FARMINGTON -- Planning Commission chairman Robert Mann broke the tie last week to recommend the city approve its first rezoning request for a zero-lot-line residential development.

The Planning Commission on Nov. 27 voted 4-3 to approve a request to rezone 5.6 acres at 65 N. Double Springs Road from R-1 to R-3, which allows zero-lot-lines for single family residences.

The Commission's recommendation will have to be approved by ordinance by Farmington City Council. The rezoning request will be on the Council's Dec. 11 agenda.

Commissioners Howard Carter, Judy Horne and Bobby Wilson voted to rezone the property. Jay Moore, Matt Hutcherson and Gerry Harris voted against it. Toni Bahn was absent.

In breaking the tie, Mann said he likes the idea of an R-3 zone because Farmington has limited housing options available. Mann said he voted yes to give the City Council "a shot" at considering the request.

Engineer Ferdi Fouri with Civil Design Engineers Inc., in Springdale, presented the rezoning request on behalf of property owner Home Star Rentals LLC. A preliminary drawing of the property shows Home Star Rentals proposes to put in 23 lots that range in size from .22 acre to .14 acre. Most of the lots are .14 acre in size.

Second Time Around

This is the second time this property has come before planners. In April, the owner asked to rezone the property from R-1 to multiple family. Many residents in the area, however, attended the meeting to object to the request and Fouri pulled the item from the commission's agenda.

In August, City Council placed an ordinance on first reading to add an R-3 zone as a new zoning classification for the city. The ordinance was adopted at the Council's October meeting.

Permitted uses in an R-3 zone are single-family residences only. A zero-lot-line is defined as a residential lot in which the structure comes up to or very near to the edge of the property line on one side. Types of homes mentioned as suitable in an R-3 zoning district include rowhouses, garden homes, patio homes and townhomes.

Several property owners adjacent to the land asked the Planning Commission last week to reject the R-3 rezoning request.

Barbara O'Brien, of 336 Ridgeway Drive in Northridge subdivision, spoke on behalf of other property owners, saying she was concerned about the density of an R-3 zone and the transient nature of rental property.

She said an R-3 development would adversely affect property values and increase traffic in the area. Double Springs Road already has a lot of school traffic, O'Brien said.

O'Brien has appeared two other times at meetings to represent her neighborhood. She opposed the request to rezone the property to multi-family and also opposed adding an R-3 zone for the city because of the possibility such a zone would be approved for the land adjacent to Northridge.

Another property owner, Doug Falknor, noted that rezoning the land from R-1 to R-3 is a "drastic change."

He added, "They don't call it multi-family, but that's what it is. In fact, they can put more houses on this, more units on this, than they could through the multi-family that we looked at earlier this year."

Falknor said he thought an R-3 zone was a "bad fit" for the area and asked the Commission to turn down the request

Tom Sims with TradeMark Homes told commissioners the houses in the new subdivision would have 1,400-1,800 square feet and would probably sell for $155,000-$225,000. Sims said his intent was to sell most of the homes, not for them to be rental property.

Sims provided a flyer that showed what some of the houses might look like, saying the houses would be architecturally pleasing.

Fouri noted houses with zero-lot-lines have been "done very nicely" in Fayetteville. He said the houses would not be built on top of each other.

An R-3 zone allows a zero-lot-line on one side and requires a 10-foot setback on the other side of a house. Lots have to be a minimum of 5,400 square feet and the zone allows a maximum of eight units per acre.

Second Rezoning Request Rejected

In other action, the Commission unanimously turned down a rezoning request for Lot 17 on Rainsong Street. Nathan Ogden with Picket-It Construction, the pending owner, asked to rezone two acres from R-2 to MF-2. The land is across the creek from Peachtree Village of Farmington.

Ogden proposed to build two seven-unit multi-family dwellings.

Several people expressed concern about flooding that already occurs in the area and how new buildings would affect drainage.

Janet Nordlie, operating manager with Peachtree Village, pointed out the area already has inadequate drainage and numerous residences have been flooded in recent storms.

"Rezoning the subject parcel puts residents of our neighborhood at risk of safety and decline in general welfare due to the increased risk of flooding," Nordlie said.

Horne asked why so many units and Ogden responded, "With any development we want to maximize what we can get out of the property."

Ogden, who was represented by engineer Jason Young with Bates & Associates, can appeal the Commission's decision to the City Council.

Other Business

In another item on the agenda, the Commission voted to allow Farmington Heights to submit another rezoning request for Phase 2 of that development, 30 acres at South 54th Street and Woosley Farm Road.

The Commission turned down a request to rezone the property to multi-family in August and the city's zoning ordinance states another application to rezone the property cannot be submitted within 12 months.

Fouri, representing the owner Indian Territory LLC, asked to be allowed to submit another request to rezone the property from agricultural to R-2 and R-3.

After some discussion about the rezoning request, Fouri asked to table his request and review it.

A conceptual design showed the 30-acre tract would be divided into nine acres rezoned as R-3 and 21 acres rezoned as R-2. The R-3 area would be located in the center with 54 smaller residential lots. The R-2 zone also would have 54 lots.

"It will be one subdivision but two different types of houses," Fouri said.

Ashley Swaffar, who lives adjacent to Phase 2, said she did not think row houses and smaller houses would be a fit for the area. She said such houses start out looking nice but then quickly turn into rundown properties.

Swaffar, who also opposed the multi-family rezoning request, said she supports an R-1 zone, which is what is being used for Farmington Heights, Phase 1.

Commissioners were concerned with the number of houses in the R-3 zone.

"An R-3 is a lot of density," Harris said.

Moore added that he was looking at the continuity of Phase 1 and Phase 2.

"Do we want to slam that many in that slot?" Moore asked. "I don't want that area to be a hodgepodge."

Phase 1, which is under construction, will have 125 lots for single-family homes on 40 acres on the south side of West Sellers Road. That property is zoned R-1.