Developers needed a supermajority vote of six Conway City Council members out of eight Tuesday night to get a second chance at "negotiations" for the proposed Campus Crest Apartments.
They got five.
A rezoning of land at 2730 Dave Ward Drive near the University of Central Arkansas needed for the development was denied by the city council at a previous meeting. At a meeting earlier this month, the developer requested the council allow modified plans to be resubmitted to the Conway Planning Department earlier than the ordinance-enforced one-year waiting period. This decision was tabled due to the absence of three council members.
Alderman Theodore Jones Jr. made it very clear earlier this month that he would not be voting to revisit an issue he felt the council had already decided, alderwoman Shelia Whitmore said she, too, felt the issue had already been decided before voting against the resolution and Alderwoman Mary Smith said she didn't feel the plans had been changed significantly enough for an exception to be made for its reconsideration.
The council also approved changes to the city's Comprehensive Plan reflecting the results of a months-long Lower Ridge Road Corridor study. The future of the area, according to the revised master plan, will include planned unit development zoning in areas where strip mining has eroded hillside land, a "grid" of new roads similar to those currently seen in other areas of northeast Conway and the deletion of the often-problematic Lower Ridge Road and Highway 65 intersection.
In other business, the council voted to approve an ordinance allocating $700,000 for engineering and land appraisal services associated with the planned airport in the Lollie Bottoms area and denied a rezoning that would have allowed a cell phone tower on the grounds of Julia Lee Moore Elementary School.
The council also approved:
A request to allow the cutting of vegetation on the highway right of way for property located at 554 Museum Road;
Approving CDBG contracts for the 2008 fiscal year;
A change order for the contract between Tom Lindsey Contractor and the City of Conway for the Salem Road extension to Highway 64;
Allowing reimbursement for sidewalk in lieu of payment for Cresthaven Subdivision;
A sign variance for property located at 1014 Harkrider St.;
A resolution amending the Conway comprehensive plan in the Lower Ridge Road and Old Morrilton Highway areas;
An ordinance appropriating revenue funds to the Conway Sanitation Department received from Allstate Insurance Company;
Allowing the Conway Fire Pension Board to request an increase in benefits from the Arkansas Pension Review Board;
An an ordinance adopting an employee handbook and personnel policy for the City of Conway.
(Staff writer Joe Lamb can be reached by e-mail at joe.lamb@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1238. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
