PEA RIDGE — Two rezoning requests and a large-scale development were approved June 6 by the Planning Commission.
The large-scale development for KKD Daycare, 910 E. Pickens Road, was approved. City planner Jessica Grady told commissioners all issues had been addressed and discussed at the tech review. Five of the six commissioners present voted to approve. Samantha Flint was absent. Dr. Karen Sherman abstained.
There were no public comments on the rezoning requests from Jeff Arnold and Diluma Properties.
The Arnold property at 555 Sugar Creek Road was approved for rezoning to residential from agricultural. The Diluma Property at Lee Town Crossing and Townsend Way was rezoned to commercial from residential.
The new bylaws for the Planning Commission were tabled. Grady requested input from each of the commissioners be sent via email so the bylaws can be addressed at the July meeting.
The new drainage manual was approved, expanding the manual to nearly 500 pages.
A request to combine lots at 772 W. Pickens Road was tabled after lengthy discussion as the subdivision for Pea Ridge Pointe has already been approved and begun. Commissioners and the city attorney said accepting a material change after the initial approval was not legal. Chairman Al Fowler told the applicant to bring the request with the large-scale development.
In other business, the commissioners:
Approved a lot split on Sugar Creek Road for Melissa Young.
Approved a home occupancy update to change the address for Mallard Firearms and Bear Off Road, Greg Pickens, to 2000 Decker Road.
Commissioners discussed at length the large-scale development of Patton Place Townhomes on Patton Street. Grady told commissioners the developers had addressed all comments from the engineer at tech review.
“There were a lot of conversations regarding this property given its history,” Grady said.
“I just don’t feel well-versed … what about the ingress/egress? I just see a lot of things that concern me,” Sherman said.
The developer said the plan is to construct two-story quadplexes on the property, to have a single entrance and to have perimeter wooden fencing for screening,
“It went through tech review,” Grady said. “We spent a good deal of time with [Fire] Chief [Clint] Bowen talking about ingress/egress and emergency vehicles.”
Grady said the location of mailboxes and trash bins was also discussed.
Planner Chris Johnson asked who attended the tech review, and Grady said commission chairman Al Fowler and city department heads were present.
“I don’t have any concerns about the design… it’s just some things that have gotten this far without being addressed,” Sherman said.
Ultimately, the plan was approved unanimously.
