AT A GLANCE
Agenda Items
Other items on tonight’s Bentonville City Council agenda:
A resolution supporting tree planting along public streets within the city.
A resolution certifying the amount of liens to be placed on certain properties for the city’s costs associated with mowing and weed removal on said properties.
A resolution setting a public hearing regarding the placement and amount of liens to be placed on certain properties for mowing and remediating unsanitary and unsightly conditions.
A resolution authorizing the mayor and clerk to enter into an agreement with AT&T to lease property at Phillips Park for a cellular tower.
A contract awarding a $275,029 bid to Clinard Construction for the remodel of a utility building and the former District Court.
A proposal to pay Barker Rinker Seacat $1,079,490 for the design, construction documents and construction observation of the Bentonville Community Recreation Center.
The City Council meets at 6 p.m. tonight at the Community Development Building at 305 S.W. A St.
Source: Staff Report
BENTONVILLE — The City Council will decide whether to rezone property at 802 McCollum Drive during a meeting tonight.
The property is at the corner of McCollum Drive and Central Avenue near Interstate 540. It is currently zoned residential office. MOR-WISE Investments wants the property rezoned commercial so a Kum & Go gasoline station can be built there.
Many residents of McCollum Drive and neighboring streets said they want nothing of the sort.
Tyler Elm lives at 901 McCollum Drive. His home sits across the street from where the proposed station would be should the council approve rezoning the property and the plans for the location.
“We object to the commercial zoning in part because commercial land use opens up to all sorts of land use that can degrade the value of our property,” Elm said.
Elm gave the Planning Commission a petition against rezoning the property last week. That petition had 105 signatures on it, Elm said, noting only six of his neighbors refused to sign the document.
Elm cited several reasons why a gasoline station would be bad for the neighborhood including possible fuel spills, light pollution and increased traffic.
Elm said he is familiar with the convenience/gasoline station business because he works in it. He estimated there will be 375,000 visits to a station with six gasoline pumps, 900,000 car door closings and 300,000 tanker trucks per year at a station that is open 24 hours per day.
“It is really incompatible with quality of life,” Elm said.
Resident Jim Jefferson told the commission a good use for the property would be a community park.
Gerald Herr has lived on Trails End Drive for 26 years.
He said the increased traffic a gasoline station would bring would make it nearly impossible to turn out of McCollum Drive onto Central Avenue.
“This intersection is going to be so crowded it is going to be a nightmare,” Herr said.
Rob Wadle, the real estate representative for Kum & Go, said the company likes the location because of the traffic that is already there.
“The reason we like this corner is because it is busy,” Wadle said.
Wadle said Kum & Go is willing to address residents’ concerns by landscaping it in such a way that it bothers residents less and by contributing money to help pay for a traffic light at the corner of McCollum Drive and Central Avenue.
Elm had a response for Wadle.
“Will you buy my property?” Elm asked.
Rezoning the property failed at last Tuesday’s commission meeting with a 3-3 vote.
Joe Thompson, Lisa Bohn and James Stanley voted against the project. Richard Binns, Patrick Carroll and Miguel Rivera voted for it.
The council can overturn the commission’s decision tonight if it chooses to rezone the property.
The council will only vote to rezone the property tonight. Plans for the Kum & Go have not yet been submitted, so council members will not be voting on the station.