Arkansas City planners deny request to vacate 8 feet of downtown Washington Avenue for porch

The Arkansas City Planning Commission on a date not specified denied a request to vacate an 8-foot portion of Washington Avenue adjacent to Lot 14, Block 69, original town plat, that would have allowed a property owner to build a porch over the right-of-way.

Planning staff described the request as an effort by applicant Cody Belts to remedy unsafe exterior steps and provide porch access at 226 South Summit. Staff said the proposed 8-foot vacation would leave roughly six feet of sidewalk and that any final design would require review by the Historic Preservation Board. “This request … was for a vacation of a portion of Washington Avenue along 226 South Summit,” staff said during the hearing.

The matter drew several public comments opposed to the vacation. Derek Koller, who identified himself as the owner of Land Machine Mall, said a letter opposing the project carried signatures from downtown businesses. “I own Land Machine Mall,” Koller told the commission. Business owners and other downtown residents said the existing sidewalk is approximately 14 feet 4 inches and that taking eight feet would reduce clear walking space to about six feet, with further reductions when cars park areas adjacent to the curb. One commenter also said downtown businesses rely on alley and sidewalk access to receive pallet deliveries and that losing the right-of-way would create operational problems.

Belts told commissioners the project started after interior work revealed an old exterior staircase and that workers removed debris from the basement. “We removed about 38 tons of material,” he said, describing efforts to clean and stabilize the building and saying the proposed porch would improve safety compared with current, noncompliant steps.

Commissioners and several members of the public debated historic use and prior city actions. Planning staff said portions of downtown were filled and reconfigured in the mid-1980s and early 2000s and that, in some cases, building owners forfeited those extensions to the city during sidewalk rework. Staff advised that a claim of historic public access would generally be made by members of the public who used the passage historically, not by a private owner seeking to vacate public right-of-way.

Multiple commissioners expressed concern about setting a precedent that could lead to repeated requests to convert public sidewalk and right-of-way to private porches, and about how such a change would align with downtown master-plan goals to promote walking and wider sidewalks.

After public comment, a motion to deny the vacation passed on a roll call vote with six recorded votes in favor of denial and no recorded votes opposed. The commission did not approve the proposed vacation; staff said it would pursue measures to address any safety or liability issues the commission identified while the applicant considers alternate solutions.

The commission noted that any future work on the property that encroaches on public right-of-way would require public review and that final design approval for features affecting historic resources would require Historic Preservation Board review.