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Lonoke council adopts package of zoning and land-use updates and approves trash-rate adjustment
Summary
Council adopted multiple ordinances to align Lonoke's Unified Development Code with recent Arkansas statutes (third-party review, ADUs, childcare rules, new R-1S zoning) and approved an ordinance adjusting the city's solid-waste polycart rate under the franchise with GESAR.
The Lonoke City Council passed a package of ordinances to update local land-use rules and approved a fuel-escalation adjustment to the city's solid-waste franchise agreement.
Staff told the council that the ordinances implement recent state legislative changes and local planning recommendations. Ordinance 834 brings the Unified Development Code (UDC) into compliance with Arkansas Act 591 of 2025 by creating a statutory third-party review track for certain administratively approved permits, allowing applicants to opt into a third-party review process at their expense.
Ordinance 835 revises rules on accessory buildings, accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and home occupations to align Lonoke code with Acts 313 (2025) and 659 (2021). Staff said the ADU rules set size and occupancy limits, require building permits and set a default $250 review fee if a schedule is not adopted.
Ordinance 836 updates rules for daycare family homes and residential home day cares to conform with Arkansas Act 60 of 2023, and Ordinance 837 creates a new R-1S low-density residential district to permit smaller-lot single-family subdivisions (60'foot lot widths). Council read and adopted each ordinance, suspending rules to take second and third readings by title and approving emergency clauses where noted.
Separately, Ordinance 838 amends prior franchise ordinances with Green Environmental Services of Arkansas LLC (GESAR) to adjust city trash-collection rates under the contract's fuel-escalation schedule. Based on a Gulf Coast DOE diesel pricing index point used in the agreement, the parties agreed to an adjusted polycart rate of $14.82 per month; additional carts remain $6 per cart. The ordinance ratified a prior Council vote that had reduced cost to $13.82 per polycart and formalized the adjustment tied to the agreed index.
Votes at a glance: all ordinances (834, 835, 836, 837, 838) were moved onto the floor, read, and adopted with emergency clauses and by voice vote; the transcript records voice votes and each motion as "carried," but does not include roll-call tallies.
What happens next: the ordinances are codified into the Lonoke Unified Development Code and staff will update fee schedules and application forms to reflect the new procedures and definitions.
