BENTONVILLE -- Benton County planners approved plans Wednesday to allow the expansion of two businesses pre-dating planning regulations.
The Planning Board on Wednesday approved plans to demolish an office building and build a new restaurant in a "community shopping center" at 14428 and 14438 E. Arkansas 12 in the Prairie Creek area east of Rogers.
According to records, the buildings have been in use as a commercial enterprise since the early 1990s. The larger of the buildings, at 4,800 square feet, is a "community shopping center" and the smaller structure, at 2,400 square feet, is an office building. The plans presented to the county call for demolishing the office building and replacing it with a slightly larger building to house a restaurant.
The board also approved a proposal to expand the storage business owned by SPJ Enterprises at 19632 Arkansas 127 near Garfield. The storage buildings have been on the site since the mid-1990s at least, according to records, and the planning regulations, adopted in 2014, allow the buildings to be "grandfathered in" with the setbacks from the property lines even though they don't conform with regulations. The proposed new building, which adds 13,744 square feet of storage, is in the interior of the lot and complies with requirements. Albert Roos, representing the project, said a firewall has been added to the proposed building, which eliminates the need for a fire suppression sprinkler system.
During the Technical Advisory Committee phase of its meeting, the board had its first look at plans for a new 7,800-square-foot church building planned by the Iglesia Church for 20491 Bruce Rutherford Drive near Siloam Springs. Jonathan Barnett, representing the project, said the church is now in Siloam Springs and the congregation wants to expand.
"They're presently in a smaller facility in the city of Siloam Springs," Barnett told the board. "They want to expand so they bought this property and want to build a church."
The church plans will be the subject of public hearing at the Planning Board's Sept. 21 meeting.
NW News on 09/08/2016