Church Move Delayed

— Victory Church of Northwest Arkansas, after finding a new location to hold services, will have to wait another month to move in.

At A Glance

Commission Action

Springdale’s Planning Commission met Tuesday night and approved:

-Rezoning 1.6 acres at 600 W. Sunset Ave., the armory building, owned by Springdale from general commercial to institutional; rezoning 172 acres south of Emma Avenue and west of Old Missouri Road, the Springdale Municipal Airport, owned by the Springdale Airport Commission, from multifamily residential, general commercial and light industrial to institutional.

-The conditional use of a cell tower at 1844 Louisiana Place for AT&T Wireless; of a church at 812 N. Thompson St. Suite B for Arca DePacto

-A large scale development on the south side of Robinson Avenue between Oak Moore Street and Butterfield Coach Road for O’Reilly Auto Parts; at 306 E. Emma Ave. for Arkansas & Missouri Railroad for a maintenance building

Source: Staff Report

A proposal to allow a conditional use permit for a church in a general commercial zone at Ozark Center Point Place was tabled at the Springdale’s Planning Commission meeting Tuesday after a representative for Mathias Shopping Centers, the property owners, didn’t show up. The next meeting of the Planning Commission is scheduled for Jan. 2.

The church has been looking for a spot to move to since approval of the plans for Don Tyson Parkway interchange on Interstate 540 included demolition of the church building for entrance and exit ramps.

“We were planning on holding our first services there on New Year’s,” said Billy Coffman, senior pastor. “We are in a bind.”

The failure of the property owners to show up probably was a misunderstanding, Coffman said. The commission meeting agenda stated the application would be presented by Mathias Shopping Centers.

Coffman said he hoped a special meeting could be held to allow the church to proceed with moving to the shopping center, he said.

“We’ve already started some work at the location,” Coffman said. “We need all the time we can get to finish the move.”

Victory Church has agreed with to lease suites 168 through 171 to house its operations, according to the use application. The church plans to stay at Ozark Center Point Place for a year, if everything works out, Coffman said. The new location will be more than a bare-bones operation, he said.

“We would be able to keep everything intact,” Coffman said.

The space has been used for commercial businesses previously, but has been empty.

The time is short for the church since the city, at the request of Victory Church, filed a condemnation case against the church. The church turned down the city’s offer of $2.45 million for interchange right of way. Condemnation allowed the church to receive city’s offer of money quickly while still being able to dispute the value of the property.

The church has purchased property on the west side of Arkansas 112 in Tontitown to construct a new church, Coffman said. Construction time could be as short as 180 days, he said, but financing is still a question with the impending court case from the condemnation.

Upcoming Events