Coffee shop, car lot plans reviewed

A plan for a car lot and coffee shop by CTC Group was discussed at a tech review meeting Monday afternoon by city officials.

Mr. Jason Ingalls, owner of Expedient Civil Engineering, and Roy Cotton, property owner, met with city planners and other city officials to review plans for the 1.1 acre lot at 560 N. Curtis Ave.

Street Department superintendent Nathan See reminded Ingalls and Cotton that the Arkansas Department of Transportation would govern driveway permits as North Curtis Avenue

is a state highway (Ark. Hwy. 94 and Ark. Hwy. 72).

Cotton had asked for the lot to be rezoned Commercial 2 from its current Commercial 3, but the request failed to pass as the vote was tied with only six commissioners present at the November 2020 meeting.

Cotton appealed to the City Council at the Nov. 17, 2020, meeting and the council approved the rezone request.

There had been members of the public at the Planning Commission meeting to object to the proposed use for the property.

The large scale development plan was presented to the city and engineer Eric Anderson, McClelland Consulting Engineers, Inc., made recommendations.

During the discussion, city officials discussed lighting around the parking lot and along the outside of the building.

“Light pollution is a real thing,” Dr. Karen Sherman said.

City building official Tony Townsend recommended caution on brightness of lights because of residences adjacent to the back side of the property.

City attorney Shane Perry noted that other cities have regulations about lights and Pea Ridge does not have regulations governing that.

“On this, with the neighbors behind, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for shielding,” Perry said.

When asked about signs, Cotton said he planned monument signs.

The large scale development for the project should be on the agenda for the March meeting if all deadlines are met by the developer, according to city officials.