Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

e e all right I'm going to go ahead and call the uh January 2025 Planning Commission meeting to order Happy New Year to everybody and we're going to start off with some couple of housekeeping items here with the we're going to take the attendance here would you uh Mr Black would you take care of that for us yes sir chairman Miller here jackmore here chery m Hatley Luke DUI John choke lar Smith Eric Westcott we do have Quorum all right um all right let's uh let's move on to the approval of the minutes from the November 7th uh meeting of 2024 have you had a chance to look

those over and if so what is your pleasure I make a motion to approve okay we have a motion and second to approve the minutes from the November 2024 Planning Commission meeting all those in favor acknowledge by saying I I any opposed hearing none the motion Carri all right first order of business is uh another housekeeping item here just bear with us folks that's election of officers for 2025 chairman Vice chairman and secretary make the motion we have chairman Miller stay Vice chairman Jack Moore and secretary Black second do we hear you did second okay all right we have Motion in second to uh to sentence us I mean to appoint us for one more year to uh the Planning Commission all those in favor by saying I I any opposed hearing none the motion Carri all right all right the item number two we have resoning R1 uh to WN which is a walkable neighborhood located on the corner of South Vancouver Avenue and West 12 Street submitted by Barrett Associates on behalf of Rude Construction Incorporated Sarah take it away thank you uh so this is a rezoning request from single family to walkable neighborhood uh I ask the applicant to provide some images of potential homes um can it's the next image in the slide is on my

screen no okay I'm hitting the wrong button Buton sorry about that okay I asked the applicant to provide some images of what type of uh residential construction that they're proposing to uh construct within this walkable neighborhood so that we have some sort of idea of what the new homes in this area would look like uh at the bottom left of the corner of the screen is the existing conditions um of which it's a vacant property located at the intersection of Vancouver and 12th Street this is that North uh West corner of the at the roundabout the area is currently zoned R1 single family residential with a majority of that area being R1 there is a small portion zoned R2 medium density residential which accommodates the multifam complexes to the South uh this area is residential in neighborhood with R1 and portions of R2 zoning supporting single family residential units to the Southwest there's that apartment complex and additional multif family developments since this is the first request for this new Zone I did want to provide that basis of what is a walkable neighborhood so the general description for a walkable neighborhood states that the district is intended to focus on the creation of safe connected neighborhoods that allow multi modal accessibility through small scale Urban F form supported by a smaller lot requirement the focus of this area is primarily residential but institutional and some commercial uses will be incorporated and are anticipated to provide services to the surrounding residential uses for non-residential uses the structure is limited in a to a

size that is compatible with the surrounding de development and uses this proposed location is adjacent to the russleville connected trail system it is located down from seoa Park and sequa Elementary both um thoughts and areas that you would anticipate having a walkable neighborhood located near um what's missing is any commercial uses that would be permitted in a walkable neighborhood um this is not necessarily next to commercial developments at this time and no commercial developments are proposed within this development uh I have a lot of information so there's a lot I'm going to be doing going through on this report because it is the first that we have seen of a walkable neighborhood um so future and current land uses while this is the last larger vacant property within the R1 Zone in this area emerging Trends in single family residential construction Nationwide have shown great success with Innovative approaches such as smaller lot sizes reduced setbacks shared driveways and rear access alleys nearby communities have implemented similar developments that have proven to be both popular and successful although this zone is not restricted to single family use the applicants proposal for a single family residential only subdivision aligns well with the current and Future uses while the broader vision for this neighborhood includes a mixture of uses to foster a walkable mixed use Community focusing so solely on single family residential development in this subdivision could be a practical step toward achieving that Vision over time this type of smaller walkable neighborhood offers significant

benefits by creating close-knit vibrant communities within the larger City fostering relationships and connections that endure for years as a city we avoid and we do not recommend approval of spot zoning due to the potential of for incompatible land uses however in this case given the vision for the proposed zoning and the surrounding uses staff believes that establishing the W that's the walkable neighborhood Zone here would not create any inconsistencies instead it would complement the existing and future land uses in the area this development could provide a valuable opportunity to help address the current Gap in the housing market and present an opportunity to explore how this new zoning approach can align with both current and future development goals for the area using the comprehensive plan as a guide uh it defines this area primarily as suburban single family or areas set aside for neighborhoods of single family homes these include low density subdivisions that have already been platted but have not been completely built out the area is mostly made up of single family detached homes with driveways and garages these neighborhoods have Auto oriented features in reviewing the comprehensive plan in relationship to this proposal while it does not fully align with the stated low density designation it does meet the intent by proposing single family detached homes with driveways and garages in an R1 Zone without any construction constraints 41 single family homes could be constructed on this property from what we understand as staff they are proposing to build 36 single family

