City Council: First meeting in January

One year down, three more to go. I've enjoyed my first year on the Council, and I'm looking forward to being more active this year, now that I've learned the ropes.

Here's what's coming up...

At the meeting

Special election decision

Agenda link

Way back when the HMR tax was approved, the ballot language that was written didn't allow the Parks Department to spend HMR money on park maintenance, only development. Even though state statute has always explicitly allowed maintenance, Fayetteville has never been able to do that because of the poorly formed ballot statement.

The entire City Council wants to change that, and Bobby Ferrell has led the way. We're pondering whether or not to hold a special election (which costs money) to change it. I'm pretty sure it would pass the voters' scrutiny, but my only question is whether or not holding the special election is worth it, instead of doing it in November.

Connie Edmonston, our Parks Director, explained that it wouldn't change her budget, but it would give us (the Council) more freedom if we wanted to change funding priorities for our parks. Parks HMR money amounts to a little more than $1M each year, and right now we can't spend it on things like ongoing programs (changing art installations, for instance), maintaining the landscape, or playgrounds.

That's a good reason to change the law, but without any ideas in mind, I'm not sure we shouldn't wait until November. I'm going to try and think of ideas that would make doing it earlier worth it, and if you have any yourself, you should let me know.

Oakbrooke PZD Evolution

Agenda link 1 and link 2

Oakbrooke is out on Rupple Rd on the west side of town, and the original project was approved a few years back. Now they are asking to improve the zoning by moving the mixed use area closer to the busiest road and clustering some of the houses around common courtyards. It's an improvement over what was originally approved, but for some reason the Bridgeport POA thinks all of the houses should be at least 2000 square feet.

I hope the Ward 4 Alderpersons don't buy into that NIMBYism.

Yardparking ordinance could threaten house shows; but it won't.

Agenda link 1 and link 2

Most people hate party houses. You know the ones, they have a party several times a week. It's loud and it sucks.

The Ward 4 Alderpersons are bringing forward an ordinance that will be a nail in the coffin for most party houses: a yardparking ordinance, but don't fret, it won't be the end of rocking house shows in Fayetteville, because it only applies to constant offenders.

At least that's the hope. There are two possible ways the ordinance could go. The first is that enforcement would be complaint-based. The second is that you'd have to call the City to let them know you were having a party, and you could only do it 10 times a year (1984, anyone?). I'm pretty sure the first option is the one that will be chosen by the Council.

Also, Razorback weekends are exempted, so you can still have your football party and you can still make money by charging fans to park.

On the horizon

2010 Bike Lane Striping Projects

There are eight sections of streets that will be updated with improved bicycle facilities in 2010. There is a map available.

Bikes Babes and Bling event permit

In a turn of events, the City Council will have the final word on the Bikes Babes and Bling event permit. Who knows how the rest of the Council will vote, but a majority of the citizens I hear from don't want it.

I'll be writing more about this soon, but in the meantime, if you have an opinion you should send it to the Council. You can do so by emailing Sondra Smith, our City Clerk, and asking her to distribute your comment to us. Her email is ssmith@ci.fayetteville.ar.us.

Hillside ordinance and engineering foundations

Way back when the Hillside Ordinance was approved, Mayor Coody vetoed two parts of it. One of those parts would have required houses in the Hillside Overlay District to have foundations designed by an engineer.

The intent was pure, but the legislation wasn't very good. There are policy alternatives to what was vetoed that could have been pursued, but everyone was tired of talking about it and so there wasn't any progress for several years. A couple of months ago I asked if we could talk about it again at the Ordinance Review Committee.

This one has been a legislative lesson for me. I wanted to start from the beginning, establish our intent, and figure out what legislation would be the best. I guess I opened old wounds though, because now the Mayor, his staff, and other Council members just want to use the vetoed legislation and be done with it.

That's still not the best solution though. There are many foundations outside of the overlay district that should be engineered, and there are quite a few within the overlay district that don't need engineering (like houses on flat hilltops). Trying to cram this solution into existing legislation just isn't the best option.

I'll have more details on this later, too.

Until next meeting...

If there's anything I should cover that you think I've missed, let me know in the comments or in the suggestion box.