Fayetteville guest ranch proposed

Commission seeks more information about plan

FAYETTEVILLE — An Elm Springs couple wanting to create a guest ranch in a wooded area in the southwest part of town found themselves at odds with neighbors during a Planning Commission meeting Monday.

Jeremy and Andi Pratt hope to bring Piney Creek Ranch to about 7 acres west of Finger Road, about a halfmile south of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The Pratts and their family own about 20 acres at the site.

The Pratts applied for a series of permits allowing the ranch to host activities such as a pumpkin patch, petting zoo, cookouts, music, weddings and summer camps. More than a dozen residents who live along or near Finger Road, or who were otherwise concerned with the preservation of the land, showed up to City Hall in opposition.

The commission voted 7-0 to table the item until its next meeting. Commissioners asked for more details on a site plan, including how many cars could fit on the site, where proposed trails would go and accommodations for emergency vehicles. Further details would be hashed out once the commission takes up the development plan.

According to a preliminary plan, a vintage horse barn would serve as place to

hold small gatherings such as birthday parties. The creekside pavilion could hold several guests for larger events. The lodge would be the “heart” of the ranch, according to the plans.

Additionally, 10 tiny cabins would sit on platform decks under a tree canopy. The idea was to create a rustic lodging and event experience tying into the state’s push to promote agritourism, Andi Pratt said.

“It’s nice to not have to drive to Centerton or not have to drive to out in the middle of Goshen somewhere to do that,” she said. “A place inside the city limits a half a mile from Wal-Mart would be awesome.”

Residents along Finger Road agreed the street is too narrow to handle the number of cars the ranch would bring. Several spoke against potential noise from music performances. Others noted the area as part of the city’s Enduring Green Network and worried about the harm horses, people and development could bring to the area.

Barbara Moorman, whose property is west of the site, said she saw the development as destructive to the character of the area.

The city’s Planning Director Andrew Garner said the Enduring Green Network designation doesn’t carry any regulation behind it but rather serves to guide the City Council on land use.

Commissioner Matt Hoffman said the couple would be shooting themselves in the foot by overdeveloping the site. Part of what they’re selling is the natural beauty of the place, which would become accessible to the public, he said.

“Enduring Green Network is not just a place we set aside and say, ‘Nobody can ever go here ever,’” Hoffman said.

Andi Pratt said the ranch would maintain more than 90 percent of the tree canopy. Trails would reach family members’ property and that of an adjacent landowner who agreed to the idea. Hoffman advised the two to get any such agreement in writing.

The family has owned the property since 2003. Andi Pratt said she and her sisters wanted to build a wedding venue or bed-and-breakfast but saw a guest ranch falls among the permitted recreational uses of a residential agricultural zoning. It seemed fitting because her family lived on 80 acres in Berryville and always had animals around, she said.

The couple hopes the ranch could become their full-time endeavor.

“It’s a passion for both of us,” Andi Pratt said. “Hopefully, the city will see our passion.”