The Fulton City Council met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, where they further discussed a request for a parking requirement deviation for the Willow Creek subdivision.
The city council previously discussed this topic with a representative of Lewis-Bade, Inc. at the last meeting. The request is to deviate from the two-way parking requirement in the Fulton City Code, which requires parking on both sides of the road.
The request also seeks permission from the council for the roads to be 28-feet wide, which is a deviation from the standard of 36-feet wide roads.
The request was tabled at the last meeting, after several councilmembers expressed they were not in favor the deviation.
Bart Korman represented Lewis-Bade at the meeting. He said when development started on Willow Creek, the city code listed street width as 26-feet wide.
Ward two councilmember Mary Rehklau said she does not think a 28-foot wide road is safe.
"I think the 28-foot is too narrow, and I live in a subdivison where it's wider and I feel safer," Rehklau said. "In my opinion, I don't feel the 28-foot can accommodate that area."
Korman responded and said the slimmer road will result in slower traffic, and a wider road would result in faster traffic in the area.
"And just think about it like this, when you go into your drive-through at the bank, those are very narrow aisles. Does anybody speed through those aisles? Not hardly at all, because it's so narrow it creates a mental way to slow folks down," Korman said.
Fulton city engineer Kyle Bruemmer said a compromise could potentially be made to widen the roads in Willow Creek.
He said if the roads were widened to 32-feet wide, that would be similar in width to the Tanglewood subdivision and the Southwinds subdivison.
Bruemmer said the city has received complaints about speeding traffic in those subdivisions. He also said he believes having 36-feet wide roads does not fit with what is already constructed at Willow Creek.
At the previous meeting, Bruemmer said he thinks the request is sufficient.
Another concern from deupty mayor Mike West was that the city code allows for deviations.
"Why do we have a standard if we are going to let deviations happen?" West said.
Councilmember Jeffrey Stone moved to table the request again until the next meeting. The request was tabled with a 7-1 vote.
In other business, the Fulton City Council:
• discussed and accepted the December director of administration report. The December financial statement was also discussed and accepted.
• heard from two representatives with the Human Rights Commission. They requested permission to host food vendors and product sales at the upcoming Juneteenth Celebration. The event will be on Saturday, June 17 at Legends Rec-Plex from noon-4 p.m. The request was approved unanimously by the council.
• discussed a resolution relating to an integrated management plan grant under the Missouri Clean Water Law with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. After discussion, the city council passed the resolution unanimously.
• discussed a tabled ordinance from last meeting relating to reclassifying an unimproved tract of land located on the north side of Tennyson Rd. and south of Willow Creek subdivision. This would rezone the area of land to C-2 commerical. It is currently zoned as A-1 agriculture. After much discussion from the city council, the ordinance was voted down unanimously.
• discussed the first reading of an ordinance that would repeal the council's right to deviate from already established city code. This ordinance was put forward as a result of discussions about the Willow Creek deviations. After discussion, the city coucil voted the ordinance down with a vote of 3-5.
• discussed the second and final reading of an ordinance relating to airport ARPA funds. The council approved the ordinance unanimously.
• discussed the second and final reading of an ordinance for the TEAP069 traffic study grant with the Missouri Department of Transportation Traffic Engineering Assistance Program. The council approved the ordinance unanimously.
• discussed the second and final reading of an ordiance for airport runway lighting. The council approved the ordinance unanimously.
The next Fulton City Council meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.