Questions raised about portable school buildings

Do portable buildings at Fort Smith schools need to fall under the jurisdiction of the city of Fort Smith? That was the question before the city's Board of Directors today at their noon study session.

According to Fort Smith Director of Development Services Wally Bailey, the city has not enforced rules on the school system, which has had as many as 30 portable buildings in use on various campuses over the years.

"Historically, the City of Fort Smith has for many decades recognized the need for the Fort Smith public Schools to utilize temporary classroom facilities and by virtue of a long standing administrative policy has not required the FSPS to obtain approvals from the Planning Commission for its temporary buildings," Bailey wrote in a memo.

If the city were to enforce zoning laws on the district, it would require the school to obtain permits for the buildings, Bailey said.

"The City of Fort Smith ordinances (specifically section 27-327-1 of the Unified Development Ordinance) allows the planning department to issue temporary use permits for certain temporary uses for non-retail uses, such as temporary classrooms (public and private), temporary medical offices, temporary recreational facilities, and similar uses that do not involve retail or food or beverage sales activities. A temporary use permit can be administratively issued for up to a 120 day period. Any period exceeding 120 days must be approved by the planning commission."

At issue for the city is the Parker Center, located at 811 N. T St. A resident has voiced a complaint, Bailey said, about a portable building placed on property adjacent to the center. The building has been in place since June 26, 2012 and is used as a temporary office.

"The citizen's property is adjacent to the Parker Center and the citizen objected to the temporary structure, stating that the building had a significant negative impact on the value of his property."

Fort Smith Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Benny Gooden said the buildings are temporary and are used as a temporary solution should there be unexpected situations on staffing or student populations.

"(The city's flexible) policy has been very user-friendly as far as we're concerned because sometimes we don't know our needs," Gooden said. "Sometimes they extend beyond what we hoped they would. As you know, we've made additions all over town."

Even though Gooden said at the study session that the city's policy has been user-friendly, the Parker Center has been brought to the city's attention previously.

Gooden detailed the issue at the Parker Center in a letter to the city.

"In June of 2012, when Bruce Grindstaff of our Building and Grounds staff contacted City staff to secure a moving permit to locate an additional portable building on the Parker Center campus, he was provided a "Temporary Use Permit" with a 120 day term and was advised to present information to the Fort Smith Planning Commission to request an extension. Since this was inconsistent with procedures for the past four decades, we continued with the installation and were subsequently advised verbally that the procedure did not apply."

Gooden wrote that the district also incurred "considerable expense" to renovate the Parker Center's portable buildings, though the issue still came before the board today following the complaint.

Following the presentations from Bailey and Gooden, the Board decided to refer the issue back to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission will take up the issue and likely refer an ordinance to the Board for consideration at a later date, Bailey said.

City Administrator Ray Gosack said the city will not enforce regulations on the school district while the matter is under consideration.