Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Thursday, June 4, 2026

The Planning Commission denied a request to rezone 120 East Main Street from C1 to C2, citing inconsistencies with the comprehensive plan and potential negative impacts on the downtown area. They approved a large-scale development for a mini self-storage facility at 250 Lexington Avenue and a special use permit for a portable building sales business at 3616 East Main Street.

About this meeting

Government Body
Planning Commission
Meeting Type
Planning Commission
Location
Russellville, AR
Meeting Date
June 4, 2026

Transcript

51 sections

0:49 – 1:04Speaker 14

I saw Shirley in here a while ago too.

1:18Speaker 2

Yes, we've been really upset tonight. I don't know how it happened. Council got us messed up.

1:24Speaker 1

Okay. Which one are they going to be?

1:56 – 2:20Speaker 14

Okay, well, give me a nod if I forget it or if I hit it at the wrong time or whatever. I've been warned.

2:20Speaker 3

It's good to see you, bud.

2:26Speaker 14

Yeah, Luke is talking about supper over here. He's going to buy everybody a little belly scratch.

2:35 – 3:07Speaker 3

Put your finger right there. Pretty good.

3:12Speaker 14

That's a confident man.

3:13Speaker 3

I thought she was going to have to break a tie.

3:15 – 4:30Speaker 14

Well, I thought I was going to have 12 of them vote. I just wanted to make sure I didn't run into what we ran into a couple years ago with the casino plan. I didn't. Back in 97, they said you had to have at least five yeses on a plan. Oh, yeah. I didn't vote, but if I had, it would have been against all of them. So if we'd only got four, so we would have to go the next month. Three lawsuits hit them, and they never lived. Okay. All right. We're going to go ahead and call the June Planning Commission meeting to order. And we'll start off with our regular housekeeping items. Thank you all for being patient with us from the previous meeting here. But Commissioner Black, will you take a roll, please?

4:32 – 4:45Speaker 13

Choate? Here. Schedule? Coffee?

4:45Speaker 3

Here. Clear?

4:47Speaker 13

Here. Mr. Keller? Here. Okay, we have a quorum.

4:52Speaker 14

We have a quorum. All right. If everybody's had the opportunity to look over last month's minutes, we'll entertain a motion to accept those.

5:00Speaker 6

Please place them on file. Okay.

5:06 – 5:33Speaker 14

All right. Okay, we have a motion and a second to approve the minutes. All those in favor, acknowledge by saying aye. hearing none the motion carried all right we have some unfinished business here rezoning a property from c1 to c2 located at 120 east main street submitted by joshua spence victoria you have a staff report on that yes sir i do

