Prairie Grove approves Hudson Heights preliminary plat amid parking and drainage debate

The Prairie Grove City Council on July 15 approved the preliminary plat for Hudson Heights phases 2 and 3 and voted to correct a formatting error in the development-code setback and use table.

Planner staff described the proposed R1 development as ‘‘no more than four per acre’’ and said the plat generally matches earlier concept drawings: roughly 123 lots on about 37 acres with a new street alignment that will connect north of the existing phase one street. The council moved, seconded and approved the preliminary plat.

Discussion during the review focused heavily on parking and the way the city’s code counts required off-street spaces. One council member urged revisiting the code provision that allows a garage to count as one required parking space, saying garages often become storage and do not reduce on-street demand. The planner confirmed the code currently allows one required off-street spot to be satisfied by a garage but acknowledged the council can reconsider that standard for new development.

Council and staff also discussed drainage: the planner said multiple drainage systems would be installed and would convey stormwater to the river via tile systems rather than into neighborhood streets. A citizen who lives at the end of Emerald Drive raised concerns about increased traffic; staff said they had met onsite with the resident to discuss impacts.

Separately, staff noted a large table in the development code had been split while formatting; the council approved a correction to that table after staff explanation.

The council recorded the votes by roll call for the preliminary plat and the table correction; both measures passed during the meeting.