homes it is reasonable to consider this development as a transition between the lowest density R1 Zone with the higher density area to the South The Proposal seeks to create a practical and beneficial density while maintaining compatibility with surrounding uses it does not pro propose the higher multif family densities found to the southwest of the property therefore rezoning to the W walkable neighborhood Zone appears to be appropriate and aligns with the vision outlined in the 2040 comprehensive plan finally value or income of property the additional permitted uses within the walkable neighborhoods Zone may increase the value and income potential of the property compared to its current R1 zoning however the zoning regulations specified that a request should not be based exclusively upon the desire to increase the value or income potential of the property this property was identified during the zoning code updates as one that could benefit from the walkable neighborhood Zone the intent behind this request is to address a specific housing need within the community rather than solely to increase property value or income potential given the housing need within the community the ability to create higher density housing while still meeting the intent of the zoning code aligns with the broader goals of promoting sustainable development and providing a variety of housing options therefore the rezone request can be supported by staff as it fulfills both the objectives of the of the zoning code and the community's needs I know that was a lot of information but I felt like we needed to be pretty thorough as this is the first request for a walkable neighborhood as a result of the review staff does believe that Planning Commission should forward this request to city council for approval to reson the property from R1 single family

residential to WN walkable neighborhood as a result of the findings that the application is in line with existing and future land uses within the area the re the proposed rezoning is consistent with emerging emerging Trends in single family residential construction The Proposal meets the intent of the comprehensive plan designation of suburban single family the proposed walkable neighborhood Zone addresses housing needs identified within the community and rezoning to the walkable neighborhood Zone appears to be appropriate and aligns with the vision outlined in the 2040 comprehensive plan again I know that was a lot but do you have any questions thank you Sarah we do have uh some folks that have signed up to speak AJ Walsh yes okay if you would step up to the microphone there and and uh state your name for the record if you would pardon me state your name again for the record oh yes I will my understanding is I have three minutes um yes you do yeah state your name for the record though yes okay my name for the record is AJ Walsh wsh and I reside at 10006 South Tulsa Avenue which is an AB budding property to the proposed neighborhood can we restart the clock um yes yeah go ahead okay all right in 2011 I asked James Ford what the future plan for the forest behind

the home I was thinking of purchasing was Ford told me it was Zed R1 and not to worry about other types of development my neighbors and I patiently waited 14 years for the property to be developed and 15 days ago we were notified of the property we were notified that the properties owning was intended to be changed to walkable neighborhood with 36 homes planned to be built on a 6 acre final section of Brookview Estates approving this zoning change tonight will betray the trust of ab budding and nearby neighbors who have lived their decades and enjoy their homesteads I've got some questions for you was a professional drainage impact conducted and compared to the 2018 study by adding 36 homes and ignoring six acres of open lamp what kind of environmental impact was conducted with considering eliminating all trees displacing all mammals numerous birds and pollinators what about the effect on neighbors with allergies and difficulty breathing as six acres of dense trees are burned was a marketability study conducted for the likely sale of these 36 homes in the zoning change that includes 5 foot setbacks and no streets meeting the current R1 code was the current declining water pressure in this area considered before moving forward was the increase fire risk from Dent built residen is considered regarding the risk to abing homes does the fire department have enough Personnel equipment and fire plugs to suppress multiple building fires before it quickly spreads to existing abing residences or out buildings is the Builder or developer going to provide separate walls or fences on the perimeter to block sight lines and noise what is the effect going to be on traffic on the new Nar now narrow

Vancouver Street Lanes there are no East West con connected sidewalks from 12 straet to Bradley Lane that's 10 full blocks there's no East West sidewalks what is the financial impact on homes within 1 half mile of this radical if this radical experiment and that's exactly what it is it's a radical experiment if it fails and we remain stuck with the zoning changes without 18 options of the W zoning within our average 30-year-old R1 neighborhood and it is in the R1 neighborhood as I heard Miss John doll's presentation that is in Conflict has anyone considered changing the development to 5 1.3 acre lots accessing the property from 12th Street in Vancouver on a 33t concrete driveway to a single property gate for each of the five homes there'll be plenty of room left to build 450,000 Plus Homes and rude Incorporated will benefit from not installing the 31 sewage connections gas connections water connections and underground cable across the acreage with 31 electrical boxes as well as not falling all the trees or putting in any streets or alleys that's a big save this type of development we meet R1 regul regulations and provide a positive profitability There are 16 abing residences I'm going to turn to the audience will all abing land owners and residents and nearby residents please stand please raise your leftand if you were informed the R1 zoning existed on this land please please raise your right hand if you are adamantly against changing

the R1 zoning please be seated thank you thank you sir all right um Phil Hutchinson I'm sorry we we'll we'll be there in just a sec let me let me get I've got uh four or five here and we'll uh okay you ready yeah name for the record if you would that's what I'm going to start with okay go ahead my name is Phil Hutchinson I live at 127 whipper will Lane I'm in Arkansas registered professional civil engineer number 5179 issued in 1981 I spoke the Civil city council several times about my concerns about inadequate piping when the drainage was improved in the Watershed that's currently being considered for this high density development as well as the rest of the world Watershed I finally received the input models from the city engineer and I found that the modeling calculations were underestimating the runoff by a very large amount the piping specified would not carry the amount maximum rainfall event the city engineer quit the city council hired Mr Barrett to perform an independent calculation of the runoff Mr Barrett's calculation agreed with my uh agreed with my review conclusion the range of the R1 zoning to a high percentage of impervious surface in this four block partiel allow will make the earlier calculations for the runoff inadequate and make the in to make an informed decision about the safety of the project and to existing property now Downstream of the proposed development protection of life and property is the residence is uh of the city of Russellville from known risk is the duty of the city council the partial land has been empty for a very long time a change to R1 to anything goes to the decision