5:35 – 12:56Speaker 2

Again, so this is unfinished business from last month, so you'll probably recognize most of my staff report. This is a rezoning at 120 East Main Street. Existing conditions, this is located within the downtown commercial business district. This is an existing vacant paved lot located just west of Mobley Law Firm. Adjacent uses include First Christian Church, Into Market, previously known as Burris, a tax prep business, a mixed-use commercial building, and it is across from CVS. This property is currently zoned C1 Central Business District. All surrounding properties except for the one directly to the west are also zoned C1. The mixed use property directly to the west is zoned C2 Highway Commercial. This commercial building was rezoned in 2005 to allow for the freestanding sign that is on the property. We did touch on this last month but just wanted to reiterate that was the only reason staff could find that that rezoning was requested was for that freestanding sign in 2005. The applicant is requesting to rezone this property in order to open a heavy tool and equipment rental slash sales business at this location to sell small mini excavators. In mid-March, code enforcement was notified of a complaint of many excavators being sold in the 100 block of East Main Street. At that point, the applicant removed the equipment from the site and then came in and visited with planning staff. When he discovered it was not possible for them to carry on business activities within this location, the applicant then applied for this rezoning. So in our review, three things must be considered for a rezoning. First, future and current land uses of the area. the re-imagine russell twenty forty comprehensive plan and then lastly the value or income potential of the property So hitting that first mark, the future and current land uses. This is part of the downtown district currently and is shown to remain in the downtown district as part of the future land use map. When reviewing this application against the zoning map, there is one C2 zoned property in the area. Again, however, that property is spot zoned. So despite this property being adjacent to that C2 zoned property, rezoning this property would simply extend the spot zoning in a manner that is not in line with the comprehensive plan. The applicant is requesting to rezone this property specifically to allow the sale of those mini excavators. Staff does not believe that this would be in line with the future or current land uses of the area. If rezoned to highway commercial, all uses within the C2 zoning district could be applied to this property. While the use for these small mini excavator sales may not be in line with the character of the downtown district It would be much less intrusive than other potential businesses that are permitted within that c2 Meaning that if this property was rezoned for this specific use there is nothing to guarantee That that use will be carried out at this location and not something much more intrusive and detrimental to the character of this area. I This was a question we received last month, so I just wanted to give you guys like a quick screen cap of things that may be permitted in the C2 that are not permitted in the C1 zone. On the left you're going to see items that would be permitted outright, and on the right you're going to see items that would be permitted via special use in that C2 zone. Again, that would be opened up if this rezoning were completed. Not going to go over all of them, just going to kind of hit a few. Outright permitted would be things such as a restaurant with a drive-thru, a gas station, manufactured home sales, many storages, several auto-oriented uses such as a body shop and a car wash, and then permitted via special use. You're looking at contractor storage areas, storage building sales, auto wrecker service, and then some industrial uses as well. So in the Reimagine Russellville 2040 Comprehensive Plan, it defines the downtown area, or downtown district rather, as an area where multi-story buildings accommodating a mixture of uses inside individual structures exist. The area has well-designed streetscapes and public spaces that vary in nature. Cars are parked and then pedestrians navigate the downtown by foot. this property and all surrounding properties are within that downtown district per the comprehensive plan the only related zoning category in the comprehensive plan for the downtown district is c1 as you can see from the map above the box in yellow is the subject property that light green shading is going to be the downtown district per the comprehensive plan so as you can see it is completely surrounded on all sides by that downtown district To remain consistent with the comprehensive plan and retain the fabric of the downtown district, it would serve the public interest best by retaining the existing zoning classification. Lastly, value or income potential of the property. Changing the zone from central business district to highway commercial could increase the income or value potential of the property. Although they are both commercial districts, going to a higher intensity commercial zone typically would increase the value or income potential of the property. The C2 highway commercial zone offers many more permitted uses and therefore would open up a entirely new market of potential buyers if rezoned. Staff did also want to touch on this. This is new from our presentation last month It was tabled last month as a result of you all Asking for us to kind of go back to the drawing board and see if there was anything else we could potentially do to allow this unfortunately in doing our due diligence staff does not believe that there is any other use category and that the sale of mini excavators could fit into besides heavy tool and equipment rental slash sales. There were specific questions I recall regarding whether or not this could be considered an auto related use due to the smaller horsepower of these specific mini excavators. While staff does understand this argument in our research there is a clear delineation between heavy equipment such as mini excavators and automobiles such as cars, trucks, and even side-by-sides. We did reach out to the DMV to kind of clear this up as well, and they confirmed that heavy equipment such as mini excavators are not permitted to be tagged, titled, or driven legally on the street, whereas automobiles, cars, trucks, and in Arkansas even side-by-sides in some cases can be tagged and titled through the DMV and are street legal. While auto uses are permitted to drive on public streets when properly tagged and titled, a mini excavator would have to be hauled by another vehicle, again, unless you're popping over to an adjacent property to do work. Therefore, this would make rezoning the only path forward for this specific use to occur at this property. Staff is unable to recommend approval as a result of the findings that the rezoning would not be in line with future and current land uses in the area. All adjacent properties except for a spot zone property to the west are zoned C1. The future land use map indicates that this will remain in the downtown district and the proposal does not align with the Reimagine Russellville 2040 comprehensive plan. That is my staff report. Are there any questions for staff? I know there are several folks signed up to speak, but if there's any specific questions for staff at this time, I welcome those as well.

