Commission approves urban development plans

ROGERS — The Planning Commission unanimously approved a request to rezone land west of Interstate 49 from residential offices to commercial mixed use.

The rezoning will allow a variety of residential and commercial development. This follows the council’s decision July 24 to update the city’s growth map, which focused on creating residences appealing to people wanting to live near commercial areas.

The motion now moves to the City Council for approval.

Also Tuesday, commissioners denied rezoning the northwest corner of West Pleasant Grove and South Bellview Road from agricultural and single-family residential zoning to highway commercial and residential office zones.

The proposal was to build storage facilities and offices on the property. The commission denied the rezoning request because it was inconsistent with the city’s growth map, and commissioners thought it would be inappropriate to have storage facilities next to single-family homes.

Property developer Scott Fretheim disagreed.

“This project would fill a need for residents. It would be a nice, premium built facility and not look like your average storage center,” he said.

Commission Chairman Don Spann said he thought a storage center was incompatible with the surrounding properties.

“Usually you find storage centers in industrial areas, not in in single-family zones,” he said. “I sure wouldn’t want one in my backyard.”