility and you anticipate there's going to be 500 people. Well, you're going to have to have police presence there or security. So, that could be a condition of the board order that says, "Okay, if this is what you are catering to, this is what you anticipate to have on a regular basis, you are going to be required to do A, B, and C every single time." You're going to have to be required to have x number of portagons. You're going to have to have at least two two members of security. I mean, it could be different for every single one. So, to pinpoint that this is the minimum would be very difficult to do when our special event ordinance is not even designed that way to like specify that this is what you have to have. It's really based on the size of of the event. And this doesn't mean that they wouldn't be required. It could be something that could be so large that we might say, "No, this is a special event. This is a one-time deal. This does not apply to you." And I guess where my brain was going with that is like so the WRD district, whatever's designed there, you know, if there's like a big outdoor amphitheater or something like that, you know, and we have medium on there, but obviously that would warrant like large. So, how do we is that limiting those uses from going in those areas because we have it defined like that?

Yes, it could. Yes, it very well could. I think it just, you know, if somebody wants to put a You're saying build an amphitheater. Yeah, I'm just using that as an example. Like if we if we like built a huge event space, but then we come back to this ordinance and it's like riverfront area WRD. The maximum event size is a medium. Well, what's a medium? Because we just built an amphitheater. So, is it even allowed? Like, so that's where I'm kind of wondering. And if you would like to like put a number on it, I mean, that is totally within your purview. It's just really I don't know what it's just really hard, you know, to like I know it's hard to say, you know, what do you consider medium? We've been through numbers.

I think we pretty Where's David? No, I'm kidding. Um I I think my input here Oh, I'm sorry. I'm still Go ahead. I I think what Seth is doing is great. I think I need a little bit of time to digest it um and see some of the new changes. And so I think If I was making a recommendation, I would think to I don't know. Could we would would we want to do a workshop or would we want to just read this and like what are what are our thoughts on Well, that's up to y'all. I mean, if you guys wanted to have a workshop, I mean, that's totally we could we could definitely do that. Um, we would just have to set up a date a date and time to um

Is this something on the scale that you would do? I mean, it feels like there there are a lot of changes that we're making and I just want to make sure that Oh, yeah. There's definitely a lot. You guys staff has put a ton of work into this. That's why I've that's why I wanted to make sure that, you know, I went over stuff and gave you a lot of information and and didn't want to rush anything through because there's nothing that's like waiting in the balance here to hold it up either. I think what we're doing is great. You know, I think uh I'd like to make sure that I do it justice. I mean, I've been through it in detail, but I mean, it's still a work in progress and

you know, yeah, I would be amendable to a workshop. I mean, something to, you know, so that we can be as useful to what you're doing as possible. So, would y'all like to do it before the next council I mean, not next council, the next planning commission meeting, like just come maybe an hour before an hour early. I'd be okay with that. That's fine. if you guys can do that. I think it would be helpful too to break it down by the different big changes, you know, like you've got the tobacco vape smoke shops and then you've got the outdoor vent facilities which are kind of two different animals and maybe talk about it by subject instead of by article

just to kind of like you know dumb it down a little bit like hey this is the subject and this is everything that's that's being affected there. If I took a chart like that and I just did like a color code for like these are big major amendments and then I did a different color code for these are small minor changes. Would that be helpful to all? I don't even want to create more work for you, but like if we could frame the workshop like talking points in that way maybe. She seemed a little excited though when she was talking. Something about a chart. I will not say no.

It wouldn't really be nothing for me to do that, but no, I could do it however you guys feel comfortable. Um I I was kind of thinking, you know, of suggesting a workshop, too, but um I know how hard it is, you know, with our schedules to try to to try to schedule an extra meeting. So, if it's easier to do it before the next regular planning commission meeting, we could do it that way and just have the meeting start at 4:30 instead of 5:30. I'd be fine with that, you know. Okay. That would be traffic, too. Okay. Um, so let's hold the public input also since we only have two gentlemen in the audience.

Jessica, there's when I I went through it. Um, just a couple really minor things I noted. Do you want them now or do you want You could just you could just save them because I found a couple of things too like they just like me.

That's perfectly fine. Yeah. And then we'll make sure and so what I'll try to do is, you know, I'll make sure all the changes and um are are up to date and then I'll send them out to you guys and then you'll have plenty of time to look at it complete before the next workshop. Um yeah, we'll go from there. That's fine. Okay. All righty. I will make a motion that we defer Can we combine the two? I will make a motion that we combine uh items B1 and two. So all those in Do I have a second for that? Second. Yeah. Okay.

We'll do to Mr. Anderson. Um all those in favor of combining items one and two. I Any opposed? Okay. So now they're together. So, we want to make a motion to defer those two items until next meeting. Second and have a workshop prior to next meeting. And public input. And yeah, and we'll move public input also with that. Um, okay. All right. We have a first and a second. All those in favor? Any opposed? All righty. Muddled it a little bit, but we got board input. Thank you guys for showing up. Thank you staff for your hard work. Thank you audience for coming.

Nobody else. Oh, I almost lost in thought. Thank you staff. Tom looks great. I'm surprised nobody's wearing red or Valentine stuff today. I thought about it on the way in. Oh, said we get surprised with snakes on our chair. Nothing but love around here. First, y'all got any staff input? Any additional?

No. Um, next month in addition to the workshop, we're um maybe one of the workshop items can also be the comp plan because we need to discuss strategy for um getting a steering committee together. Um we're thinking about 15 people. It's going to need to be um a few of you guys. U maybe um some of our other boards. We'd like to try to get them involved. there'll need to be some volunteers from the community um and different you know different fields uh and that's going to be a pretty lengthy process. I mean this is going to be a two to three year process but it's something that we got to get started working on now. We've got to actually it has to be done by 2029. So um that'll be pretty pretty intensive.

Sounds like a good project for these ladies. They are they're on it too. They're on it. Yeah. Awesome. Okay. All right. And then our next meeting is March 5th at 4:30. Yes. 430. Okay. All right. Well, I will make a motion to adjurnn. Amen. All those in favor. All right. That's a second.