12:57Speaker 14

Thank you, Victoria.

12:57Speaker 2

Thank you. Sorry, go ahead.

12:59Speaker 7

Could you go back to the list of permitted uses, either outright permitted? Yes. Okay. So really the best way to look at this is not just

13:12 – 13:41Speaker 2

how would it be used now correct but it's to look at all future use for this property based on that and that's not even a comprehensive list yes yes sir so that's kind of what we have to do when we're looking at the comprehensive plan and stuff like that we've got to have that long term vision i guess for lack of a better term um to look at what does this mean now but also what does this mean 10 years from now five years from now when the property may change hands 100 thank you thank you anyone else Thank you, guys.

13:41 – 14:03Speaker 14

All right. Okay. We've got some people signed up here to speak. Is that Baborik? State your name. Anytime you come to the microphone, guys, I'll state your name for the record so we can get it on our minutes, please.

14:04 – 15:23Speaker 11

All right, good evening. My name is Greg Barborek. I am actually the chair of the Historic District Commission as well. But I just wanted to come in tonight, and I'm actually against this idea of rezoning. The main reason being there is When we look back right now, I think this is up here because we're dealing with an adjacency to that was spot zone twenty years ago. So what I would like y'all to keep in mind is what does this do as far as setting another precedent? If this area is rezoned to see to this going to open us up to you know, the area around it. I think everybody can agree the downtown area, what's going on is a great thing. It's become, you know, just a lively place. I had the pleasure of starting to work downtown for about 10 years in 1993, and it was a completely different dead place. So I think we've got a... real asset now that's going on downtown and this area that is designated in the 40 uh the 2040 plan is a great thing and i think it's just important that we keep it zoned as is so that the downtown area can utilize all of the area and that we try to avoid setting any further precedents for rezoning requests in the future thank you thank you greg

15:26Speaker 2

I'm just going to pop in with a reminder. People signed up to speak have three minutes. I believe they're going to put a countdown up. Yep. Awesome. Thank you, guys. So there's going to be a countdown up on the screen.

15:35Speaker 14

Thank you. I'm sorry I didn't mention that. All right. Betsy McGuire, come on down.

15:51 – 17:51Speaker 5

Thank you, commissioners. My name is Betsy McGuire. I too serve as a commission on the Historic District Commission. I was previously the chairperson until Greg graciously took over that role. I also serve as the vice president for Friends of the Lattimore Tourist Home, and I serve as vice president for that board of directors. Those of you may know me, some of you don't. I've probably spent 30 plus years in my professional life and in my volunteer life, working with preservation-based economic and community development issues. I have learned a lot about what works, what doesn't work, and those things that we treasure in our community. I want to remind you all, they've talked about the Reimagine Russellville 2040 plan. There was also a previous downtown plan that was integrated into that comprehensive community by master plan. this proposed rezoning does not fit in with either one of those plans i know you all treasure this community and want to do what's right for it that property sits right at the intersection of two major state highways and one of those highways is the scenic seven byway think about what you want that intersection to look like in the future. That's the place that many visitors to Russellville make their first assumption about what we care about in our community. I know that some of you had made great investment, not only downtown but throughout the community. What can we do to protect that? And in all of our roles, There are so many things that we can't do to protect the things that need protecting in our community. But this rezoning request is one of those things that we can make a decision on. And so I ask you all to deny this request for rezoning. Thank you.

17:59Speaker 14

All right. Sarah?

