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Record of Proceedings

City Council Meeting Summary - 2026-04-21

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, April 21, 2026
BodyJonesboro, Arkansas
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, April 21, 2026
StatusFILED
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0:00

Ready?

0:01

Okay.

0:02

Thank you for your patience for two minutes.

0:05

Um we are ready to get started.

0:06

Can we have a roll call?

0:11

Good morning.

0:12

Here's Millard.

0:15

Here.

0:15

Billy.

0:16

Here.

0:17

Campos.

0:18

Here.

0:20

We um have a motion to approve the previous minutes from 317.

0:24

So thank you very much.

0:28

All right.

0:30

Um the first one is the city of Jonesboro.

0:33

Why don't y'all get first on the list?

0:36

What's that about?

0:37

Kind of.

0:39

Do you not know we're serving the taxpaying people of Jonesboro, not the city itself?

0:46

So I'm gonna skip that and go on to the second one.

0:49

All right.

0:50

Oh that's o that.

0:53

Mr.

0:53

Bailey is gonna recuse himself.

0:55

He can step down in a minute.

0:56

So John, come on up.

1:00

And we'll put the city second.

1:06

John Ely with Associated Engineering on behalf of Black Equipment.

1:12

We are asking for a variance on the parking requirements of asphalt and curb and gutter for storage area.

1:19

Black is looking to construct a storage area for some heavy equipment where they're stored on Kruger Drive, much like Burke Reynolds did and other people like that.

1:30

And we're asking for a variance.

1:32

That'll be a fence that you can't see through.

1:34

Fence chainly glass seven.

1:37

Yeah.

1:38

Yeah.

1:38

Okay.

1:41

Gotcha.

1:42

Well, board members, y'all know we've approved these before, especially in the industrial park.

1:48

And uh do you have any questions for John?

1:53

John, you're not asking for any kind of variance on the landscaping plan to do landscaping outside of it.

1:58

So by now.

1:59

You're not asking for any variances on the landscaping.

2:02

You're gonna put the landscaping in.

2:03

That's no, it's just a storage area.

2:07

Didn't he also ask about screening?

2:11

So are you screaming on screening the fence with the being all industrial?

2:16

I'm not sure if it's required.

2:18

Commercial to residential, you would.

2:21

Yeah, with come with industrial all around it, uh, the screen's not required.

2:27

Other questions I have.

2:31

Isn't that something we've done though?

2:32

When they asked for a variance not to do aspects.

2:39

Yeah, we did that and on that building supply place.

2:44

I thought we had asked them to do a screen on the fence.

2:48

Maybe we didn't.

2:49

We asked some uh we did one on um next to the social security office behind the credit union.

2:55

We asked them to screen that one.

2:58

That's commercial, okay.

2:59

So non-industrial.

3:00

That's correct.

3:05

Now, Casey if you want to put that implication in there, that's yeah.

3:09

No, I just want to stay kind of you know what we've been doing in the past.

3:12

That's that's it.

3:13

I just told one person I just can't remember them all.

3:19

But is Darrell, it's not required in commercial in industrial industrial that's surrounded by industrial, the screening's not required.

3:28

Okay, Mr.

3:53

Chair, I'll move that we grant the variance as uh requested second there and there is a second, all right.

3:59

Can we have a roll call vote, please?

4:02

Millard, yes, Billy, yes, yes, John.

4:08

Thank you.

4:09

Okay.

4:13

On up, City of Jonesboro.

4:19

Bailey had to recuse himself because I think he has something to do with this.

4:24

I understand.

4:25

Yeah, so tell us what you want to do.

4:27

I'm Kyle Cook, I'm with Brackett Crunch here representing the city of Jonesboro.

4:31

We're seeking a variance.

4:32

We are in the industrial arts district on the corner of Monroe and Madison.

4:37

We're seeking a variance for the requirement of 24 foot deep depth at that front facade of the building that's required there uh in that district.

4:47

We have if you look at the images, so well you can see the two areas that face Monroe Madison, the two elevations there.

4:56

Uh you can kind of see these skinny kind of galleries.

5:00

When you look at the perspectives you'll kind of see what we're trying to do.

5:02

We feel like we're meeting the intent from which the downtown development code was written but because of the use of the building it's a hardened shell it's a 911 center.

5:13

So it's really you know it's not meant to have a lot of depth to it and so we've created sort of a gallery space there out front which which meets all other requirements of the development code except for that depth.

5:25

So we've got about five feet of depth there behind that frame and the wall and we anticipate using it for things like art exhibits murals things that would serve downtown so you say hardened you it's built to be protected from it's not quite a FEMA shelter but it's built to those standards.

5:47

So it's it doesn't have that designation but it's built as a FEMA storm shelter.