of the needs of patient responsible and logic cons logical consideration from experienced people that can determine if the project has a s uh project can be a success the extreme distance of the property proposed property to any services that provide p uh powered Transportation would be needed would be obvious to the Casual Observer the proposed property at 12th in Vancouver is not feasible location for a walkable neighborhood there should be three required public meetings for the Planning Commission research present res reason reports of while anything goes to the Del need to be done by the residents of Russell the three uh full city council meeting should also be held for the public final development of the area west of Phoenix Avenue and East for East of Vancouver abandoned three streets q r and u in order to sell two more homes per block the street that should have been 11 Street was also closed at Phoenix to van couver this left the property under consideration with no Street opening from Whipper will on the South 12th Street on the North and and no Street opening from Tulsa on the west the developers should could not see a plan to build the same number of houses elsewhere in the development so the wetest orphan CER Corner was left for many years the people living between twith and Bradley and between Phoenix and Vancouver would like to have a neighborhood that they could walk in rather than walk the only perimeter of that entire neighborhood 12 blocks by five blocks wide okay uh uh okay the neighborhood needs needs sidewalks for all streets for the safety and good health of the re residents as well as the proper Street lighting to use them this seems to be a valuable job for the city planner to perform an audit of the city plan the scope schedule and

budget for the sidewalks and Lighting that would provide safety to the people of the city thank you for your time I will be available anytime to review any data or information that you may develop thank you for your time thank you Mr Hudson we appreciate it all right U Linda Linda Linda Hudson state your name for the record if you would I'm Linda huderson and I also live at 1207 Whipper real Lane here in russeville I am not an engineer but I have an environmental science masters and during my graduate work I had the opportunity to work on several research activities which included rapid growth of cities and repercussions of that fast growth strip mining in East Texas on runoff pollution and the pros and cons of growth at a high cost to the common residence I won't go into what Phil went through I totally agree with him on on um the numbers that were originally calculated and um and I also agree about having the the full Council meetings for the public my family moved to russeville in October of 1955 when I was three years old and and quite frankly there's still not a lot of difference in some areas here I we bought a house in 1960 on the corner of Detroit in 12th Street and for years our street wasn't paved my father paid to have oil put on the road and gravel put on it and he paid for a light in the back of our yard cuz we didn't have any Street lamps and as far as I know I don't think they still have them over there um we moved to Dallas in

1972 world of difference there and I'll I'll just cut to the Chaine if y'all really want to see a city that's been doing City Planning before people even knew what that was check out Plano Texas um they set regulations they enforce the regulations and the regulations make a lot of sense and they're larger than Little Rock and North Little Rock put together so they have a pretty good audience there for um and it's grown about as much as it can now so I don't a whole lot of changes going on there in the near future cuz they're landlocked and thank you for your time thank you Jamie mccastlen I okay go ahead if you'd like I mean okay all right uh Gary Perkins my name is Gary Perkins I reside at 1014 South Tulsa Avenue and I want to speak today against the request to rone the area at the intersection of West 12th Street in South Vancouver Avenue to a w walkable neighborhood creating walkable neighborhoods in Russellville it's it's worth the idea however it's impractical at this location a walkable neighborhood Hood by definition is a is an urban area of mixed use that that is both residences and businesses where locals feel less Reliance on cars and are comfortable walking to nearby shops and workplaces it has population density which provides enough customers to support the nearby amenities or it has

public trans transportation to take them to these amenities the neighborhood envisioned will not have the necessary density to support businesses and at this time Russellville does not have any type of public Transportation currently the area does not have access to any type of shopping there's no nearby convenience stores like a casc or PDQ there's no nearby retailers like Walmart Dollar General or Dollar Tree there's no nearby sandwich shops like a nearby Subway a Quiznos of McDonald's there's no nearby coffee shops like Starbucks 7 Brew Midtown Coffee the nearest retailer is over a mile away which means any roundtrip walk from your home and back will take nearly an hour based on the average person who walks 3 m an hour if we were to build this neighborhood step into a time machine in advance 20 years from now we would find that there still would be no access to any of these goods or services as there are no stores there are also no workplaces close for people to find employment within walking distance it therefore defeats the stated desire of a walkable neighborhood an organization that works with City planning walk score has established walkability ratings for cities and towns throughout the United States a score of 90 to 100 is considered a Walker's Paradise 0 to 24 is a car dependent area the area in Russellville that's in question scores a 13 makes it a completely card dependent area based on this I'm I'm therefore requesting that you deny the zoning change as this could never be a real walkable neighborhood and keep the land owned R1 thank you for your time thank you all right um Dave do you and or you or press either one want to or both of you yall

