County planners OK warehouse changes

BENTONVILLE — Benton County planners on Wednesday approved changes in plans for a warehouse development near Siloam Springs after satisfying themselves the project remains screened from nearby homes.

The Planning Board reviewed a request to change the landscape plan approved last year for the Barnett Warehouse project at 211153 S. Arkansas 16 near Siloam Springs. The initial plan was approved after a lengthy hearing at which many nearby residents objected to the 67,950 squarefoot warehouse being built so close to their homes.

The proposed revision would reduce the screening in front of the building and leave a gap in the screen to the south, where a small neighborhood was in place before the warehouse was proposed.

Two residents sent letters objecting to the changes and one, Valari Mukha, attended the meeting. Mukha said she wanted to be certain the homes were still separated from the warehouse.

“I don’t want to be hateful,” she said. “I just want to be sure we’re protected in our homes.”

Jonathan Barnett, developer of the warehouse project, told the board he had no objections to the amended plan. Barnett said the changes being sought had been done to make maintenance of the berm easier.

“The main reason was for maintenance,” Barnett said. “We’re willing to whatever we need to do.”

The board approved an amended version of the plan which decreases the buffer on the east side of the property, which faces the Dayspring Cards plant, and alters the buffer on the south side between the warehouse and the residences. The proposed new southern buffer would be on a taller earthen berm but would have different plants and trees and have a gap in the center of the berm.

The board added a requirement plantings be made in the gap between the sections of the berm to continue the screening across the south side of the warehouse property.

Also Wednesday, the board approved with conditions an amended plan for the Silica Valley Storage, south of Arkansas 12 off Pollock Road, for for an expansion that had been submitted in 2006 but never pursued. The board approved a setback variance for one of the original buildings, which was built too close to the property line, and another variance from parking requirements.

Otherwise, the plan adds about 10,608 square feet of new storage buildings to the 16,000 square feet of storage now on site. The board told Julie Gall, the property owner, she needs to have an engineering study done for some drainage culverts being installed to ensure they will withstand a 25-year flood event.