BENTONVILLE — A proposed landuse plan for Benton County was presented to the county’s Planning Board on Wednesday and members were encouraged to consider it as a way to control growth and “protect the agricultural and rural residential flavor of the county and the environment.”
The plan was formulated by the Master Plan Committee over the last year. The committee is an informal group organized by the county to work on planning and development issues.
James Gately of Rogers, a member of the committee, said there have been four such committees in the past and he has served on three of them.
“This is a culmination of all these people’s work over all these years,” Gately said. The proposal identifies eight goals and a dozen issues or concerns that have been recurring topics of discussion. The goals are:
• Conserve and/or use natural resources responsibly.
• Guide development and growth; to protect farmland.
• Protect the agricultural heritage of the county.
• Protect historical and environmentally sensitive areas.
• Streamline the development process.
• Protect residents from property value loss.
• Provide basic expectations for future land use.
Gately said the proposed plan tried to strike a balance between preserving things that make people choose to live in rural areas with the growth that seems likely to occur. The plan would grant agricultural and singlefamily residential use as a right and make all other use applications be treated as conditional uses.
The plan stresses compatibility of land use should be a major factor in evaluating any conditional-use request.
Larry Kelly, another committee member, told the board having a land use plan in place and adopted will give the Planning Board clear authority to require developers meet whatever standards the county sets. He said in some instances, including the use of small sewer systems, the county may set more stringent standards the state because of the karst geology in much of the county and the importance of protecting the county’s drinking water.
Another related recommendation in the plan would increase the minimum size of rural residential lots from one-quarter acre to one acre.
The board took no action on the plan Wednesday.
In other business, the board continued discussion of the Osage Creek Performing Arts Center project. Some board members and planning staff said they want the developer to provide more information on the project, which is under construction.
County Judge Bob Clinard told the board he asked the owner, Greg Smith, to attend the board’s March 16 meeting and update them and answer questions.
Lane Gurel, board chairman, said he was concerned tickets are being sold for a performance and the county has not given approval to the project. The board placed a number of stipulations on the project and the developer is required to meet those before the certifi cate of occupancy is issued.
“It’s the general public that’s unprotected until or unless those stipulations are met,” Gurel said.