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Conway board approves brick-enclosed refuse compactor at Fourth Avenue and Laurel Street
Summary
The Community Appearance Board approved a screened, brick refuse compactor and associated parking redesign at Fourth Avenue and Laurel Street, with the city planning to relocate EV chargers and remove a troublesome palm tree; the project will remove about 10 parking spaces.
The Community Appearance Board approved a screened, brick refuse compactor and redesign of a nearby parking area at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Laurel Street during its Dec. 11 meeting.
City staff told the board the project is part of an ongoing effort to install refuse enclosures downtown to replace open trash cans and dumpsters. "This not only helps clean it up visually, but it gets rid of rodents and smells," Mary Catherine Hyman with the City of Conway said as she described the city's plan to build about one enclosure a year.
The board heard that the new enclosure behind an existing building requires the garbage truck to back into the area early in the morning and that parking will be reconfigured. "It's gonna be 6 angled parking spaces that are gonna be lost from the parking lot. There's 3 kind of makeshift parking spaces behind the building that also won't be accessible and 1 parallel spot. So a total of 10 parking spaces," a city staff member said when answering a board question about parking counts. Staff will move the electric-vehicle charging stations rather than remove them, and a palm tree that has been causing root problems for the adjacent building owner will be removed.
Ryan Hayes, the consulting engineer, showed a plan with heavy landscaping and a decorative iron gate and said the enclosure exterior will be brick to match prior downtown projects. Board members asked whether surrounding landowners had been contacted; Hyman said she had spoken with the building owner, who initially opposed a dumpster but accepted a screened compactor once staff explained the design and access for maintenance.
A motion to approve the project carried without recorded opposition. The board did not specify a construction start date in its discussion.
The city said the long-term downtown strategy includes a potential parking garage to offset losses as more enclosures are installed; funding is still being pursued. Staff also noted the project had to be sized to avoid underground utilities and that the existing small brick knee wall along the adjacent building is private property and will remain in place. The enclosure will be bricked, landscaped and fitted with a decorative iron gate comparable to recent downtown enclosures.
The board opened the meeting for public input and received none before adjourning the Community Appearance Board portion.
