Director outlines state law changes, planning tasks and budget requests in Hot Springs Planning Commission report

Director Selman delivered the Planning Department report at the Aug. 14 Hot Springs Planning Commission meeting, outlining recent state legislation that alters municipal land-use authority and describing planning projects and budget requests for 2026.

Selman summarized several legislative changes, described planned local work on subdivision standards and a street classification update, and sought the commission's attention to attendance requirements and forthcoming budget items.

Selman told commissioners that state lawmakers made several changes she said would affect local land-use practice. She said the legislature expanded allowances for accessory dwelling units, "enabled municipalities to hire third party inspectors," and passed a measure she referred to as Act 459 that "prohibits local government from enacting, maintaining, or enforcing an ordinance or resolution that would control the amount of rent charged" for private residential or commercial properties. Selman also described Act 595 (as cited in the meeting), which she said "authorizes a municipality to create an administrative procedure for changing the zone or district designation of a property" but emphasized the change applies when a property owner requests rezoning and that any such administrative program would have to be authorized by local ordinance and could be appealed.

On city projects, Selman said the department is seeking funds in the 2026 budget to update subdivision standards and the street classification system, to produce at least one neighborhood plan near downtown, and to hire up to two 10-week interns to assist with capital improvements and neighborhood work. She said a solicitation for qualifications for the subdivision work was posted and that the department anticipated starting the work in late 2025 or early 2026. Selman noted the current street classification appears to date to the 1990s and that the department is negotiating with an engineering firm that has previous Hot Springs experience to coordinate the street classification and subdivision updates.

She also reminded commissioners about attendance rules in bylaws and Hot Springs code and encouraged commissioners to notify staff if they expect to miss meetings.

"This is the best planning commission we have ever had," Selman said to the commissioners during the report. She told the group that the removal of extraterritorial jurisdiction will mean the city "has no control inside the city limit" and that the change could motivate some counties to undertake more planning work. Selman said updating the future land-use plan map will likely require budget resources and substantial public participation.

Selman's report described a sequence of policy and technical tasks that the department expects to pursue in 2026 and flagged funding and timing constraints: the subdivision standards solicitation closes the day after the meeting, and the department does not yet expect to begin the subdivision overhaul before December or January. The director concluded with an overview of expected staff workloads and upcoming coordination with other departments.