5:51

911 in real-time crime centers what's housed in there and so it needs to be a hardened shell with no windows and so therefore it's hard to get depth out of that facade.

6:00

So we've kind of created a a sort of faux facade at the face of it to create that that character which I which I think would serve the neighborhood very well and meets the intent of that code this is we actually came up with it when we set it down with record the the top of those glass frames the the top lid there's 12 feet which is part of the code so it kind of sets that datum line that you guys are looking for for downtown area we meet the 70% glass requirement for the facade glazing requirements like to make a motion we approve the variance.

7:03

Okay is there a second second okay roll callard yes yes yes I have to vote okay yes okay okay all right thank you proceed y'all go home go home say adjourn can we have a motion to adjourn thank you

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████████████████████████70%
Procedural███████████████████30%
Summary of Proceedings

City Council Meeting Summary - 2026-04-21

A regular meeting of the City Council was held on April 21, 2026, beginning with a roll call and the approval of previous minutes. The agenda focused on two primary variance requests: one from Black Equipment regarding industrial storage area infrastructure and another from the City of Jonesboro concerning the facade depth of a new 911 center. Council member Bailey recused himself from the discussion regarding the City of Jonesboro. Both proposals were approved unanimously following brief deliberations on design intent and code compliance.

Consent Calendar

  • Motion approved to approve the previous minutes from March 3rd meeting.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments or testimony were recorded in this transcript segment.

Discussion Items

  • Black Equipment Variance (John Ely, Associated Engineering):

    • Project Description: The applicant seeks a variance for parking area requirements, specifically regarding asphalt, curb, and gutter for a heavy equipment storage area on Kruger Drive. The proposal includes a non-transparent chainlink glass fence.
    • Discussion: Council members inquired about landscaping and screening requirements. It was clarified that while screening is required for commercial-to-residential interfaces, it is not required for facilities surrounded entirely by industrial zones. The applicant confirmed no variance is sought for landscaping, as the area is a storage facility.
    • Speaker Positions: Councilor Casey noted a preference to maintain consistency with past precedents regarding screening but acknowledged the industrial context does not currently mandate it. Councilor Millard expressed support for granting the variance as requested.

  • City of Jonesboro Variance (Kyle Cook, Brackett & Crunch):

    • Project Description: The City of Jonesboro seeks a variance from the 24-foot front facade depth requirement in the Industrial Arts District at the corner of Monroe and Madison for a new 911 and real-time crime center. Due to FEMA storm shelter standards requiring a hardened shell with no windows, the City created a five-foot gallery space behind a faux facade to meet aesthetic codes while maintaining security.
    • Discussion: The sponsor explained the building is a hardened shell meeting safety standards, not a typical commercial storefront, limiting the ability to achieve standard facade depth. The gallery space includes murals or art exhibits to serve the downtown community.
    • Speaker Positions: Council member Bailey recused himself due to a conflict of interest. The remaining council members supported the motion to approve the variance based on the meeting of the code's intent despite the deviation in depth.

Key Outcomes

  • Black Equipment Variance: Granted unanimously (Vote: Yes: 4, No: 0, Recused: 1 - Bailey).
  • City of Jonesboro Variance: Granted unanimously (Vote: Yes: 4, No: 0, Recused: 1 - Bailey).
  • Adjournment: Meeting adjourned shortly after the final vote.

Meeting Transcript

Ready? Okay. Thank you for your patience for two minutes. Um we are ready to get started. Can we have a roll call? Good morning. Here's Millard. Here. Billy. Here. Campos. Here. We um have a motion to approve the previous minutes from 317. So thank you very much. All right. Um the first one is the city of Jonesboro. Why don't y'all get first on the list? What's that about? Kind of. Do you not know we're serving the taxpaying people of Jonesboro, not the city itself? So I'm gonna skip that and go on to the second one. All right. Oh that's o that. Mr. Bailey is gonna recuse himself. He can step down in a minute. So John, come on up. And we'll put the city second. John Ely with Associated Engineering on behalf of Black Equipment. We are asking for a variance on the parking requirements of asphalt and curb and gutter for storage area. Black is looking to construct a storage area for some heavy equipment where they're stored on Kruger Drive, much like Burke Reynolds did and other people like that. And we're asking for a variance. That'll be a fence that you can't see through. Fence chainly glass seven. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Gotcha. Well, board members, y'all know we've approved these before, especially in the industrial park. And uh do you have any questions for John? John, you're not asking for any kind of variance on the landscaping plan to do landscaping outside of it. So by now. You're not asking for any variances on the landscaping. You're gonna put the landscaping in. That's no, it's just a storage area. Didn't he also ask about screening? So are you screaming on screening the fence with the being all industrial? I'm not sure if it's required. Commercial to residential, you would. Yeah, with come with industrial all around it, uh, the screen's not required.

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