BENTONVILLE -- County planners got their first look Wednesday at plans for a new animal shelter near Rogers.
The Humane Society for Animals submitted a plan detailing its intention to replace the group's facility at 407 E. Nursery Road, just outside Rogers, with a new facility on the same site. The plans were reviewed in the Technical Advisory Committee portion of the Benton County's Planning Board's meeting. A public hearing on the plans will be held at the Planning Board's Oct. 19 meeting.
Ashley Tucker, Planning Board chairman, said the Humane Society has been working on expanding its operation for several years.
"For full disclosure, I worked on fund-raising for this project 10 or 12 years ago," Tucker said. "I honestly thought it had been built. I'm glad to see something is being done."
According to the plans, the shelter sits on a 7 acres bounded by the city on three sides, with unincorporated county land to the south. Planning director Kevin Gambrill said in years past the city would have reviewed the plans, since it is within the city's planning area, but they have revised their planning ordinance and no longer review site plans on property outside the city.
"This is the first project inside the city of Rogers planning area that they are not reviewing," Gambrill said.
The plans call for a new 11,668-square-foot shelter with offices and related spaces. The current shelter will be demolished. The new facility will be on Rogers water and sewer and a septic system will be abandoned.
The board approved plans to add some amenities to the Rocky Branch Resort at 20560 and 20570 Park Road near Rogers. The county issued a stop work order on the project after it was discovered no permits had been issued for the work being done. The owner and developer told the board they were demolishing an old building that had most recently been used as a restaurant, leaving a smaller bathroom facility, and building a covered pavilion and areas for volleyball courts, horseshoe pits and additional parking.
Also Wednesday, the board reviewed plans to build an additional warehouse on property owned by Ozark Management Company at 21153 Arkansas 16 near Siloam Springs. The plans show a 14,000-square-foot warehouse being added to the site where a 67,950-square-foot warehouse was approved in 2014. the warehouse proposal will also be the subject of a public hearing at the Oct. 21 meeting.
NW News on 10/06/2016