want to speak okay all right for the record David Garza with baretton Associates um that piece of property back in the 1990s when Bill uh when uh kener had it and Ward Ramsey was set out for commercial that's why the block was there it was never developed it was for commercial if you remember this property across the street was commercial all the way across there uh and so the thought was as the neighborhood grew and everybody grew that they would put a convenience store at that location of course that's never happened and in fact the city then if you remember they went back uh with the Smiths and they rezoned that C2 back to R2 uh because of the ramifications of that so that's why the block was left out that's the purpose of it it's for it was supposed to be a convenience store um daycare anything that would help the community you know at that location when was that Dave I uh that was 93 93 yeah I moved here in 91 my first project was Vancouver uh set uh curb hubs so they finished I think the first phase of uh Brook Brookside or Brook viiew in uh '92 and Ward left that piece alone because he wanted that for the future uh you know just like in uh where I come from in Austin we have the same we're we're surrounded we have a a big block of commercial of residential and then we have what we call the service little Hub in an intersection where you got gas stations uh Cleaners Laundry daycare that sort anything that would serve the the housing the community there you know that helps but that's what it was there for that's why the block was left out so

I think you needed some background on that I think they needed some background on why it was empty the uh now that that it's been purchased and uh back when the drainage study was done for the Tulsa to Vancouver section there Morgan Barrett did do the study and he even did uh hydrographs and showed all the different storm events uh showed the council I had it on the screen you could see the pipes as they filled during each different storm event and in the process of doing that he also developed uh that drainage the the design based on that six acres being developed as commercial because you know you you have to design for what is going to happen around it otherwise you're defeating the purpose of sizing the pipes if you don't it was R1 uh it's going to be residential so all the piping Downstream is designed for that uh specific area walkable neighborhoods uh you know you go to U if you've ever been to the Village of Hendrick that's what they have there's a couple of places up in Northwest Arkansas everybody talks about walking now you know uh we just got a $25 million grant for Trails you know that we're designing throughout the city we've already put uh a lot of trails already through the city uh we've put sidewalks the city's putting connective sidewalks where there aren't any sidewalks why to walk for Walkers you know and so that's what this intend you know as R1 right now uh it's been reduced to 7,000 square ft from from what was it 10,000 before 9,000 so you can get 36 units in there just as an R1 the walkable neighborhood

though process the reason we're doing that is it allows the houses to be up front so it's the setback part to where you have that walking uh look to it where you have the house you have the sidewalk the cars are are in the back you know there that's where you park everything's in the back so you don't have any cars technically you know along the front and so you feel safe walking it gives you that walking presence uh you can go on Google Earth and you can you can just go down uh the village of Hendrick and you can you see the feel you get the feel you got the the lamps and nice lamps the Landscaping all of that I mean it makes you feel comfortable and safe that's the purpose of the zoning the purpose of the zoning is not to put as many units in there it's to make it feel like that walk able neighborhood and so it's based on the setback is the reason for it uh so we can bring the houses up put the parking in back otherwise if you have keep the setback in R1 all the parking's in the front you know and so it makes it a little more difficult when you have all these cars parked you know we've talked about this before about where you're placing sidewalks you have uh Fork four parking spots typically you know like my house I live at shalow Manor uh uh and I I can put four vehicles on my driveway but if I had a sidewalk there the two rear ones block the sidewalk so that's why everybody always walks in the street or rides their bike in the street because they can't use the sidewalk so this is different this allows a sidewalk to be totally unimpeded at all because all the parking is in the back of the units and so that's what makes it unique and that's what makes it attractive the houses are going to be uh their neighborhood of 1,800 Square ft and above they're some two stories houses they're all different you have that

colonial style you have that front porch uh style look and so it's it's not the cookie cutter you know type houses this is this is different it's it's made to look differ it's made to look more of that uh Southern Colonial type uh look uh just like if you look there in the two different three different locations in Arkansas that we have uh to to just kind of sum up and I'll have um Preston come up you know anytime there's something new and we've all faced this every time there's something new it's difficult for people to understand but once they get and they look at it and they see the development and I'm going back to Marina Road where we went to the harbor uh Hudson Harbor and then before that Mike Wilkins you know and then we had Cobblestone you know we had a lot of people at those if Hudson Harbor was probably the worst three years trying to get that approved but now everybody likes it we had and I I think I was um working with the city at the time when Walmart Neighborhood Market came in that was a challenge uh we had a lot of people here this place was was packed if you remember and now all those people they go there you know they they love it and we haven't had you know much traffic problems the big concern was the intersection uh you know having a lot of traffic problems uh but uh there hasn't been a whole lot it hasn't warranted a traffic light yet but I go there and I don't even live there I live up at shalow Manor but I go that's where all my shopping is at Walmart Neighborhood Market uh I don't know why it's just I like it better than big Walmart U but uh

