County Planning Rules Under Review

— Benton County’s “Blue Book” of planning regulations is under review, with a proposed ordinance set for a mid-October debut.

“We’re getting fairly close,” said Chris Ryan, planning and environmental director. “We’ve probably got one more session, maybe two more sessions, with the Planning Board. We want to make sure that when it goes to the Legislative Committee it’s ready.”

Ryan said the planning rules and regulations, commonly referred to as the Blue Book, has been under review for more than a year now, with an eye toward clarifying and simplifying the planning process.

At A Glance

Planning Regulations

The Benton County Planning Board is reviewing planning regulations to recommend a new ordinance for the Quorum Court. The ordinance sets procedures, requirements, minimum standards, specifications, compliance with state and federal regulations and acceptable criteria for the development of all unincorporated land in the county. Development shall include but not be limited to:

• Subdivisions

• Informal plats

• Tract and lot splits

• Commercial developments

• Master development plans

• Planned unit developments

• All other types of commercial and private development

Source: Benton County

Elizabeth Bowen, general services administrator, oversees the Planning Department. Bowen said the draft of the new ordinance has been sent to cities in Benton County with their own planning department for comment. Bowen said the revision aims to incorporate rules for new businesses, such as wind energy, that weren’t part of the 1998 revision.

Lane Gurel has been chairman of the Planning Board for most of the revision process. Mark Curtis will take over in October. Gurel said the focus of the board during the review has been making the process “friendlier.”

“The planning regulations have not been changed for the most part since 1998,” Gurel said. “A lot of growth has gone on in Northwest Arkansas since then and there’s a real need to address the growth that’s taken place. We need to be able to process development in an organized fashion. We need to make it a more friendly process, to make it easier to understand and to apply.”

Gurel said the large-scale development process is an example of the need for revision. Currently, all new development is treated the same, with planning and design requirements and fees set at one level.

“A lot of what we see isn’t really large-scale projects,” Gurel said. “It could be a mom-and-pop business or someone wanting to have a business in their home. It should be easier for those people to go through the process instead of them being treated like a big factory.”

Gurel said the Planning Board can’t change the fee structure on its own, which means the proposal will be sent on to the Quorum Court, starting with the Legislative Committee, for consideration and approval. Dan Douglas, a justice of the peace and chairman of the Legislative Committee, said he’s been pushing for a revision of planning rules for some time.

“I know they’ve been working on it,” Douglas said. “I’ve thought for some time we need to do something to distinguish between small businesses, mid-scale developments and large developments. We’ll just have to take a look and see what they’ve got.”

Douglas said people living in the unincorporated areas of the county have made it clear they oppose zoning areas such as cities do and that won’t be the aim of the Quorum Court.

“We don’t need to go there,” he said.

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