The Fort Smith Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Adjustment met on September 9, 2025, at 5:30 PM in the Blue Lion Downtown, 101 North 2nd Street. The meeting covered multiple items including annexation-related master land use plan amendments and rezonings, variances, a conditional use for a homeless shelter, a planned zoning district, and several development plans. All items were approved except the conditional use for a homeless shelter at 615 North B Street, which was denied.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:06 PM.
Good evening, everyone. I'd like to welcome you to the September twenty twenty-five Fort Smith City Planning Commission meeting. I'd ask everybody to kindly stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Okay, I'd ask the Secretary to call the role, please. Vicky Newton here. Zach Ledford. Kelly Wilson here. Griffin Hannah here. David Tyler. Matt Marshall. Here. We have seven commissioners present and two absent. All right. Thank you very much. I'd uh ask the commissioners that they'd had an opportunity to review the August twelfth, twenty twenty-five meeting minutes. Or if not, I'd ask for a motion to approve. Second. All those in favor? Any opposed? All right. All right. I'll ask the staff to give our comments and procedures for tonight's meeting. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the September 9th, 2025 Planning Commission meeting. This evening, the planning commission will be reviewing the following items conditional use requests, development plans, rezonings, and a map and master land use plan amendments. The planning commission's actions this evening on conditional use requests and development plans will require a majority vote of those members present in voting and will be final unless an interested party appeals the decision of the planning commission to the city board of directors. Appeals will be presented to the City Board of Directors for their review at a future study session here at the Blue Lion. The Master Land Use Plan Amendments and rezonings if receiving approval of the planning commission with a required minimum of five yes votes will be presented to the city board of directors for their review at the October 14th, 2025 meeting at 6 p.m., which is also located in the Blue Lion, which is this building 101 North 2nd Street. The Board of Direct the Board of Zoning Adjustment, which consists of members of the planning commission will be reviewing variance requests this evening. The action of the Board of Zoning Adjustment will be final unless appealed to a court of jurisdiction. All right, Maggie, thank you very much. Our first items are annexation items 1A through 2E. There's a master land use plan amendments and zoning changes associated with I believe seven items, and I would ask uh Tyler to present those, please. Thank you, Chairman. Um I will present the five master land use, and then there will also be five uh zonings. Uh the application numbers are the same for the master land use as uh master land use plan amendment 9925 A, the first one of the five is requested by the City of Fort Smith for a master land use plan amendment from unclassified, which was formerly extraterritorial jurisdiction yet to be determined, and extra territorial jurisdiction, low density residential and extraterritorial jurisdiction industrial uh to a mixed use residential uh at the following locations to accommodate an open one zoning district as shown on exhibit A. Parcel 6001-0000-05 615-00, owned by Brian and Tanya Rank and located on the east side of the State Line Road in South Stanfield Avenue. 8022 Highway 271 South, Parcel 6001-40-05, 613-02, owned by Eliad Properties LLC, Parcel 6301-40-05, 613-01, owned by Bobby V and Sheila Goodwin, and located behind AD 22 Highway 271 South. 8106 Highway 271 South, Parcel 6001-40-05610-00 owned by Robert Allen Sr. 8201 Texas Road, Parcel 6001-40s-05602-01, owned by Superior Rentals Properties LLC. Parcels 60301-40-05-613-00 owned by Briar Pirrison and Linda Porter, and located on the west side of Highway 271 South and West and West Side of Highway 271 South and Mesa Drive intersection. 1002, 910, and 900 Mesa Drive as well. And I'm stating all those to make sure we have it on record. This section of the master land use plan is approximately 15.31 acres. Two neighborhood meetings were held for the master land use and rezoning applications for all of these reports. So I will only read that once. The meetings were held on September 3rd at 5 p.m. and also at September 4th at 4 p.m. at 1025 School Street at Cavanaugh Elementary School Tornado Shelter. Although we did have a couple applicants that were within the uh proposed rezoning and master land use annexation area that we've spoken to a few different times. Five adjacent neighboring property owners attended the meeting with questions regarding how the rezoning process works and express support for the city rezoning these properties.