you know so it is it is new and I understand you know I understand it's new and you know when you don't know something fear crops up uh and and it's it happens all the time you know the standard you know traffic uh drainage you know uh congestion people all of that it does come up and and I I fully understand that but when we look back historically at at history at all the times that we have done something new you know uh then when it is complete and it's done it has turned out good it has turned out to be positive you know to the neighbor and the and the neighborhood has embraced it and uh Hudson Harbor we had a couple that moved that were against it they moved there uh same thing with Mike Wilkins down down the road they had somebody that was opposed to it and then eventually ended up buying the unit in there so you know we've done everything we have to follow the book we have to do everything including uh fire protection uh everything has to be done by the code or it's not going to be approved so all those items have been checked and uh so now we're at this this point where uh we're hoping to put this thing in here and um and hope that uh it will be something that the city will be proud of that City would would like it's it's you know by itself right now it's kind of sectioned off with a lot of these their backyards are in the back and of course there will be privacy fences we will have to maintain the ditch back there uh which actually will be better now because now the woods won't be there we'll be able to city will be able to get in and out and maintain that ditch a whole lot better because we'll have to we're going to have to keep it open and and put uh easements through there we've already talked to GLA about that so

every all the drainage and streets are going to come to Vancouver go underground and go into the pipe that's going across to the main uh detention pond that's there and the city has made some improvements to the detention Pond uh by putting a wear in the box there to help facilitate uh the drainage going Downstream and so they've already made some improvements I think last year to that and then I'll let Preston come up and talk about the development itself before you said down Dave guys is there anything you anybody have any questions for Dave before he anybody yeah yeah go ahead Prest well that is going to happen no matter what and and hold on hold on hold on hold on let me finish let me finish okay let me finish like I said it's always this isn't it it's always this case about traffic and I understand I understand your point okay but just remember these folks okay that are moving there all right are no more different than you guys and I don't speak huh I don't speak I know it and I and and how and why do you think they are see you're you're making suppositions no I'm not I live there you live there but you don't know if these people are going to speed there I amver probably Medi age group but you don't know if they're going to go north they

could go to the to the cold you don't know if they're going north you go to culdesac and go either direction huh you're just saying to go North to Walmart no you don't know they're going that the CAC is right the turn the turnaround is right there they could go anywhere street street how do you know they're going to grocery store they could be going to work I'm saying no you're assum and and I you're assuming they're all going to go north aren't youve they did they they put that they put that thing down there I I kind of agree with you on that one that's not my design yes and I supported Overland Park too that was right there that goes the same direction

sobh that's World okay Overland Park went through okay well and I think we had the same well here I've got a concern that I keep keep hearing uh one of it is on this right here we have Public Works uh engineering comment City Court fire Building Safety Committee uh comments no comment so apparently they apparently they're not too worried about they would have a comment correct correct okay right here I've uh fire is one of y'all's main concerns traffic is a main concern you got water runoff which is a main concern you have water and sewer which is the main concern and you have lighting which is a main concern and then you have smoke uh burning the trees okay if if if this board leaves it like it is as an R1 they can go in there and put 41 houses in there and y'all have nothing to say because that's what it's designed for we're arguing about a very nice neighborhood that has been proven over the years in other communities it is very nice I've seen the plans i' I've studied this right here and you're going to have this exact problem that I keep hearing if you have fire problem if you have traffic Overland Park is almost like a walkboard neighborhood you got sidewalks on both sides my daughter lives there I'm over there all the time I got a lot of friends over there that neighborhood is gorgeous it you when you go down there you see all these kids playing in the front yard riding their scooters on the sidewalk that's the old

days that's what I grew up seeing it's no different changing this to a to a walk booy neighborhood it's it's going to enhance that that's my comment and and I'm just going to make a brief little comment this is to rezone the property this isn't to design the subdivision so obviously you don't have plans in front of you you have the staff hasn't seen plans for detention for the fire department this is the rezone so when we're just talking about a rezone there's not as many concerns once they start to go through the process to actually develop the subdivision that's when all of these items like traffic detention fire department water pressure are all going to be addressed but I will say that staff did have a pre-application meeting with the applicant we had the fire department we did not have the fire department there we had water department we had engineering and we've all made appropriate comments to the applicant so that they make sure that they're adequately addressing all of the regulations so those will all be addressed so the staff had a layout you have to lay it out we we showed them the layout and then we gave it to the staff which all the Departments can see so they know exactly what we're doing and then otherwise they can't comment from it you know it makes it typ difficult we want to make sure that they had that layout so they could look at it so they could see the Turning motions where the street cuts are going to be where the sewer where the water is going to go and how many units they're going to be it was stated a while ago that uh that the Planning Commission is you know put this in or put that in all we're doing is all we do is reone I mean that's that's all we're doing here to get that ball rolling either that direction or not so right and any walkable neighborhood is going to be in a residential area right that's what it's designed it to be that's why it was put in this new new