18:07 – 20:53Speaker 10

Good evening. Uh, Sarah John doll here, uh, the city's historic preservation officer, uh, just wanting to ask you all to consider, uh, Greg has already talked about, uh, just the downtown and the improvements and Betsy's talked about comprehensive plan and the downtown master plan. But this site really does occupy that transitional area between our historic downtown and the rest of our community. It also is the transitional area between downtown and First Christian Church. And I know that there are several here from the church. But that's one of Russellville's individually listed properties. Individually National Register listed properties. And unfortunately over time we have lost some of the structures that stand between downtown and that structure as we continue to allow changes to our zoning code that are zoning for that area from C1 to C2 that could further be detrimental to that transition. We are losing more and more, and the remaining parcels become increasingly important in maintaining the visual and functional relationship between our historic resources. My concern isn't necessarily particular with what they are proposing to put on that property. It's just overall the change from C1 to C2. The C1 district was originally established to encourage development patterns that complement downtown, including buildings oriented to the street, meaning that they're closer to the street, parking located to the side or to the rear, and site designs that support a walkable pedestrian environment. By contrast, that C2 designation would allow a broader range of uses, as Victoria pointed out, and development patterns that are designed for vehicles and larger front yard setbacks. They may not be as compatible with the character and gateway appearance of our historic downtown. We are continuing to make significant investments in our downtown and in the revitalization, the historic preservation and our placemaking efforts. I really encourage you all to carefully consider how the zoning decisions on the properties surrounding the district may affect those investments and the overall character of the area in the future. I really do thank you for your time and consideration. I will also note that you did receive a letter from Judy Galloway, and that should have been in the file for you all.

20:55 – 22:03Speaker 1

thank you sir uh... susan you read uh... uh... all for them and member of the historic district commission uh... don't have much more to say except that i live in in a newly designated historic neighborhood And I was driving around this location today and there are actually homes in that area in addition to a beautiful historic church and several of their members are here tonight. would like to see the neighborhood around in this area which has a lot of historic homes be also designated as an important neighborhood so other than that i think everything has been covered thank you thank you

22:13 – 22:29Speaker 14

Is there any other names added to that? Yeah, you have to come to the microphone. State your name for the record. He can't hear.

22:45 – 24:37Speaker 4

My name is Marty Young, and I just found out about this today. I'm speaking as a member of the First Christian Church, the historic First Christian Church. We've been there 120 years. We, like a lot of other churches, struggle. But in our struggle, we're also finding money and man hours to commit to this community. Many, many dollars and many man hours we commit to this community because we love it. We had a neighbor ask us if he could put up a sign not too long ago that would block our sign, and we regretfully told him no. We can't afford to even have our sign blocked. We're down there. We need to be seen. If something is put here, especially that doesn't fit the, I lost my word, the C1, which is bad enough, it could easily block us. The other point is so much money has been put into the beautification of downtown Russellville. I'm sorry about tractors, but do we want to put a tractor Lot in the middle of that. Do we want the people who come to Russellville coming over the overpass to come down and, oh, there's a tractor store. It needs to be something attractive. That might be a minor thought, but to me it's not. And the church certainly is not. So I have to ask along with the others, if you would please not allow this because C2 is a rough code. to be putting downtown anywhere. Thank you.

24:42Speaker 14

Is there anybody else?

