Proposed RV park draws some concerns

Three residents raised concerns about a significant development permit for a recreational vehicle park at the April 9 Planning Commission meeting.

The permit would allow the construction of a 42-space park at the 2900 block of Waukesha Road in the county, but is still within the city planning area, said planner Maegan Thomas, who presented the permit.

The city planning area is a onemile buffer around the city where the city may approve developments, Ben Rhoads, senior planner, said in a follow-up email.

The development also has to be reviewed by the Benton County Planning Board before the project goes to the City Board, Thomas said.

The permit was approved with four conditions and will go before the City Board on May 7 if it is not returned to the commission by a “no” vote from the Benton County Planning Board.

Conditions include applicants Frank Russell and Melanie Nicole Taylor acquiring approval of the plans from the Planning Commission and the Benton County Planning Board before City Board acceptance, according to a staff report from Rhoads and city engineer Kevin Moore on March 8.

The applicants also must file drainage and utility easements as directed by the city engineer, the report states.

Other conditions include showing drainage improvements, including a detention pond to be approved by the city engineer before building permit issuance, the report states.

The last condition is the city needs to approve an updated drainage analysis for drainage improvements through the site, the report states.

Three residents who live near the proposed RV park spoke at the meeting. James Barnett said he represents neighbors who are trying to understand the development.

“We’re obviously for development for Siloam Springs,” Barnett said. “But to put 42 units on a five-acre lot is going to be a very crowded situation.”

Barnett called the area challenging, saying that the Sheriff ’s Office is called there once a week, he said.

Resident Charles Smythe wondered if it would be a transient RV park where people come in and spend the night and if it would have a privacy fence around it.

“My land butts up right against it,” Smythe said. “My daughter is thinking about building a house back pretty close to that and I just wonder if there’s gonna be a privacy fence around it.”

Frank Taylor, the owner of the proposed development, said he plans to leave a tree buffer along the edge of the property.

“That is our overall plan,” Taylor said. “We will do so to ensure the ease of the tenants that we would have there. It would be a vetting process.”

There would be spaces for monthly, nightly and weekly tenants, Taylor said. Anyone staying longer than a week would also be subject to a background check, Taylor said.

Resident Jim McDonald said the RV park could cause trouble whenever people come to live there.

“I want to see Siloam Springs grow,” McDonald said “But I just see this as a potential problem if they’re allowed to stay there monthly, year in and year out.”

The Planning Commission’s role is different when it evaluates properties outside the city, Commissioner Chris Salley said.

Community Development Director Kris Paxton said the city’s role falls to some very light development considerations that tie to city utilities and land-split considerations.