Fort Smith board approved UDO changes; tables utility issue

story by Luke Hobbs
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The Fort Smith Board of Directors voted unanimously on Tuesday (Sept. 6) to amend certain sections of the city’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) for clarity and consistency.

The UDO is a comprehensive set of rules and regulations designed to improve the look and function of residential, commercial and other physical infrastructure in the city. The 400-plus page document was passed by the board in May 2009 after a four-year process of public hearings, special interest inputs, city board inputs and state and national changes to urban planning rules.

According to an inter-department memo from City Planning Director Wally Bailey, city staff has been keeping track of parts of the UDO that might need updating ever since it went into effect. He said the newly proposed changes would correct “ambiguity, poor code language, incorrect language and language that made it difficult to interpret the UDO.”

The City Planning Commission reviewed the proposed changes in its Aug. 3 study session and Aug. 9 regular meeting. The commission invited local architects, engineers, developers, and contractors to participate in discussing the changes.

Approximately 30 people attended the two planning meetings and provided feedback on the changes, according to Bailey. The Planning Commission then voted 9-0 to recommend the changes to the board.

A few of the changes to the UDO include:
• Amending the definition of a certified Site Plan to accurately reflect the professional allowed to submit a site plan and when a survey is acceptable;
• Adding a provision for deferring a development plan for conventional rezoning applications;
• Allowing approved landscaping as part of fulfilling a requirement to screen around ground-mounted mechanical equipment; and,
• Adding a definition and criteria for a temporary real estate office typically opened in a residential subdivision.

Directors approved an emergency clause on the changes, meaning they will go into effect immediately.

UTILITY RESOLUTION TABLED
Directors also voted to table a resolution urging franchise utility companies not to install overhead lines along new street corridors in Chaffee Crossing.

According to an inter-department memo from City Engineering Director Stan Snodgrass, franchise utility service is “primarily non-existent” in Chaffee Crossing at this point. But as developers begin to work in the area, new utility lines will have to be laid.

At the board’s request, city staff prepared a resolution asking utility companies to lay new Chaffee Crossing lines underground, instead of overhead.

On Tuesday, the board listened to several utility representatives present a brief case for delaying action. Rob Ratley, communications affairs manager for OG&E, told directors that the utility companies were not “anti-underground,” but said that overhead installations give them more flexibility.

Greg Davis, member service manager for Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative, agreed with Ratley.

“We want to provide input on how [new utility lines] will affect Fort Smith citizens,” he said.

Ratley and Davis asked the board to table the resolution until the issue could be more fully discussed in a study session.

The board voted 7-0 to grant the spokesmen’s request.