# A-1 to I-3 Rezoning (Conway) The Conway zoning code's A-1 (agricultural) to I-3 (**Intensive Industrial**) rezoning category, as applied in [[Rezone Ordinance O-25-39 and REZ-0425-0052]] to convert the 160-acre Adams Property at the NE corner of Lollie Rd and Donnell Ridge Rd to a zoning category that permits data-center development "by right" without a Conditional Use Permit. ## How it appears in the corpus - **Ordinance O-25-39** (April 22, 2025) amends the Conway Zoning District Boundary Map under Conway Zoning Code §§ 201.1 and 201.3 to convert 160.57 acres in Section 30, T5N R14W from A-1 to I-3. - **Ordinance O-25-37** (April 22, 2025) annexes 296.21 acres in Sections 19 and 20, T5N R14W and assigns the annexed territory I-3 zoning by the annexation ordinance itself (without a separate rezone), per Section 1 of O-25-37. - The [[Conway Internal Staff Teams Chats on Project Stratus|April 2, 2025 Lauren Hoffman Teams comment]] explains the procedural significance of I-3: "what I saw (pre-application submission) was a request for I-3, where it is allowed by right. They can't zone up at PC so that would be a mess." I-3 permits data centers as a matter of right; I-1 (light industrial) would require a Conditional Use Permit. The applicant's request for I-3 specifically — rather than I-1 or another industrial classification — converts the data-center use from a discretionary CUP question to a by-right zoning fact. ## Stakeholders - [[City of Conway]] — adopting authority. - [[Conway Planning Commission]] — public-hearing body for the rezone. - John William Adams — landowner-applicant for the rezone case REZ-0425-0052. - [[Conway Development Corporation]] — adjacent landowner; staff-internally treated as the rezone party. - The April 22 opposition speaker [[Alan Rice]] (on behalf of his son [[Jeremy Rice]]) — the only public opponent at the time of adoption. ## Timeline - **April 3, 2025** — rezone-application cover letter signed by John William Adams. - **April 4, 2025** — certificate of mailing to property owners within 200 feet. - **April 21, 2025** — Conway Planning Commission public hearing; unanimous recommendation. - **April 22, 2025** — City Council adoption 8-0 of O-25-39 (and O-25-37, O-25-38). - **April 28, 2025** — Denise Hurd certifies the ordinances. - **May 12, 2025** — Faulkner County Circuit Clerk records O-25-39 as Inst. # L202506522 and O-25-37 as Inst. # L202506520. ## Notes The combined effect of O-25-37 (annexation with default I-3 zoning) and O-25-39 (rezone of the Adams Property to I-3) is to create a **~456-acre contiguous I-3 development footprint** at the NE corner of Lollie Rd and Donnell Ridge Rd, with [[Conway Development Corporation]] parcels (DB 2003 P 20243, DB 2012 P 1063) adjoining on the west and [[Conway Corporation]] holding a small carved-out parcel within the rezone area. Per Jamie Gates's testimony to Council on April 22: "by annexing and rezoning it would eliminate the A-1 island and create a contiguous I-3 development to site plan around which would create control over the entire development of the area." **Correction / Tier-2 anchor (2026-06-03).** The Conway Zoning Code (official PDF, 2023-10-30) has now been archived (primary public record, [Conway Zoning Code](../../web%20archive/2026-06-03/media.conwayarkansas.gov/conway-zoning-code-official-2023-10-30.md)). It establishes that **I-3 is the "Intensive Industrial District" (Section 307)** — *not* "Heavy Industrial," as the earlier framing on this page implied; the I-3 district *permits* "light to heavy industrial uses," but its designation is Intensive Industrial. The code also defines **"Data Center (General)"** and **"Data Center (Limited)"** as distinct uses (the General category expressly including "digital asset mining as defined in the Arkansas Data Centers Act, Act 851"), and **Section 530 ("Data Centers In Residential Areas")** restricts commercial data centers to non-residential zoned areas. This is the Tier-2 use-table/definition anchor the page previously flagged as a needed follow-on. (The recorded ordinance instruments O-25-37/O-25-39/O-23-55 are image-only PDFs on the City archive — OCR retrieval remains a follow-on.) Under Conway's standard practice, an I-3 rezone in advance of a specific tenant disclosure is unusual but not unprecedented. The pattern — rezone before tenant confirmation, accepting an irreversible land-use change in exchange for unspecified development potential — is the structural feature [[Annexation Ordinance O-25-37 (Lollie Rd)|the April 22 Council discussion of Tony Salter's question]] surfaced. Tony Salter asked whether the rezoned property could be subdivided if the development did not proceed; Anne Tucker confirmed it could but would require replating. The Council adopted the rezone notwithstanding the contingency.