Council workshop reviews updates to municipal code Titles 7 and 8, including coach tours, mobile billboards and truck routes

City staff led a workshop presentation on Sept. 2 outlining proposed revisions to Titles 7 and 8 of Conway—s municipal code. The updates are intended to modernize language, reflect recent court decisions and correct confusing routing provisions.

Staff said Title 7 changes are routine and that the business-license ordinance must be updated biennially using categories and guidance provided by the Municipal Association. Title 8 revisions described in detail include changes to coach-tour regulation, removal of the Chamber of Commerce as the designated point of contact for coach tours (staff said the Chamber no longer performs that role), language updates related to a recent Supreme Court decision about mobile billboards and clarifying truck-route rules to list allowable highways directly rather than a confusing sequence of turns.

Specific truck-route clarifications mentioned included restricting truck access where turns create dead ends near City Hall and allowing truck access on defined segments such as Mill Pond Road from Main Street to Wright Boulevard and El Bethel Road from Church Street to Route 378, while keeping Sixteenth Avenue disallowed for truck traffic. Staff said designating certain routes will require coordination with the state Department of Transportation (DOT) for segments that are federal or state highways.

Staff said the proposed changes are largely technical, aimed at correcting outdated contact information (including a listed chamber phone number with area code 803) and harmonizing the city—s ordinance language with court precedent and modern traffic patterns. Staff told the council the full ordinance package would be submitted for formal consideration later this year.