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Resident privacy concerns raised as commission forwards Highway 16 townhome rezoning
Summary
The commission forwarded a rezoning for about 24.57 acres on S. Highway 16 from R2 to the new R5 townhome zone, while residents raised privacy and height concerns; staff outlined R5 standards including a 10‑ft landscape buffer, six‑foot opaque screen and a 30‑ft height limit.
The Siloam Springs Planning Commission on March 10 voted to forward a rezoning request for property along South Highway 16 to the board with a recommendation of approval, despite objections from nearby residents concerned about privacy and building scale.
Planner Kyle Belt told the commission the parcel’s correct legal acreage is 24.57 acres, which alters the theoretical base density calculations. He said that while the corrected acreage increases the allowable base density on paper, realistic buildout must account for required open space (20%), landscape buffers, drainage and other infrastructure, making the final achievable unit count lower. "It's very tough to come up with an exact number based on a rezoning request like this and we can't be speculative," Kyle said.
Resident Cody Culver, who said he lives at 804 South Excelsior Drive immediately east of the site, told commissioners he and about a dozen neighbors worry two‑story townhomes placed directly behind their properties would overlook backyards and bedroom windows. "When we bought this home, this was going to be our forever home. I didn't envision two‑story town homes going in directly behind us," Culver said, asking whether buffers, layout changes or detention pond placement could reduce impacts.
Senior planner Ben Rhodess described the new R5 townhome district adopted with the unified development code: a minimum lot size of about 2,500 sq ft for attached townhome footprints, a height limit of 30 feet, a base density figure that staff calculates per acre (the code triggers a 10‑ft landscape buffer and a six‑foot opaque screen along lower‑density residential abutting properties where density exceeds four units per acre). "We probably look at something similar" to prior projects that used taller screening such as Leyland cypress, Rhodess said.
Jeff Bates of the engineering team working with the applicant addressed neighborhood concerns, saying interior street dedication and a central two‑ to three‑acre detention pond are part of preliminary plans and that the developer intends to avoid overbuilding: "We're not trying to cram in as many as we can get." Bates also said the project plans include two‑car garages for most units and that the site will be engineered to detain runoff.
Commissioners and staff reiterated that the rezoning decision is a map change only; specific unit layouts, window placements and final buffer planting are reviewed later with significant development or site plan applications. After discussion the commission moved and seconded a motion to forward RZ26‑02 with a recommendation of approval; roll call votes were recorded: Olsson — yes; K. Williams — yes; Renard — yes; Sally — yes; T. Williams — yes; McKini — yes; Sutton — yes.
The commission emphasized that landscape buffers, opaque screening and a future significant development review will be the venues for residents to seek mitigation measures such as taller plantings or orientation changes.