24:59 – 29:05Speaker 12

Josh Spence, obviously I'm the property owner. pretty big turnout tonight for opposing, but with things, I expect change, there's gonna be some pushback. To me, I'm the opposite way. I think it brings an attraction, opportunity to people to buy cheaper equipment. I'm not asking to, I see what you are saying about changing hands in the future could do that, but it's the only vacant lot in that whole area that has the potential to do something different. It's undeveloped, it's a parking lot, everybody uses it but me. I'm the only one that can't use it. uh... the public uses it matter fact last week month we had a meeting the mayor called a meeting for downtown parking issues uh... i talked to a bunch of people off to the side uh... about hey they could use my parking lot for free i'm not allowed to use it uh... everybody said that's not part of downtown that's too far of a walk we don't want to use it okay i also work for the union pacific railroad offered uh... possibly using some of the property of the railroad tracks too far away from downtown no one wants to walk that far Even the new parking lots, they build across the other tracks. People don't want to park there, too far of a walk. Common sense tells me this is not part of downtown, historical downtown. It's not. It's over by the courthouse, going up an overpass. And you get over the overpass, you get into industrial, you get into restaurants, you get into everything. From there, start of, going, I guess you'd say, toward outer skirts of downtown, I mean, I would understand if it was on the other side of the stop lot, but it's not. It's a parking lot. As a business owner, you're right, it's the most visible spot in town, so therefore it would be a great spot to advertise something cheap and affordable for anybody who wants to buy it. If you take a look at where Cars is at, For my location, we are almost exactly the identical distance to the downtown old train station. There is no difference. And they have 50 of them out there. So I don't really know what else to say besides hoping you guys take into consideration as a business owner that tries to bring development to this town for businesses, that you guys rezone it. I think that's the only proper and right thing to do. I put them in a warehouse out there by Oscars. That's where they're at. You can't sell them out there? I mean, it's not off a beaten path. That's an advertised spot. That place gets 70,000 people go by it every day where it's at. When I put them out there last time, I sold five within a week. I mean, that's... That's why I bought that lot for visibility. As a matter of fact, I parked a car out there for sale. Within an hour, I got turned into code enforcement for parking a car. Everybody sells cars in parking lots around here. So I sold it. code enforcement says, I don't see a problem with that. Sell them one, just don't put two or three out there. Sold it, moved it within like a week or something like that. Parked another one out there, code enforcement got back on top of us. It's almost harassment. Anytime we do anything out there, people abandon cars there. Like I said, I don't control who parks there. It's almost a public park. It's a private park, to be honest with you. But anybody parks cars there, and anytime someone leaves something overnight, code enforcement's there on top of us. There is a boat there. There was a semi-truck there for a couple days over a weekend. I didn't want to tow it off. Someone parked an 18-wheeler there. Like I said, everybody uses the parking lot but myself. Any other questions? All right. Thank you.

29:22 – 29:43Speaker 13

Victoria, Kevin, either one of you guys. I asked this question last month. I just want to ask it again for the record. I think you've clarified it in your comments, but we've researched, we've identified there is no legally enforceable way or alternative other than rezoning at this point.

29:43Speaker 2

That is correct.

29:44Speaker 13

That would allow for use of this specific business. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you. Yes.

30:26Speaker 14

Commissioners?

30:36Speaker 13

I'll make a motion to deny. Okay. We have a motion to deny. Do I have a second?

30:40 – 31:30Speaker 14

I will second that, but I believe we have to make the recommendation to forward it with the denial to city council. That's what that does. Okay, we have a motion, we have a second. All those in favor of passing this on to city council? Say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, motion carried. Okay. New business. Large-scale development for a mini self-storage facility located at 250 Lexington Avenue, submitted by Barrett & Associates on behalf of Ethan Stahl. Do you have a staff report on that, Gavin?