zoning code you know they worked real hard to come up to uh revamp the zoning code two years ago and they added several new items to it you know in the residential section and they're going to go in the residential section that's what they're designed to do right okay Preston you got something you wanted to add here if you want Preston Roode um all I really have to say is like our plan is not to make a a a terrible neighborhood we plan on coming to build real nice homes we can already build like Dave said the the same amount of homes with parking in the front based on the current R1 zoning but we're trying to to doll it up I guess you could say we want it to be very nice we want it to be have the parking in the back get the get the cars off the street we're doing sidewalks on both sides all the way around it's a little bit different neighborhood than what you see here actually I don't know that we have one here really um and I've toured some from the the Hendrick's Village some in Northwest Arkansas not all of them are tied to any type of commercial you know my my cousin lives in one in Northwest Arkansas it's in the neighborhood you drive to a neighborhood just like y'alls um my dad used to live there on the corner of forth and Vancouver so I know about all the traffic over there I know about the whole speed bump I'm I'm I'm well aware of that whole area um that that neighborhood up there it it doesn't connect to any type of commercial property um and it's packed there's waiting list for people to get in there I get that that's Northwest Arkansa and War Russellville but I also get that there's a housing need here that we need to build um and Not Our intention to come in and build cookie cutter just basic houses everyone's going to have their own identity everyone's going to be different you know you're going to see a lot of variation in the homes um and we plan to build them all we don't plan to sell lots to people to come in and build their own home because we're going to be

in control so we can keep the look of it are we have ideas and plans if it works out to actually have uh kind of a do setup to where they have their own moow service that comes in that takes care of the Yards that keeps everything nice um I don't want it to be run down I want everything to be kept up and looking good for for years to come and to be honest we we hope to kind of Target older people that want to get out of a home with maintenance that they're mowing the yard they're taking care of a big yard a bunch of space and move into something like this um and that's kind of the a lot of people that we've had talk to us about it that have a lot of interest in it to be honest with you um but I'm I'm I'll answer any question you got and try to I think she's had her hand up several times back there sorry it it can and we can still build the same amount of houses there to rezone it is so we can move the houses forward and get the parking in the back M and off of the streets so the garages will be in the back of all these it's all about parking car at your home to move the houses forward it falls into What's called the walkable neighborhood so to move the houses forward closer to the front uh setback we have to rezone to the walkable neighborhood I live on the corner IA Way Drive oh yeah and I also where develop is going out of Conca Street

people so what I found when my parents lived on around are not even potentially to see cars that are coming out I want to know where is this D so I can't speculate on where the traffic's going to come from I mean I when my parents lived on Fourth and Vancouver I can say most of the people coming through that road did not live in that neighborhood the ones flying through there were not living there I watched it happen over and over again and there's nothing that I can do about that you know that that's a a police deal I mean there's nothing that even the city can do to prevent people from flying down that road because I know none of y'all are flying down that road I know I don't I know my parents that lived there didn't I have a good but that road that road is not not to me when people were living there it was not the people living in that neighborhood that were flying up and down that road um my question is di' driveway the first one oh yeah yeah it's got distance it's about 140 ft 150t and likely that corner right there at the roundabout is not going to have a house on it that is open space is what we're planning on so you'll be able to see 100 by 150 right there it's got kind of an angle why why is it going to be an open corner it doesn't need yeah it does all

the danger comes from the left it's because you can't get a lot out of it because it's got an angle to it it's going to be an open spot yeah so you'll be able to see the whole area right there left or right where uh trying to think where's whipper wheel is it cut back to the east whipper North wherel nor then the ditch is to the South behind Okay on the so it there'll be a row houses that run back yard to Backyard along the ditch and they'll you and come back around 12 Street okay yeah but there's only I don't see you're get no they're not you're not getting 36 across there yeah no it it it used and then there's in the middle in the whole complex to be like four rows yes four rows you'll have a row and then a side and then a row and then the center you'll have two rows with an alley and then everybody comes down the alley and pulls into their driveway on the on the outside they come between the two houses and pull into the driveway in the back so that the cars are off the street come street they're all City there's only two there's only one alley right the go it's going to be a city street of 12 Street be pulling out on 12 Street no everything's facing in all are all going to come out in front of her house they're going to come out out on Vancouver yeah they're going to come out on Vancouver right yeah two there's two

spots on vanc instead of one street com stre okay to to develop it no matter what they they there's always going to be it and for fire protection and Emergency Services you have to have the yeah we got a question right here in the gentleman right here's G to go ahead step up here yeah the city controls that because it is a collector Street as opposed to residential street and they don't want too many roads coming off street they're trying to get traffic from one place to the other so we we thought about that but then we had to twist it because of that reason I have I have two things to add number one Brooky Estates was ploted in 1988 and the property we're talking about was zoned r1n now if people are planning on it for something else why didn't they rezone it to commercial number two the big issue with me is all the other permissible uses that WN gives in that neighborhood and I'm going to read them to you dwelling Condominiums dwelling multif family and two family duplex dwelling multifam three and four family tries and quadplex dwelling single family detached that's our one dwelling single family attached tow houses group residents residential home daycare school nursery or Child Care Center daycare family homes residential home day oh excuse I'm repeating that a cemetery or marm or both park or recreation facility a library or post

