The Hot Springs City Planning Commission on Dec. 11 recommended approval of RZ25178, a zone-change request to reclassify 675 Bayshore Drive from rural residential (RR) to residential suburban (RS).

Staff told the commission the parcel lies inside Hot Springs City limits in Board of Directors District 6, is developed with a single-family house, and measures approximately 0.8 acres with roughly 275 feet of frontage on Bayshore Drive and about 135 feet of frontage on Peninsula Drive. The application was presented as consistent with the citys comprehensive plan, Forward Hot Springs 2040, and staff recommended the commission forward a recommendation for approval to the Board of Directors.

Applicant Jonathan Garrett Hartness, who identified his address as 675 Bayshore Drive, told the commission he plans to "make the best use of the land as an investment" and, if rezoned, intends to subdivide the parcel into two half-acre lots. Hartness said he has no immediate plans to build on the lots and that utilities are available to the property.

Commissioners had no substantive objections during questioning. The commission took a roll-call recommendation vote; members recorded approvals and the recommendation passed. Director (name not specified in the transcript) said the Board of Directors will consider the Planning Commissions recommendation on Jan. 6 at 6:00 p.m. in this meeting room, and that the Board will make the final decision.

Because the Planning Commissions action was a recommendation rather than a final approval, any development that follows rezoning will be subject to subsequent Board action and applicable permitting requirements.