Planners take look at mobile homes

52-space park would be south of Siloam Springs

BENTONVILLE — Benton County planners on Wednesday reviewed plans for a 52-space mobile home park on property on Arkansas 59, just south of the Siloam Springs city limits.

The plans were reviewed during the Technical Advisory Committee portion of the county Planning Board’s second regular meeting in March. The board will hold a public hearing on the proposal at its April 1 meeting.

Ron Homeyer, who also is a member of the planning board, acted as engineer for the property owners, Javier and Claudia Chavez. Homeyer recused himself from sitting as a board member for

the mobile home park presentation and a second presentation for Chavez seeking approval of a multi-family housing development at another location near Siloam Springs.

The plans submitted to the county call for 52 spaces, with four shown as spaces for double-wide units of greater than 4,500 square feet in size and the rest for single-wide units of greater than 3,000 square feet in size. The spaces will be owned by Chavez and leased to the mobile home owners. The site will have water and sewer service provided by the city of Siloam Springs, Homeyer said. The interior streets will be paved with chip and seal pavement and there will be two open common areas for the residents use. The planning staff also indicated the mobile home park will require some screening or buffering to shield surrounding property from the park.

The mobile home park proposal generated a number of questions about county regulations and their interpretation. The planners and Homeyer discussed the size of the lots, and the mobile homes that will be allowed, the required setbacks for streets and driveways, fire protection requirements and access to the property from the highway. Ashley Tucker, board chairman, said mobile home parks have become rare in the county.

“This is the first use of our mobile home regulations that I can remember in at least two decades,” Tucker said.

Tucker asked the planning staff to review the regulations and offer their interpretation to the board at the April 1 meeting. John Sudduth, the county’s general services administrator who oversees the planning department, said the board will have the final say on any questions.

“The staff will make a recommendation, you will make the decision,” Sudduth said.

The commission approved plans for a new telecommunications tower near Gentry during the public hearing portion of Wednesday’s meeting. Dave Reynolds, with Smith Communications, said the area is widely known for poor cellphone service and the new 300-foot-tall tower will improve service. He said there are no other towers within two miles of the planned site on Arkansas 12 northwest of Gentry.

“It’s pretty well known this area is lacking in cell coverage,” Reynolds said.

The plans submitted to the county call for 52 spaces, with four shown as spaces for double-wide units of greater than 4,500 square feet in size and the rest for single-wide units of greater than 3,000 square feet in size.