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Conway planning commission approves University Suites preliminary plan, recommends reduced open-space fee to council with conditions
Summary
The commission approved the University Suites preliminary plan and a design modification to accept a contracted post-development value of $569,000 instead of a written appraisal. It recommended a reduced fee-in-lieu (applicant's requested $52,152.86) to City Council contingent on staff verification of contract documentation and covenants ensuring access to amenities across the street.
The City of Conway Planning Commission on Jan. 8 approved the preliminary plan and a design modification for the proposed University Suites student-housing expansion and recommended a reduced open-space fee to City Council with conditions.
City planning staff told commissioners the Unified Development Ordinance requires 1,000 square feet of open space per unit, which for the applicant's 24-unit expansion equals 24,000 square feet. Using the applicant's contracted post-development value of $569,000, staff calculated a base fee-in-lieu of $179,142 that, after the ordinance's 125% multiplier, would require $224,000 under current rules. The applicant proposed instead to use the contracted amount as the valuation and, accounting for 17,009 square feet of on-site amenities, presented a reduced fee request of $52,152.86 (the applicant's figure does not incorporate the ordinance's additional 25% multiplier). Staff emphasized that final fee approval rests with City Council and that Planning Commission provides a recommendation.
Applicant representative Mr. Short said a formal post-development appraisal is impractical for this infill project and described the $569,000 figure as the contracted value "as if it were permitted." He told the commission that the project would share amenities with the parcel across the street under the same ownership and offered to provide the contract for staff review. "Fee in lieu is really the only option" for this constrained infill site, Short said, arguing that a flat fee or use of the contracted value avoids repeated appraisal costs.
Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant on the math, precedent, and fairness. One commissioner noted that basing the fee on post-development value could make infill projects unviable; staff agreed and said the issue has come up in prior cases and may be appropriate for council consideration as a budget-retreat topic. Members also raised pedestrian-safety and sidewalk-connection concerns for students walking to nearby campus and discussed placement of a sidewalk connection to the street.
On the fee recommendation, an initial motion to deny the applicant's requested reduction resulted in a tie and failed. A subsequent motion to recommend approval of the reduced fee passed with the condition that city staff verify the contract documentation for the $569,000 value and that covenants or restrictions be recorded to guarantee permanent access to the amenities across the street. That conditional recommendation will be forwarded to City Council for final action.
The commission approved the preliminary plan and the design modification (waiving the post-development appraisal requirement) during the same meeting. City staff reiterated that Council retains final authority over the fee-in-lieu amount and any changes to the ordinance.
Next steps: Planning Commission's recommendation (including the discussion summary and the condition requiring staff verification and covenants) will be included in the packet sent to City Council for its Jan. 20 meeting.
