Planners deny rezoning request for Sugar Creek Road property

PEA RIDGE — A rezoning request of land located on Sugar Creek Road was turned down by the Pea Ridge Planning Commission on Tuesday, making it the only item out of the six on the agenda not to receive a vote of approval.

A public hearing was held at the outset of the meeting regarding the request to rezone 9.22 acres from A-1 (agricultural) to R-2SF (medium density residential single family). The request was being made by Memphis Snyder with a plan for 25 lots on the location.

Derek Garner, whose property on South Curtis Avenue borders the property in question, was one of the residents who spoke during the public hearing.

After the meeting he said he was against rezoning because he didn’t want to see the natural beauty and history of the area infringed upon.

“I just think the pristine landscape should remain pristine in that area,” he said. “The Civil War was fought right there on that property. People have fought and died on that property. The old stagecoach road itself runs through that property. All that would be completely ruined if that development was built there.”

The only other item requiring time during the public hearing portion of the meeting was a home occupation request at 304 McNair St. The request was made by Phil Turner and his company, Dilligent Mechanical, which specializes in custom refrigerator and restaurant cooling system repair work. Turner said Dilligent Mechanical has had similar requests approved in other cities in Northwest Arkansas.

After opening the new business portion of the meeting by turning down the rezoning request with a unanimous vote, the commission voted “yes” to the occupation request before approving the Stephanie Estates preliminary plat; the Avalon final plat phase I; and the Commons LSD final (commercial 5 lots).

It also voted to recommend to the city council passage of an amended Large Scale Development Ordinance.

Votes in all matters were unanimous.

“Nothing else (after the first item) was a rezone,” said Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Al Fowler, who presided over the meeting in the absence of Chairman Michael Wilhelm. “Those rezones require the public hearing and give an opportunity for folks who live in the areas to express their concerns. Everything else was something that had already been previously started and was moving toward completion. So we were approving plans that had been presented for something we already knew about. Everything else got a ‘yes’ because it was already in the pipeline, working through city staff to get everything done as it was supposed to get done so that it got its approval tonight.”