Benton County Planners OK residential development
BENTONVILLE — Benton County planners on Wednesday approved revised plans for a 59-acre housing development near Siloam Springs.
The board approved plans from John and Ellen McDonnell to replat the River Valley Estates subdivision on 58 acres on Arkansas 16 and Norwood Church Road between Siloam Springs and Fayetteville. The revised plans will reduce the number of lots from 15 to seven. The property had been approved for a 53lot development in 2006, according to the planning staff. The property was replatted in 2012 to reduce the lots remaining from 50 to 15.
Dave Jorgensen, representing the McDonnells, said the number of lots needs to be reduced because the only available water supply won’t support more homes. Jorgensen told the board at its last meeting the property can only be served by a 2-inch water line on Arkansas 16.
The request was approved unanimously and without question by the board.
The board also approved plans to expand the Hickory Creek Fire Station on Arkansas 264, east of Springdale. The plans call for adding a 30-feet by 40-feet garage with two bays, and a breezeway connecting the expansion to the fire station, according to Marc Trollinger, county fire marshal and Hickory Creek fire chief.
Trollinger also presented plans for a new telecommunications tower for the county’s emergency communication system on property at 12487 Lodge Drive near Garfield.
According to Trollinger, the tower now in use is a 80-foot-tall “homemade” tower with a wooden building housing the radio equipment. The new tower will be 150-feet tall with a concrete building to house the radio equipment and an emergency generator.
Trollinger said the new tower will provide improved service to the eastern part of Benton County.
Trollinger asked the board to waive requirements all property owners within a half-mile of the tower site be sent written notice of the plans. Trollinger said the county has been working with the Lost Village Property Owners Association, which owns the site, and encountered no opposition.
“We’ve been to lots of meetings with the POA,” Trollinger said. “We’ve had lots of support from the community and no one has voiced any opposition to it.”