Springdale planners give green light to several projects

SPRINGDALE — A new warehouse for the Frito-Lay company was proposed Tuesday and received Springdale Planning Commission approval.

The commission voted 6-0 to accept the largescale development plan of a 19,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center on a 4.3-acre lot on Kendrick Avenue, the city’s newest industrial park.

Commissioners James David, Payton Parker and Ben Peters did not attend the meeting.

The city’s Public Facilities Board owns the property at 1255 Kendrick Ave., said Scott Edmondson, vice president of economic development for the Springdale Chamber of Commerce.

The board has accepted an offer of $322,500 (or $75,000 an acre) for 4.3 acres from Nelson Family Enterprises. The company, based in Sioux City, Iowa, owns wholesale food warehouses across the country.

The commission also approved a request from the company to waive road improvements. Typically, the city requires property owners or developers to install gutters and curbs as part of construction on property.

But the city, working with utility companies, soon will bring infrastructure down the length of Kendrick as a project of its 2018 bond program for street improvements.

The Nelson company has agreed to donate to the city a portion of its property for those improvements.

The commission approved large-scale plans for several more ventures in Springdale.

Star Mechanical Supply plans to enclose an outdoor storage yard. In its place, the company plans a 20,000-square-foot building on its current property at 125 W. Randall Wobbe Lane.

The Planning Commission voted 6- 0 to approve Star’s large-scale design plan once landscaping and screening plans satisfy Planning Department staff.

7Brew Coffee of Rogers is planning a new location on East Robinson Avenue, just east of the Sonic Drive-In. The Planning Commission approved large-scale development plans after the engineer planned a second entrance to the store’s parking lot, said Patsy Christie, the city’s director of planning.

The commission voted 6- 0 to approve the 7Brew plan.

The commission also approved 6-0 a plan for Las Margarita’s Plaza at 610 N. Thompson St. The project by Mancia Properties of Springdale will include a restaurant and several stores.

A plan for this development was approved by the commission in 2020, but the project was never started, Christie said.

The new plan for the site includes 20 more parking spaces. Allen Deaver of Halff Associates said that parking was needed. Halff, an engineering and architecture firm, designed the project.

The commission also approved 6-0 a large-scale development plan for a 116-unit apartment complex at 1506 S. Powell St.

The 10- acre Whitney Place complex was approved in 2018. A new owner of the property, L & J Brothers Realty, brought the same plan before the commission, Christie said. Planning Department staff will ensure the development meets the city’s design standards for multifamily housing, she said.

“It will provide needed housing in downtown,” Christie said of the project. “Not everybody can live on Emma and Johnson.”

The Planning Department works closely with the Downtown Springdale Alliance to return vibrancy to the downtown area. In addition to businesses and shops, the downtown area must have a variety of types, sizes and costs of housing to thrive, Christie said. The city works to provide a place where residents can live, work and play, she said.

“It will provide needed housing in downtown. Not everybody can live on Emma and Johnson.” — Patsy Christie, Springdale director of planning