Council tackles property matters

“I’ve decided to sell some of my property,” Hill told the council. Having received an offer from a buyer who wants to build two houses on the drive off Mt. Carmel Road, Hill said that after talking to his Realtor, he had encountered a road block regarding permission to have a second residence on a private drive. “There’s plenty of room for roads,” he said, “but they’ve already a road surveyed on one side for a driveway that’s 25 feet wide.”

Hill told the council that he had learned from the Office of Planning and Development (OPD) that a second house on the driveway would require a 26-foot-wide road, for fire department vehicles to be able to get in and out.

“As you all know,” said Paragould Mayor Josh Agee to open discussion of Hill’s request, “there are rules and regulations when it comes to splitting up a subdivision.” He continued by saying the whole idea of putting a second residence on a private drive appeared to be an effort to circumvent those rules.

“A second residence on a private drive may be one thing,” Agee said, “but putting multiple houses on a private drive is one of those things those rules and regulations were put in place [to prevent].”

OPD Director Kevin Lang told the council that the site would require sewer and water for the two houses proposed, and that he had spoken with the fire department, whose officials had told him a 25-foot width would be satisfactory. “Of course, there will have to be turnarounds built,” he said, “just like on any private drive over 150 feet.”

Lang, who retired in July as chief of the fire department, said the department’s officials had told him they would really like to see an additional fire hydrant on the road. “The closest one is about 700 feet north,” he said, “and there’s another about 1,000 feet south.”

Nonetheless, Lang said, the department does have tanker trucks to enable firefighting, so the lack of a hydrant on the drive is not a deal-breaker.

“So we’ll have two houses on one private drive,” asked Ward 4 position 2 council member Brad Baine, “right next to a private drive where he has one house?”

“Correct,” Lang replied. “The road kind of goes past his house.” In response to a question from Ward 2 position 1 council member Jeremy Biggs, Lang said the proposed drive would be a totally separate drive from the one on which Hill’s house (and that of buyer Charles Woodson) sits. And in response to a followup from Baine, Lang said there would be no multi-family dwellings on the drive.

The council granted permission for Hill to proceed by a 7-1 vote; Biggs voted no. No resolution was required.

And the council adopted a resolution to attach tax liens to six properties, to cover the city’s cost to clean them up as nuisances. A tax lien ensures that the city of Paragould gets first claim over other creditors vying for the property with the lien. It also prevents the delinquent taxpayer from selling or refinancing the assets to which liens have been attached. To satisfy the lien, the delinquent taxpayer must pay what is owed, get the debt dismissed in bankruptcy court, or reach an offer in compromise with the city. The properties, listed by owner(s), address and lien amounts, are shown below:

Katie & Caleb Liddell, 901 Rector Road for $74.14

John Eric Price, 107 S. 18th Ave., for $142.14

Greater Swiss, 902 S. Third Ave., for $74.14

Elizabeth Ashley and James Morgan, 1208 W. Unity Road, for $4,225

Everett Greathouse, 1016 N. Vance for $6,603.69; and at 1014 N. Vance for $3,225