office a radio transmission tower privately owned a place of worship a utility substation and a school public or private now that Land once rezoned will be practically impossible to Zone back until both the structures on top of the land and the infrastructure placed under under the land is removed that will be forever WN and anyone who purchases that land will be able to put one of these 18 permissible uses on that 6 Acres when they are surrounded by 3/4 of a mile of single residential families going west a half a mile going east and a whole mile going north there's like Mr Perkins said there's no businesses there's no retail there's no restaurants there's no grocery stores this is simply I'm going to apologize in advance it's simply an example it's simply a guess it's an experiment and they haven't done their due Dil in finding out about the water you're wrong there too I was there I really appreciate what y'all did but it will not handle because do you know the size of the drain that goes north on Vancouver and then West on the approach to the uh Reservoir the 36 in putt okay that's the same 36 inch pipe

that comes along that whole that whole thing that's right and Morgan Morgan to us and to Randy Horton said it'll be fine if it's around 14 houses you're going to turn all of that into runoff you're going to cause the flooding again and the city's going to pay another $360,000 to fix it who want to prove it well he shows it's not going to come close all right so thank you gentlemen uh that's that's a big concern of mine and several of these other people this is forever and it's too many options we're not against the housing I'm not against the the R1 and you putting them in but it leaves the option for those people that go beyond you putting in this like an HOA you know you're going to have a committee inside the subdivisions that's going to regulate that but inside the subdivision is not going to be legally enforced thank you thank you yeah all right so got so concerning his concern about the rezoning on all the other items you can stipulate it has to be single family house you've done it before it goes to the council the ordinance will St state it has to be single family housing that's what we have for remembers right here we are zoning we've done it before to protect citizens before right you know and then and then they can't do anything you cannot put anything in it on that chart but single family houses period otherwise they'd be uh in violation of the ordinance I know Preston well enough know he's not going to do that so so

does that mean yall two are supporting resoning to walkable no resoning to walkable but it has to be single family housing we're not it is no no we're going to specify the purpose of the walkable neighborhood is to put the setback at 5 ft to bring the houses up that's the whole thing so to protect you from all those other things things we specify walkable neighborhood with with the condition it has to be single family housing period okay moving to to give it a design and a character that's a little it's already our why can't you am that because we they won't we can't we can't get a variance for that it doesn't fit it doesn't fit the variance code he's right I mean okay you're yeah to fit the variance code it has to I could work tomorrow yeah yeah we wouldn't have been here but it takes five there's five items that we have to meet for a variance and it and it won't meet that because it's brand new sidewalks and parking is the is a lot of it I mean that's a lot of problem put the parking in the back the sidewalks up front bring the houses up to make it the walkable that's what we have to do but to protect you from everything else they can say it has to be single family housing period but walkable he off separate all list of uses because it's if you're just saying you're just going to go to R1 that you want a change of set back you don't have to put in that you're going to have dayare have dayare in there and multi family housing just because you want to say I

want to change the set it seems like but then you have to put the houses back and all your parking's back in the front right R1 the houses would be further off the road than they would be in a walk no you can't street street built just like we were there' only be uh what would it be 12 houses there 15 15 houses all in there see our our one's changed it's changed yeah it's gone from 9,000 to 7,000 there's there's a couple I mean right here we're doing a re zones all we're doing tonight and there's going to be other things that are come that'll be you know brought before us and you guys are going to you'll have plenty of opportunity to uh Sarah you have anything you want to add I think this lady raised her hand several times somebody yes ma'am go right ahead yes ma'am 25t 25 25 yes ma'am what is five you have 10 10 10 five and five it's 10 total so you have the house well at 25 yeah 10t 10 10t

yes 2 they set in correct W says what says you can go up to 5et in the front same five 10t 10 10 ft it's the same so you put you propos to putes to the back to the back correct and assuming correct yes yes we've already got it designed as they don't have no they can have a truck they Tru you'll have two cars you'll have two cars in the garage and two cars outside the garage you have four Drive behind the M the Alle start be long enough yes to accomodate a truck yes I have a truck okay I have a extended cab yes a truck is 17 and a half fet extended cab GMC going to guarantee that none of those res is going to try to park in front of my daughter-in-law's house I can't you're outside the Zone you're outside their parking area no they're out they're outside they're outside your subdivision there's plenty ofes to par inside the subis why would they go outside the subdivision to park back doesn't make sense 20t yeah standard alley yeah everything's paid it's concrete TS no there won't be a what F on

Tulsa wide so the only alley the only alley is coming through the the mle section the on the external going towards tols and around falling the ditch line that's been in question what direction are they they're all facing in no house faces out it all faces ins that's what I'm talking are behind so the Lots the Lots on the exterior okay of the subdivision they go between the houses and then turn into their garages so every other house has a drive a a driveway yeah isic to the house they in the back in the back they're in the back they're on the side they're on the side so two houses you got this house and this house okay you come off the street and you come between this never turns into his this never turns into theirs the ones on the outside will be on the back of the house but on the side of the house but on the side of the house the rear re side no front facing gares right the ones on the intersection where alley is the center the no the center section is that way the center section has the alley and then they turn in and these guys turn down okay the outside SE they go up and turn got it Preston you had you had signed up to speak I mean is it have you is there anything else you wanted to add here before we go ahead and no do our okay we need to go ahead I just say it's it is zero of Our intention to do anything that you listed off in that list of stuff that's on there I did that when you sell the property you have no control over that they do they do the council does meeting if we if we set that up as home no the council does city council does yeah when we set that up we can they can put in there it can only be single family dwelling you cannot do but tonight's meeting is just a zoning it's

