Alexander council rezones East Azalea property to Neighborhood Commercial

The property at 15004 E. Azalea Dr. has been rezoned from R.2-MU (Mixed Use Residential) to Neighborhood Commercial. The rezoning will allow the construction of a building, which will be used to operate a “Lash/Salon” business. The rezoning ordinance was adopted at the April council meeting.

Prior to the council meeting a public hearing was held where property owner Hannah Clinton provided some personal and business background information.

About the business she said, “It's appointments only. There's a lot of community walk-ins. I do facial, lashes, relaxing, stuff like that.”

About the property Clinton said, “We have ample parking there. And that road (E. Azalea Dr.) gives a huge amount of traffic.”

“I'm very excited and I really hope it all works out there,” Clinton said. “I do have about 20 clients right now.”

Clinton moved to Alexander in January. “Well, first, we lived in Bryant, and then we moved to Maumelle. And I was living on family land, but that house just didn't work out very well.”

“And to be honest, to have an additional small business in our city, I think would be a wonderful thing,” Mayor Crystal Herrmann said. “And I appreciate you actually coming to the city and doing it the right way.”

Explaining the process Office Manager Jennifer Hill said, “We've done everything. We did a certified letters, we did the sign, we did the postings and all of that.”

None of the neighbors attended the public hearing opposing the rezoning. Hill said no one responded to the notification letters. She also said placement of the building will meet the setback requirements.

One question from Council Member Juanita Wilson concerned the speed of traffic on East Azalea Dr. and the danger it will cause to vehicles backing out of the parking area. East Azalea Dr. connects South Alexander Road to Shannon Hills.

“You're, you're sitting really close to the road,” Wilson said. “And down that hill, people drive like crazy.”

Wilson suggested placing a “Slow” sign along E. Azalea.

“We're talking about doing a circle drive. So then they're not having to back up or do anything like that,” Clinton replied.

In other business at the April 20 council meeting:

Change in cottage rent adopted

The Alexander Council adopted a two-option rental rate plan for the cottages in the Southeast corner of the former Alexander Human Development Center along Hwy. 111. One establishes a monthly rate. The other allows renters to take living in the city-owned cottages as a fringe benefit applied to their W-2 form and pay the taxes. The cottages are being rented to city employees only.

The rental rates will be $450 per month for cottages B, C, D, and E and $500 a month for cottage A. Renters are currently paying $100 per month.

Auditors with the Department of Legislative Audit and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have expressed concerns that a low $100 per month will require the city to account for the remaining value of the rent as a fringe benefit on W2 forms. It would then be taxed by the IRS.

Employees will now have two options.

1-They can pay the new higher monthly rate, or

2-They can opt out of the monthly rate and claim it as a fringe benefit at the end of the year on their W2, paying any taxes due.

In 2022 the former HDC property was being vandalized after Pathfinders, Inc. moved to a new location outside Alexander. Pathfinders provided specialized services to those with physical and mental needs. The cottages were used to house the patients.

With no one on the property at night, vandalism began to become an expensive problem. Former Mayor Paul Mitchell decided it would be beneficial to allow city employees, who live outside Alexander, to live in the cottages in exchange for providing both security and keeping the grass mowed in the cottage area. At the time, no city employees lived in Alexander.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is Monday, May 18, at 6:00 PM in the courtroom of the Alexander Municipal Complex (City Hall). Meetings are open to the public.

Rezoning hearing before Alexander April council meeting

The Alexander City Council will hold a public hearing in its role as planning commission. The hearing will allow the public to comment on a request to rezone 15004 E. Azalea from Residential-1 to Neighborhood Commercial.

UPDATE: (4/16/26 @ 2:20PM.)

According to documents provided to council members, “The owner would like to put a Lash/Spa shop next to her house. She has ample parking for her client list.”

The public hearing is scheduled for 5:30 PM on Monday, April 20 in the courtroom at the Alexander Municipal Complex (City Hall). The public is welcomed. The regular council meeting will follow at 6:00 PM.

There are four items on the agenda for the regular April meeting. Under Old Business; “Cottage Agreement Resolution” and “Ordinance amending the Permit Ordinance.” Under New Business; “Ordinance to rezone 15004 E. Azalea from R1 to Neighborhood Commercial” and “Resolution to apply for TAP” (Transportation Alternatives Program) “grant through ARDOT.”

According to the application form TAP, “[P]rovides funding for programs and projects defined as transportation alternatives, including on and off road pedestrian and bicycle facilities; infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility; community improvement activities and environmental mitigation; safe routes to school projects; and projects or construction of boulevards and other roadways largely in the right-of-way of former Interstate System routes or other divided highways.”

