City/school office plan approved

Plans are progressing for the combined City Hall/School Administration building as the Pea Ridge Planning Commission members approved the large scale development plan at the regular meeting Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Architect Steve Elliot presented the plans.

The building will face Weston Street with the south side housing City Hall and the north side housing the School Administration offices. Between the two areas will be the court room. Elliot explained plans for detention and retention ponds, parking, lighting, landscaping. He said additional handicap parking spaces were added.

Landscaping was added along the south boundary to block light from vehicle lights from the adjacent residences, city building official Tony Townsend said.

City planner M.J. Hensley advised Elliot on material for a driveway saying the city ordinance is tied to the highway standard governing chip and seal.

“Our original thought was for a temporary gravel road for a couple of years,” Elliot said, adding “We’re going to price it as a road and then a chip and seal.”

“As we grow and go out toward Hayden,” school superintendent Rick Neal said, he believed the road would change and didn’t want to spend $60,000 to $70,000 on a road that would have to be changed in a few years. He said the road would be used by car riders only, not by buses.

“I’d hate to see you redo it in three years,” Hensley agreed.

“This is a good job on the plans. There’s a lot of detail in here,” Hensley commended Elliot. He

also advised Elliot to reverse the elevation on a retention pond; Elliot agreed.

In other business, planners approved a variance for developer Franklin Miller for size of setbacks on lots. The setbacks conform with the current zoning of R1A, but are smaller than were originally presented because a pipeline that runs through the property necessitated changing positions of utilities.

Townsend explained that R1 does not allow 8-feet easements, but this prop- erty is zoned R1A, which does.

“I think they should all be the same,” Dr. Karen Sherman, planner, said, adding that the gas pipeline had been in at least 30 years.

City attorney Howard Slinkard read the city’s provisions for variances and said justification for the variance did exist.

Miller said: “We’ve got about three parcels we designated as unbuildable that we’re going to do as common property. Some are 1,600-square-feet to 1,700-square-feet; none are less than 1,050.

“The idea is to give more flexibility of building houses because of the pipeline,” Miller said, adding that the minimum square footage in the covenants is 1,600.

Slinkard said that because of the pipeline, justification existed to grant the variance requested.

“You can grant that variance, choose to grant side and back same width to be consistent on those four lots,” Slinkard told planners, who unanimously approved the request.

Planners Al Fowler, Zach Hoyt, Jerry Burton, Sherman, Hensley and Matt Powers were present.