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Board adopts updated landscape regulations to focus on frontage, buffering and stormwater
Summary
Hot Springs approved a new landscape ordinance that shifts regulation emphasis from parking counts to street frontage, buffering adjacent uses, and stormwater coordination; staff said the change produces similar planting outcomes for typical developments.
The Board of Directors adopted a new landscape ordinance that overhauls how landscaping requirements are applied to new multi-family, mixed-use and nonresidential projects. The revised code focuses on street frontage, minimizing impacts to adjacent uses and coordinating landscaping with city stormwater goals rather than basing requirements solely on parking counts.
Planning Director Kathy Selman said the Urban Forestry Advisory Committee and city forester helped draft the ordinance, and both the advisory committee (7-0) and the Planning Commission (7-0) recommended approval. Selman presented side-by-side comparisons of two recent projects — 7 Brew on Albert Pike and Arkansas Dermatology on Twin Points Road — and said calculated differences under the new code would result in comparable planting and hardscape outcomes.
Director Karen Garcia said resident concern over tree removal and stormwater runoff motivated scrutiny of the ordinance. Selman said the revised rules were designed to preserve trees and address stormwater through planting placement and parking-island requirements. The new regulation will apply to future eligible developments; projects already permitted will follow the rules in place at permit issuance.
Discussion vs. decision: The board formally adopted the ordinance; no retroactive changes will be required for projects already permitted.