31:31 – 37:07Speaker 8

Yes, sir, we do. As stated, this is a large-scale development located at 250 Lexington Avenue. I know we've been here for a while this evening. I apologize that large scales are naturally a little lengthier, so please bear with me through this. Currently, this property is a minimally improved vacant lot within the East Main Commercial District. The property is entirely surrounded by C2 highway commercial zoning. Surrounding uses include other vacant fields, a water tower, local tire, and wheel, which is located on the same piece of property, an insurance company, and an Arkansas Valley Farmers Association facility. In the review of this proposal in the C2 Highway Commercial Zone, Section 2.10.2 refers you to the table of permitted uses where a self-storage use is a permitted use and is subject to the provisions contained in the Land Subdivision Code pertaining to large-scale developments. In the Land Subdivision Development Code, LSDC, Section 7, it states that any large-scale development meeting any one of the following criteria shall be reviewed by the Planning Commission prior to issuance of a building permit or other city permit. Article 7.2.1 states that buildings or developments placed on a plot of real property five acres or larger. And Article 7.2.2 states any development containing an existing building or buildings with combined square footage of 15,000 square feet or larger. Therefore the applicant has met the checklist items for Article 7.4. Article 2.10.3 site plan review is required and will be completed prior to issuance of a building permit. The application provided with this application along with additional details outlined below will be needed to be completed at review. 2.10.4 area regulations, storage buildings appear to meet setback requirements for the C2 zone but will be confirmed with site plan review prior to any permit issuance. Article 2.10.5, parking regulations. For C2 zones, there is no minimum amount of parking, and parking shall be demonstrated to be sufficient via a parking analysis conducted to the specifications outlined in Article 6.1.1.5 of the zoning code. No staff will be on site, and the office facility for administering the mini storage shall be located in the local tire and wheel facility immediately south on the same piece of property. ADA parking is deemed sufficient for the amount of parking proposed. Article 3.13, self-storage units, developments of this nature must comply with regulations outlined under this article in addition to commercial building and site design. Further, any self-storage unit facility located within or adjacent to any zone other than M1 or M2 industrial zones have additional regulations that come into effect. Therefore, this development does trigger these additional regulations. The applicant has demonstrated compliance with both sections 3.13.1 as well as the additional regulatory provisions in 3.13.2. Compliance will be further confirmed during site plan review. Article 3.22, commercial building and site design. The site appears to meet commercial site design standards in regards to parking layout and pedestrian circulation. This will be fully confirmed during site plan review. Article 3.23.13, this development does trigger the sidewalk requirements and the applicant has shown that there will be a five foot sidewalk along their frontage. Article 4.1, the applicant is proposing a six foot fence surrounding the entirety of the site. Screening requirements outlined in Article 3.13 shall be confirmed at site plan review. Article 5.1, landscaping required. This development does trigger the landscaping requirements per Article 5.3.1 as it is a new commercial development. All relevant landscaping, there's a lot there, I'll kind of just sum it up. All relevant landscaping provisions are demonstrated to be met. There is not sufficient interior parking for there to trigger the landscape island provision. Further, Article 7 regarding signage, any new signs will require a separate sign permit and must be submitted to permitting for review. Article six point one parking there will be no minimum number of spaces required and as previously stated minimal staffing will be on site a statement or parking analysis will be required with the building permit and shall at a minimum provide the following on the number of off street parking spaces proposed on the number of shared parking or on street parking that will be used in the parking calculation. expected number of employees, customers, or guests maximally at any given time, and any other information that may show planning staff that sufficient parking will be proposed. Article 6.1.6 driveways, the applicant is proposing to utilize an existing curb cut for a gated 24 foot wide entry which is permitted by code. The proposal additionally includes gravel behind the fenced in area where a majority of the storage units shall be located. The fence will be screened so that gravel cannot be seen from the right of way and therefore this vehicle storage area will be permissible. It is staff's recommendation that the Planning Commission approve the large-scale development to allow construction of a new self-storage facility with the following condition, that the applicant provide details as noted as being required to confirm compliance at site plan review as a result of the findings that the applicant has expressed their commitment to adhere to zoning regulations and that the applicant has demonstrated compliance with regulations within Section 7 of the Land Subdivision and Development Code. Are there any questions for staff at this time?

37:13Speaker 8

Thank you, Gavin.

37:14Speaker 14

Thank you. Do you have anything to add to that?

37:22 – 38:09Speaker 9

Dave Garza for the applicant. This would be the first mini-stories that I've done that's not on a major street. It's behind it, so I kind of like that. Another good thing about this is it's going to be owned by the owner of the tire store. So Monday through Saturday that the tire store is open, somebody's always watching. that storage unit so it's going to have security by the its own employees so just add those two things i think that's a good feature that's all i have commissioners what is your pleasure

38:10Speaker 3

Motion to approve is recommended. Okay.

38:13 – 38:42Speaker 14

Second. We have a motion and a second to approve this request as presented. All those in favor, acknowledge by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, the motion carried. All right. Let's go to item number two here, and our last item. Special use permit to allow a portable building sales business located at 3616 East Main Street, submitted by Keisha Patton on behalf of Hagen's Family Properties. Gavin, you got a report on that?

