Planning Commission Minutes 

Tuesday, July 6, 2021, 6:00 P.M. 

Greenland Community Center 

170 North Letitia

Members present: Brenda Reynolds, Bill Yoes, Charlotte Carnes, Hunter Collins, Paula Schoonover Called to order at 6:03 PM 

Motion to move public comment to start in order to allow King family to present proposed business. Yoes motioned; Carnes second. Passed 4-0. 

1. Public Comment: King Electric: Property on East side of South Lily Lane. Proposal to build a shop for an electrical business. Not a large-scale development. May need a variance for the number of parking spaces. This is an electrical contracting business. They want to move their business from Fayetteville to Greenland. They have been in business since the 80’s but Lewis Ford is buying their current building and this has posed them the opportunity to move to Greenland near Pick-it construction. 5,000 square foot building. 7 office workers and two project managers. Most of their work is off site work, commercial and industrial work. There will be a principle structure and an accessory building that will be seen from the road. There has been architectural renderings and preliminary design. They will provide siding with some brick and an awning on the principle structure. There will be 5 garage doors. The accessory building will act as storage for their equipment (roughly 40’x60′). There will be trucks and trailers that are used to haul equipment on the site. The zoning for the site is currently C-3 so the landscaping will not need screening. This project will require a few street trees and small landscaping. They will present landscape plan to City Engineer and Planning Chair, who will then advise as the project progresses. A 6′ chain link security fence will be provided for the site. There may be a wooden fence on the South side of the property in order to shield the view of equipment in the storage area. The main traffic for this business is for deliveries from suppliers. Discussion on the number of parking spaces commenced and ended with an agreement of the proposed 12 parking spaces rather than the proposed 3.5 spaces per 1,000 square feet because it is not a high-traffic facility and the employees will be parking inside the gated area. Proposed parking spaces will be for customers. Sign code will be sent to them via email. 
2. Natural State BBQ Sign Permit – Follow up: 

In April, the Planning Commission advised owner of sign permit requirements. This followed email notifications by the Chair in March and April regarding signs and landscaping. Original application (approved November 2020) gave 90 days to comply with Sign Code and end of April to comply with Landscape Code. At the April meeting, the PC gave owner instructions on the cut-off date for the application for the sign permit. He did not do that. He is still out of compliance on the sign code. He has been out of compliance since last year when he opened for business. He has had 3 different chances to comply with the code. PC’s recommendation was to impute the fine for non-compliance. Mayor Groom said he will go talk to the owner about getting into compliance to try forego the standard fine. 

Natural State BBQ is installing a new building, however there has not been a permit pulled for this building, electrical, or anything. This building has been proposed to have indoor seating. Owner is going to need to meet the compliance for Arkansas Department of Health. The new building will require a building inspection, wiring, plumbing, etc. The building will be required to be on a permanent foundation as a permanent structure.

Additionally, the building is also “all metal” which does not meet the BDSPB. The owner has not inquired or ensured that the building or his activities are in compliance. The building, at a minimum, will require landscaping around the building on all road-visible sides in order to comply with the BDSPB. 

In addition to the necessary permits, Engineering and Planning are requiring the business to submit a site plan showing the building location, parking, landscaping, and signs. Owner needs to currently get into compliance with current sign and will need to submit a sign permit application(s). 

3. Future Land Use Map and Master Street Plan Update – continued Discussion: August 2ndthere will be an open meeting for the Future Land Use Map. The first 30 minutes of the Planning Commission meeting will be dedicated to listening to the public comments on the FLUM. 
4. Streamlining Planning Procedures: 

City Engineer spoke with City attorney about revising Titles 14 and 15 with respect to the submittal dates. These need to be done at the same time so that the language flows. Is there an emergency clause that could be implemented to “temporarily supersede the Code with respect to submission dates” until the Code can be revised? This way, the PC’s procedures will be still be in compliance. The Municipal League may have directives for this very situation. 

5. Building Fees – Follow up Discussion: 

Cave Springs Building fees were inadvertently thrust into the City of Greenland’s fee structure, which probably happened when we had the same building inspector as Cave Springs. PC proposes that we change back to our original Code which is the fee being based on the value of the building being constructed, and not by square footage. 

6. Tandem Lot Access Code Revisions – Follow up: 

This will be revised with the revisions for Titles 14 and 15. No further discussion. 

7. Outdoor Vendor Code Work – Follow up discussion: 

Inquiry as to adding a clause stating permitted use for moving/changing locations. Does the permit allow the business to operate at multiple locations in Greenland, does it blanket Greenland, or does each location need to be verified and voted upon in order for the business to move locations? Applicant would be required to obtain City permission to move locations for any “special event.” That permission/permit would be required to be displayed.. This would be signed by the City of Greenland (written permission) to move their business from one location to another and then return to the original location. PC recommends passing current draft to Council for their review, recommended revisions, or adoption “as is”. 

Motion to adjourn: 

Schoonover motioned to adjourn; Carnes second. Motion passed 4-0.