BENTONVILLE -- Benton County planners spent nearly as much time Wednesday defining planning requirements as they did discussing plans on their agenda.
The Planning Board debated the difference between a home-based business and a heavy commercial development while considering plans for a commercial cabinet shop submitted by John and Cheri Michael for their home on Raines Road near Siloam Springs.
According to information from the Planning Department, the Michaels want to build a 56- by 40-foot shop building on the 1.38-acre parcel that includes their home and another 400-square-foot building. Cheri Michael said she didn't understand why the operation was classified as it was by the planning staff.
"I have a little bit of concern about the 'heavy commercial' designation," she said. "We're a very, very small business with minimal traffic access. A customer will come by to pick out a color or cabinet style but that's about it."
Board member Ashley Tucker said the nature of the operation decided the classification. Tucker asked John Michael if he was manufacturing the cabinets or just assembling them. When Michael said he was manufacturing them, Tucker said that made a difference.
"That kind of falls under the definition of heavy industrial or commercial," Tucker said. You bring in components. You manufacture a product and you assemble it on site."
Tucker said the board has to consider the nature of the proposed business and the surrounding area.
"It's a commercial business mixed in with houses," he said.
Board member Sean Collyge said he thought the scale of the operation suggested something less than a heavy commercial operation. John Michael said he brings the material used to the shop in his own vehicle, meaning there are no commercial deliveries. He also said he builds about one cabinet set in a month or month-and-a-half.
"I've been in a lot of cabinet shops," Collyge said. "This sounds more like, not a hobby but a guy that does a lot of woodwork. Not a business."
The board asked a few more questions and left the planned cabinet shop on the agenda for a public hearing at the board's Aug. 3 meeting.
The board also set an Aug. 3 public hearing an Old Wire Storage mini-storage expansion at 2715 S. Old Wire Road near Rogers. The board reviewed plans to add another mini-storage building to the seven already on site. The 5,600-square-foot building will be added to the 19,200-square-feet of storage space in the original seven buildings.
NW News on 07/21/2016