Prairie Grove Planners Meet Online

PRAIRIE GROVE — Prairie Grove Planning Commission, on Jan. 24, approved a minor subdivision, for lots under five acres, for Marcia Gilbreath on Little Elm Road and a conditional use permit for Blake Martin to operate an online business from his home.

The meeting was held virtually through the Zoom app.

The minor subdivision is split into four lots and is just inside the city’s growth area, according to Larry Oelrich, who attended the meeting as a volunteer. Oelrich just retired from the city of Prairie Grove as director of administrative services and public works. All lots will have road frontage, he said.

Martin said he plans to have a home-based business to distribute firearms. He said no customers would be coming to his house to purchase products.

Two items on the commission’s agenda were postponed, a preliminary plat for a subdivision off Butler Road and a large scale development plan for Highland Townhouses of East Heritage Parkway.

The city’s Board of Adjustments, which consists of the same members as the Planning Commission, granted a variance request to waive the requirement of sidewalks for two lots in the Prairie Grove city limits with frontage on Clyde Carnes Road. The lots are adjacent to houses and lots inside the Farmington city limits.

According to city building inspector Jackie Baker, Trademark Homes asked for the variance because sidewalks were not required for the adjacent houses in the Farmington city limits.

Oelrich said he wished Fa rm ing ton wo u ld require sidewalks because Clyde Carnes is a major “cut-through” road and has high traffic with high speeds.

“It (Clyde Carnes Road) needs sidewalks,” Oelrich said.

Most of Clyde Carnes Road is in the Farmington city limits. Saddlebrook Subdivision on Clyde Carnes Road has sidewalks along the road frontage of the development and two other subdivisions are under construction on Clyde Carnes in Farmington, Briarwood and Wagon Wheel Crossing. Both of these will be required to have sidewalks along Clyde Carnes, according to Farmington subdivision regulations.

Farmington’s building official, Rick Bramall, last week said he doesn’t usually make developers install sidewalks on road frontage unless it’s a platted subdivision.