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Quorum Court amends zoning draft to remove extraterritorial jurisdiction language, clarifies appeals; sends ordinance to planning for public hearing
Summary
The court considered multiple amendments to the proposed county zoning ordinance: removing references to territorial/extraterritorial jurisdictions following state law changes, clarifying which appeals go to the county judge versus the quorum court, and agreed to send the revised draft to the planning board for public comment.
The Quorum Court extensively discussed and amended a proposed comprehensive zoning ordinance to reflect recent state legislative changes and to clarify appeals procedures. The court approved amendments removing references to territorial/extraterritorial jurisdiction language and adjusted appeal pathways for technical/design standards to route certain appeals to the county judge rather than the quorum court.
Justice Rio Stafford explained the changes respond to Act 3 14 (House Bill 1510) passed by the Arkansas Legislature, which abolishes territorial jurisdictions for municipalities; she moved to remove all references to territorial jurisdictions from the county ordinance. The motion carried after debate. County Attorney Lester and Director Sam Atta described the edits as primarily cleanup to align the county ordinance with state law; Lester said the change was necessary so the county planning rules would not rely on authorities the legislature had abolished.
Another amendment clarified that appeals related to the design standards in Section 4 (storm drainage, culverts, sanitary sewer systems, traffic and road improvements, dedication of parkland and similar technical items) should be appealed to the county judge rather than to the quorum court, while conditional-use permit decisions and rezoning recommendations continue to come to the legislative body as required by state constitutional limits on legislative functions. County Attorney Lester emphasized that decisions to grant or deny conditional-use permits must come to the quorum court; smaller, technical design adjustments would be handled administratively by the county judge and staff.
After debate about process and timing the court voted to send the amended ordinance to the planning board for a special public hearing on May 1 and then return it to the quorum court for further consideration; an earlier plan to send it also to county services was withdrawn and the final motion sent the ordinance to planning and then back to the quorum court.
Why it matters: The changes update county land-use rules to reflect recent state law and define where land-development appeals should be heard, affecting developers, property owners and municipalities’ growth-area relationships.
Ending: The planning board public hearing is scheduled for May 1; any additional amendments made after that hearing will be required to return to the planning board before final adoption by the quorum court.