a zone change meeting is all it is I mean there's really nothing Sarah G thing you want add to clarify if we change it to walkable neighborhood he is correct any use could be in there if what they are proposing is that it's walkable neighborhood with the condition of single family only we would have to go back and change the zone to a wn- s like we previously had the R2 DS be to be able to restrict it we can't just add a condition to the zone that restricts the use to single family without creating that overall updating the zoning code to First allow the walkable neighborhood with the Restriction that's why we ended up with that r2s category okay um so tonight if we're moving an application forward it would be a walkable neighborhood they could put any of the uses that the neighbors have highlighted are possible in that walkable neighborhood however what they are proposing is a residential neighborhood it is a single family neighborhood lot that would be care of anyone so okay so we can do that so what we could do is table it we could table it and then we could come back next month and you can come back with that change with that addition Preston you cool with that but it would help them we have to go through the long range planning committee and we have one coming up don't we we haven't scheduled it yet so I think we can meet it but that Del I think it's going to it's going to take the process of going through of getting all the plans approved through the health department through the through the staff and everything it will be June before we can start so we need to get in

June so you're it's weather and so you would be real happy for that only be houses talking about the set is what you're talking about but there's not going to be all those other 17 uses correct right then that's what we need to will that will happen just not tonight though that's exactly what I'm talking about they're not going to read a zone change less than three times the only the only difference though that we talking about is going what a 25 foot set back to a potentially five foot and even if they're going to read it three times they're still going to read this one three times I'm just I'm just saying the zone change would have to be in effect or the the zoning code update would have to be in effect before this could come back to change it to a walkable neighborhood what kind of time frame we looking at that couple months you're going to be looking at February um if we're able to get the long range planning committee meeting scheduled held and updates to council for February they're going to read it one time in February March and April and then you could come back for an application in May right and right now as it is the process we're looking just one month difference because they're going to read They're going to read it three times changing this to a walk because you guys be there right okay sir what do you recommend give me a recommendation here what we need to we just one my I have a couple items to address that we're going to make sure that the drainage study and the drainage is taken care of that was a concern that's been

highlighted we're going to be looking at the traffic um one of the things that maybe the applicant could do as they're going through the subdivision is look at the alternative and see if they could come off of 12th instead of off of Vancouver because that might help offset some of the concerns we've heard about traffic this is just rezoning application we'll be going through the subdivision application and having to look at all of the plans to see if they're in conformance and in compliance with that um I've heard Financial impact what if the walkable neighborhood fails it's still a residential subdivision these are still single family residential homes so if a walkable neighborhood isn't successful in Russellville we only have 36 single family homes that we're having to look at it's not it's not a gas station it's not another use we need homes I'm positive that these 36 homes are going to be filled as soon as they're built uh because that's how desperately we need um residential homes in this neighborhood I've heard that some areas may not have changed since 1955 well if they haven't changed since 1955 do we want to do something um uh that could bring about proactive change within the community to meet a need uh I've heard walk score is 13 and we're a completely carit dependent area we are absolutely but do we want to always remain a car dependent area in Russellville or do we want to have a walkable neighborhood it's on the Russellville connected trail system which we are nearly doubling with that raise grant that we were able to obtain and are currently working on I think at

this point even though they've made the offer to go back update the Zone a restrict it to walkable neighborhood just single family I think the best thing to do at this point is to allow this to move forward to city council I think that the staff report recommendation is still a valid recommendation and I would like you to consider that okay all right all right Commissioners you've uh you've heard the lady so sah there is not a way to restrict Z correct without updating the zoning code to restrict and create a walkable neighborhood single family residential only like we have um in the old code code we had in r2s which is just in the new code as a to help maintain what those we have two subdivisions that are built under r2s um that's what they did with that and we removed those when we updated the code and so that we would have to go through that whole process and they would not be able to come back to request a rezone until May I will make a motion to uh approve it as presented and put it in the hands of city council to determine uh the next step and then we can finalize the subdivision at that time okay we have a motion and a second to approve this resoning request as

presented with those stipulations if you wouldn't annotate those all those in favor acknowledgement saying I go ahead that will that allow the city council to do yeah yeah that it's just going to give them the authority to do what they need to do right some good points there's there's going to be several steps that's going to that's going to fire traffic trff I mean they'll have they'll they'll do all that stuff that we've been talking about tonight City very good valid valid points y all right we have a motion and a second to approve this request with those with those uh stipulations all those in favor not by saying I any opposed hearing none the motion carried Sarah for those in the audience who want to continue coming to meetings regarding this application agenda prep is January 7th in this room at 5:30 p.m. and then city council meeting is January 16th at 6: PM in this me room uh I also want to thank all y'all's comments I listen to every one of y'all and I value your opinion because we people up here care about rustville just as much as you I've lived here my entire life I've raised four kids I'm raising grandkids my daughters are so I I just want to thank you for all your concerns you and you you do you are being heard I'll second that okay all right we are adjourned