HDC approves plan for 10 Magnetic

It was a quick meeting of the Eureka Springs Historical District Commission on Wednesday, Oct. 1, getting through the short agenda in just over 14 minutes.

The only agenda item that required discussion was a new construction planned for 10 Magnetic Drive.

Property owner Michael Dodge, who told commissioners he currently resides in Bella Vista, is planning a two-story build on a property with a “footprint” of 36 feet by 30 feet, according to the application submitted. The home will include a side deck, stairways and siding with a metal roof, and cable railings, commissioners were told.

The plan for the non-contributing property was unanimously approved with commissioner Debbie Davis requesting that Dodge submit plans on windows, doors and paint colors when that is determined.

“Will you be sure and let us know so that those can go into the file for the historical record?” Davis asked.

Commission chair Dee Bright explained that information on all builds is maintained at city hall.

“Every home in Eureka Springs, and since you’re in new construction, you don’t have a folder yet, but in those file cabinets when you walk in … they all have red folders and that puts the whole history. So, in 100 years, we know everything you’ve done.

“I use them a lot on Preservation Society. I think those folders are wonderful to have.”

Bright also told commissioners that Cassie Dishman was recently hired as the city’s new preservation officer and planning commission director, replacing Kyle Palmer.

Dishman, who started Oct. 1, had a previous conflict and was unable to attend the Oct. 2 HDC meeting, Bright told commissioners.

CAPC TALK

Steve Holifield, a member of the city council and chair of the Eureka Springs City Advertising and Promotion Commission, has been making the rounds at different commission meetings, speaking during public comments about a ballot item that would abolish the CAPC and eliminate the city’s tourism tax.

“I think this would be disastrous for the city of Eureka Springs,” Holifield told the HDC of eliminating the CAPC. “I think it would hurt our tourism greatly if we stopped advertising nationally. I think this is done by a few people … that doesn’t have the best interests of everybody in Eureka Springs. We would lose jobs, businesses would close. It would be disastrous for our community. So, I’m really urging people, please vote against this.

“I’m reminding people that the tax the CAPC collects is not collected from you as a property owner. It’s collected through lodging and restaurants. … As a citizen of Eureka Springs, we only pay that tax if we go out and have a hamburger in town or something like that. Most of us don’t spend nights at hotels here. We live here so it’s not collected by us and wouldn’t make your property tax go down. It wouldn’t affect us really a lot personally …” Holifield urged the HDC members to educate other citizens on the impacts of losing the CAPC would have.

“…Word of mouth is most important,” he said. “We still live in a small town. Please talk to your neighbors. Talk to your friends, talk to your family that live in town. … If we want to have a conversation about changes with the CAPC, we could do that. This is not the way to do it. You don’t burn down the town and then say, ‘let’s talk about fixing it.’ ” In her commissioner comments, Bright said she agreed with Holifield and the need for the CAPC.

“…I agree completely with Steve on the CAPC,” Bright said. “I agree wholeheartedly with everything he said. You can call me also or text me. I’ll be glad to talk to people.

“I’ve been here 22 years. I’ve been in cities that didn’t have this. It is important. There are other ways to fix this.”