Fayetteville’s planners deny permit appeal

Group seeking to halt gas station can take up variances with council

FAYETTEVILLE — The Planning Commission on Monday denied an appeal that would have put a halt to the planned development of a gas station at the former Mr. Burger site, but the City Council may take it up later.

Commissioners voted 6-2 to deny an appeal of the grading permit issued for Roadrunner gas station planned at Garland Avenue and North Street. The appeal came from resident group Fayetteville Strong, who said issuing the permit would diminish the quality of the area.

The site served as home to Mr. Burger for decades before closing in 2016. After that, Star BurgerHaus and then NWA Gyros and Grill moved in before the building was demolished in March. The site also includes property to the west that had a Little Caesar’s for a number of years.

The commission in July approved several variances to code that enabled the project to move forward. A gas station is an allowed use under the property’s commercial zoning.

On Monday, the commission could only consider whether staff approved the grading permit appropriately. A grading permit allows a developer to move dirt for a project.

Fayetteville Strong can still appeal the approved variances to the City Council, Senior Assistant Attorney Blake Pennington said.

Five members of the group spoke to the commission on Monday. Clark Eckels said a gas station would be a redundant, unproductive use of the land. The project also would increase auto-centric land use in one of the most dangerous intersections in town for pedestrians and bicyclists, he said.

Commissioners Brad Payne, Fred Gulley, Joseph Holcomb, Mary McGetrick, Sarah Sparkman and Andrew Brink voted to deny the appeal. Jimm Garlock and Mary Madden voted in support.

McGetrick said she sympathized with the appeal, but the time to challenge the variances was when the commission first considered them in July.

Garlock said he supported the appeal because he believed the project will degrade the area and could compound a dangerous traffic condition. He and Madden opposed granting the variances during the July meeting.

In other business, the commission voted 7-1 to approve a conditional use permit for the Yvonne Richardson Community Center on Rock Street. The request came up because the city is getting ready to start work

on an expansion of the center. The center lies in a residential zone in which cultural and recreational facilities are only allowed with Planning Commission approval. The center didn’t get a permit from the commission when it was first constructed in 1995.

The commission first heard the request last month. Commissioners had questions about how the planned expansion would mesh with a planned Black historic preservation district for the area and parking.

On Monday, representatives with designer MBL Architecture and the city’s parks staff answered specifics about the project. Audy Lack with MBL said several public meetings were held in 2021 and 2022 to influence the design, but the project is limited by funding and changes have been necessary. The project is in line to receive $1 million in bond money approved by voters in 2019 and $1.4 million from the Walton Family Foundation.

Madden voted against the request. She had several questions about the project, and said she was concerned the project won’t deliver on what has been presented to the public.

Additionally, the commission voted 8-0 to deny a permit for an off-site parking lot with 180 spaces for a planned student housing project. The complex is planned to lie on Center Street with 250 parking spaces on site serving more than 200 units and 600 beds.

The city requires off-site parking lots lie within 600 feet of a development. The proposed lot, the site of the former Southgate IGA, is more than a mile away from the proposed development.

Commissioners agreed the lot would be too far away from the development and could be unsafe for people parking.

Commissioner Porter Winston did not attend Monday’s meeting.