GENTRY — By unanimous vote, the Gentry City Council passed a resolution to take legal action to block a subdivision of property within Gentry’s planning jurisdiction in which a plat was not submitted and approved by the city’s planning and zoning commission.

Following the recommendation of the planning and zoning commission,the council on Sept. 7 voted to take enforce ment action against Mike McCratic to prevent him from subdividing property into eight lots of 5 acres or more because of access issues.

The property in question is located near Arkansas Highway 12, west of Gentry (part of the northwest corner of Section 5, Township 18 North, Range 33 West) and just outside the city's corporate limits but within the city's planning jurisdiction.

The issue with the proposed subdivision is that the properties would not have the street access required by the city but would all be accessed, according to a survey map provided by McCratic, by one 40-foot access and utility easement with a small driveway. The city requires wider paved and guttered streets for subdivision access.

“I didn't know of the requirements,” McCratic told the commission, saying that county had approved his plan. He also said the lots had been listed for sale but now would not be sold while the access issue is unresolved. He said he did not plan to remove them from the listing.

The commission, with members Danny Feemster and Wanda Meyer absent, voted at its August meeting to recommend enforcement action by the council.

According to city attorney Jay Williams - not representing the city in this matter because of a conflict of interest because his property adjoins the McCratic property - the lots were still listed for sale.

“The hazard will exist forever unless the council takes action,” Gentry Mayor Wes Hogue said at the council meeting, indicating that the access issue would be an ongoing problem for the city and for property owners in the planned subdivision if it were allowed to be divided as currently planned.

Williams explained to the council that the city would have to bring suit for not obtaining plat approval from the city in order to stop the action. The pending action would be made known to potential buyers before closing.

The council also approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to seek legal counsel to represent the city in the case. Four law firms were on the list of candidates for selection by the council. The council chose three candidates and prioritized them for Hogue, authorizing him to negotiate a contract for legal services in the matter. Chosen were the firms of Tom Kieklak, Howard Slinkard and Clark and Spence. The firm of Tom Smith was on the list but not chosen by the council.

In other action, the commission approved a final draft of a new sign ordinance for recommendation to the city council.

Commission members recommended increasing the number of days for the removal of campaign signs and banners to 15 days following an election. The recommended ordinance is expected to be taken up at the September council meeting.

The commission tabled the review of a landscaping ordinance until its next meeting to allow commission members more time to review the draft ordinance.

News, Pages 2 on 09/15/2010