County To Hold Planning Appeal

Monday, February 25, 2013

— Three Benton County justices of the peace will hear an appeal today of a decision by the county’s Planning Board to block a metal recycling business from operating near Gentry.

The appeals panel will hold a hearing on the request at 4 p.m. in the Quorum Courtroom in the County Administration Building.

Tom Smith, owner of USA Metal Recycling, elected to appeal the board’s rejection of his application for approval of a large-scale development plan. The board voted 7-0 to deny the application at its Dec. 19 meeting and filed its findings and decision letter with the Benton County Clerk’s Office on Jan. 4.

At A Glance

What’s Next

The panel of three Benton County justices of the peace appointed to hear the appeal of the Benton County Planning Board’s decision to deny a request for USA Metal Recycling to operate at a site on Old Highway 59 near Gentry will tour the site at 2 p.m. today. The panel will convene to hear the appeal at 4 p.m. in the Quorum Courtroom in the County Administration Building at 215 E. Central Ave.

Source: Staff Report

Smith declined to comment on the appeal, referring questions to his attorney, Jason Wales of the Everett, Wales & Comstock law firm in Fayetteville. Wales would not comment in the specifics of the appeal, other than to say Smith wants to operate his business at the Gentry site and could pursue a further appeal to Benton County Circuit Court if the county panel rules against him.

The board rejected Smith’s application for the business at 13670 Old Highway 59 after a public hearing where 15 people spoke in opposition to the business’ plans. Planning Department staff noted the proposal would establish a heavy industrial use in an area where no other heavy industrial uses are in proximity; there is an established residential and agricultural pattern of land use; the transportation infrastructure does not currently support a heavy industrial use; and allowing such disparate land use will change the character of the area.

Mark Curtis, board chairman, said the staff findings and recommendations, public comments from neighbors and from Gentry city officials, and the board’s own observations from a visit to the company’s operation in Fayetteville led him to vote against the application. Curtis said he will attend today’s hearing to answer any questions the justices of the peace may have.

“I think the board did our due diligence and came to a decision we can live with,” Curtis said.

The County Planning and Environmental Office received a copy of the notice of appeal and a Freedom of Information Act request from Wales for information about the USA Metal case and the board hearings on the application. The request asked the county to make available “all letters, emails, faxes, photographs, videos, applications, studies, reports, notes, files and other documents which refer or relate in any way” to the Gentry property.

Benton County Judge Bob Clinard selected three justices of the peace from areas other than the district where a property is located to sit on the appeals panel. Justice of the Peace Patrick Carr represents District 12. That district includes the property near Gentry. Clinard sent an email to the justices of the peace asking if any wanted to volunteer to sit of the appeals panel. Justices of the Peace Steve Curry of Gravette, Kurt Moore of Siloam Springs and Susan Anglin of Bentonville volunteered and will serve on the panel.

Clinard arranged for the justices of the peace to tour the company’s Fayetteville operation Friday. He said he had never visited the company’s facilities and wanted to see one in operation before he presides over the appeals hearing in case he has any questions he wants to raise.

This will be the third appeal of a board decision from 2012. The two appeals heard last year stemmed from decisions made by the board in June. The board rejected a proposed large-scale development for Nighthawk Custom Training Academy, characterized in the appeal as “a private shooting range,” on a site at 2016 W. Centerton Blvd. near Centerton. Another plan for Downtown Towing, which planned a “temporary holding lot for wrecked and impounded vehicles” for property at 21819 Meadow Wood Drive near Siloam Springs, also was rejected. Both businesses were operating at those locations without permits from the county and were asked to submit plans after complaints were made to the Planning Department, according to information presented at the June meeting. Both decisions were appealed. The denial of the application for the gun range was overturned. The towing lot decision was upheld.