38:43 – 43:25Speaker 8

Yes, sir, we do. As stated, this is a special use permit application at 3616 East Main Street. Um this is located in the rural East City character area. Uh this property is the proposed site of a booth based retail operation with a peripheral use as a portable building sales location pending approval of both business licenses and special use permit. I would just like to add as an addendum um the uh the business license for the booth based retail portion um has already been approved. So that part of the facility is already in operation. It is surrounded by C2 highway commercial zoning to the west and north, R4 manufactured home park or subdivision to the east, and R2 medium density residential to the south. Surrounding uses include an Amcor warehouse to the west, a manufactured home park to the east, and a vacant nine acre commercial lot on the opposing north side of East Main Street. The property owner will be utilizing the primary building on the property as a retail facility specializing in outdoor recreation sales. Again, it says pending business license approval, but that portion of the facility has already had business license approval. The applicant will be subletting space from the property owner in order to place 15 to 20 portable buildings on the property for retail purposes. You can see the site plan attached for the staging concept. The intent of Article 3.22 commercial building design seeks to maintain good civic design and arrangement within commercial corridors by assuring a desired aesthetic environment. Special use permits are typically reviewed by answering these five questions. Are the plans designed to be in visual harmony with buildings either in the same vicinity or along the same commercial corridor? Do the plans express individual design and creativity without detracting from the visual environment to the point at which the values of adjoining properties will be negatively recognized? Are the plans appropriate to the context in which they reside? Generally, do the plans not detract from the aesthetics of the location, area, and community as a whole? And finally, does the proposed use meet the spirit and intent of this section of the zoning code? So just jumping into the first set of questions, are the plans designed to be in visual harmony with buildings either in the same vicinity or along the same commercial corridor? Staff found that this portion of the rural East City area that runs along East Main Street is a mix of rural and industrial uses. Portable building sales could be in line with the rural east city character area. Portable buildings are relatively common place on the east side of the city and so these buildings being visible from the right of way would likely minimally impact the overall visual harmony of the rural east city character area. Do the plans express individual design and creativity without detracting from the visual environment to the point at which the values of adjoining properties will be negatively recognized? The site design as presented demonstrates thoughtful and creative distribution of parking, staging, and green areas in a way that is compact and accessible despite the larger size of the parcel. No clearing will occur anywhere on the parcel and the portable building sales will be close to the existing buildings. Are the plans appropriate for the context in which they reside? Again, to reiterate from question one, the rural East City character area along East Main Street is primarily a mix of industrial and miscellaneous rurally oriented uses. This area transitions from the higher intensity East Main commercial and airport industrial districts to the lower intensity near the city limits. Um, four, uh, generally do the plans not detract from the aesthetics of the location area and community as a whole. Again, restating from, uh, the answer to question one, portable buildings are relatively commonplace on the east side of the city, and so these buildings being visible from the right-of-way would likely minimally impact the overall visual harmony of the rural east city character area. Finally, the proposed use meets the spirit and intent of this section of the zoning code. In light of staff's findings so far, staff does find that the proposed use does indeed meet the spirit and intent of the zoning code. In light of this, staff does recommend approval of the special use permit to allow for portable building sales with the following condition that the applicant shall not stage portable buildings in the setback area based on the findings that the proposed development aligns with the intent of Article 3.22. The mixture of uses is appropriate within the commercial corridor. The applicant demonstrates thoughtful design complementing neighboring uses. The applicant demonstrates compliance with the regulations within Article 2.10, Article 5, and Article 6 of the Russellville Zoning Code, and the proposal promotes orderly development and supports the intent of the zoning code. Are there any further questions for staff at this time?

43:25 – 44:06Speaker 14

Thank you Gavin. Thank you. it's a keisha patton are you here did you have anything to add to that at all or you're good okay all right commissioners black motion to approve is presented by staff okay All right, we have a motion and a second to approve the special use permit. All those in favor, acknowledge by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Hearing none, motion carried. All right, and if there's no other business, did you have something you wanted to? Okay, all right.

This transcript was automatically generated from the official public meeting video and is presented unedited. It reflects remarks made on the public record by elected officials, staff, and public commenters. Transcript accuracy may vary; view the original recording for reference.