Council approves vacating portion of Memorial Drive

The Bella Vista City Council voted unanimously Monday in favor of an ordinance vacating a portion of Memorial Drive for an expansion and renovation of the Harps grocery store.

The ordinance, which required a public hearing, did not receive any input from the general public. The council voted unanimously in favor of moving the ordinance to third and final reading before voting to approve it.

The granting of this vacation was required by the planning commission, which approved the development. The project includes changes to the parking area, a 9,606-square-foot addition and remodel of the grocery store as well as updates to the shopping area on the property, which is owned by Cooper Realty Investments Inc.

Council member Doug Fowler said this development is a complex issue and it’s important for an elected representative to consider what it means for Bella Vistans.

Fowler said he doubts that it will make a substantial difference in terms of city sales tax revenue. While the Harps will likely do more business after this project is completed, he said, he expects most of that business will be migrating from Allen’s — though some people may be drawn to shop in town rather than across the state line.

Looking at other cities of similar size, Fowler said, Bella Vista lags far behind in terms of tax revenue. But if Cooper is willing to further develop its properties in the city, he said, a wider variety of services can be made available to Bella Vistans and more revenue can go into supporting the city’s services.

“We need a lot of things out here, we have 30,000 people,” he said.

The council also approved amounts of liens to be certified against properties for grass cutting expenses, residential and commercial rates for trash collection, reappointing two people to the board of zoning adjustments and an amendment to the city budget to recognize $29,400 in Selective Traffic Enforcement Project grant revenue.