Permits, Fences, Inspections discussed

Four members of the Alexander City Council and Mayor Crystal Herrmann discussed three topics at a workshop held Thursday, April 2. Council members present were Joy Gray, Angela Griffin, Amy Lyons, and Christopher Prowse. No one from the general public attended the workshop.

Discussed were the posting of permits, the construction of fences and inspections.

How to post permits

Problem – Currently, posting permits is already required but there are no standards as to how and where to post a permit so it is visible.

“Because people right now either put it like up on the porch or in the window or they don't have it posted at all,” Herrmann said. “And then if they do have their permit, they're really upset that somebody in the field (police) didn't automatically know they had their permit.”

Police officers are now watching for code violations, including construction activity. The Mayor will be purchasing what’s called outdoor real estate brochure boxes to be used to hold permits. They have legs that can be pushed into the ground.

It was agreed this added requirement can be amended to the existing permit fee ordinance, which was adopted in 2020. It will include instructions to place the box at the end of the driveway.

Council members agreed on a $50 deposit. Herrmann suggested keeping a “percentage” of the deposit for processing costs. Five dollars was mentioned.

Building a fence will cost you more than just the fence

Problem – Under the current permit fee structure the ordinance states, “Fence Over 6 (six) Feet High … $25.” It does not require a permit for all fence construction. There’s no approval process to show the new fence is within the property lines and underground utilities are located. Acceptable fencing material is also not specified.

“And now having active code enforcement through with the (police) officers, we can have them (property owner) stake it like we do with their storage buildings,” Herrmann said. “We tell them to stake it out where it's gonna be and then we can have somebody drop on, you can confirm that it's not in the utilities (easement) but it's within reasonable setbacks.”

Besides where to build a fence, what material to use is also a concern. Herrmann says she’s been getting complaints about one property that has wooden pallets being used as a fence.

“And these examples I'm giving are actually being used in the city, the pallets,” Herrmann said. “I do get complaints about the pallets. Also another fence. There's also another fence that's old roofing panels.”

Council Member Joy Gray suggested keeping it “simple,” while allowing for multiple types of fence styles.

“I think if you keep it simple and you know, wood, chain link or what's the vinyl?” Gray said. “[B]ut you have to verify that it's on your property.”

Later Gray clarified when she said “wood” she meant wood specifically designed to build fences.

“And if we want to put a height, whatever, I don't have strong feelings about that,” Gray continued. “But I mean, I don't think we need to get into like POA (Property Owners Association) level of rules”

When all of these requirements are included in an ordinance, property owners will have to bare the additional cost of a survey of the property and providing a drawing showing the property lines, utility easements and location of the new fence. The repairing of a fence will not be included.

Herrmann noted that having a police officer deliver the final notice for compliance is getting more reaction than a code enforcement officer was getting. She said one homeowner, whose house is nearly completed, came in for the permit when an officer hand-delivered the threat of legal action. The penalty for not having a permit is double the cost of the permit if received prior to beginning construction.

Inspections to be done by third-party

Problem – The City of Alexander does not have its own building inspector. Under current zoning, utility companies are responsible for inspections prior to making any connections. In every zoning category it states, “Inspection shall be made as required by each authority having jurisdiction during the construction of all ... units to be located within the City of Alexander or within subdivisions regulated by the City.” Mayor Herrmann wants new construction inspected by a third-party paid for by the developer or property owner.

“So as of right now that you know larger cities actually have staff that go in and do the various phases of construction (inspections),” Herrmann began. “Smaller cities, which I know of Shannon Hills, Bauxite, multiple other small cities use third-party inspectors that the permit holder is responsible for the fee for their inspections.”

Aside from inspecting used manufactured homes before allowing them to be brought into Alexander and inspecting lot lines and setback requirements, Herrmann says it’s up to utilities to satisfy themselves of a proper connection.

“Because as of right now we tell the homeowners when they come in that they have to get their own inspections but the city has nothing to do with their inspections unless it's a (used) mobile home that's fixing to be pulled into the city,” Herrmann said. “[T]here's no inspection other than checking, we'll have them stake out their setbacks for the hall or the building or whatever but there's no other inspections. So if Entergy is okay with it they will just plug them in and if the water department feels free they'll just cut the water on but that doesn't mean it was properly built.”

One problem mentioned was a lack of proper compaction of the earth, for the new structure or manufactured home, to keep from sinking. In many cases a bulldozer is used to do some “compacting” but no testing is done for consistency.

“So from start to finish they'll have the various inspections that they'll need to get passed by the inspector,” Herrmann continued. “And do we issue the occupancy (permit)? Yes. So once all of this comes through that it's cleaning clear then we can issue (occupancy permit).”

It’s expected, to make this change, the zoning ordinance will have to be amended to include the requirement of an independent building inspector paid for by the owner of the building permit.