FAYETTEVILLE -- Neighbors, business owners and planning commissioners are at odds over an outdoor music venue and restaurant on the north side of town.
The Planning Commission voted 4-3 Tuesday to table discussion of a permit for music and parking at JJ's Beer Garden and Brewing Co., known as JBGB, on the southwest corner of Steele Boulevard and Van Asche Drive.
The permit, granted in 2015, allows the venue to host outdoor music events from 6-9 p.m. on Thursday. The dual venue and restaurant had its first concert season last year. The commission also amended the permit last year to allow overflow parking on a grassy lot south of the property during concerts.
Since then, city staff has documented several violations, City Planner Jonathan Curth said. The violations pertained to sound checks in the afternoon and overflow parking not associated with musical performances.
The business was granted other amendments to its original permit, including a plan to build 130 parking spaces on the land to the south it owns and exceptions allowing two charitable concert events outside the permitted hours.
Neighbors in the area have complained about the noise during concert nights. A nearby plastic surgery clinic reported disruptions from afternoon sound checks.
Asa Hutchinson III, representing the business, said the establishment has tried to act as a good neighbor and provide a unique amenity to that side of town. A design is in the works to enclose the building, with a pending arrangement with a local bank to occupy part of the southern property and share paved parking, he said.
Next meeting:
When: 5:30 p.m. June 11
Where: Room 219, City Hall, 113 W. Mountain St.
"There have never been any complaints or violations in terms of the noise ordinance," Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson also asked the commission to consider further amending the venue's permit to allow for later performance hours. Also, the venue requested additional nights, instead of just Thursday, for charitable concerts and to coincide with Saturday Razorback football games and Bikes, Blues & BBQ. Several requests for concerts have been turned down because of the Thursday restriction, he said.
Commissioner Ron Autry said at issue were the violations of the permit, not future plans for the site.
"Why are you coming here asking for stuff when we're talking about the violations?" he said.
The commission had four options: take no action, amend the permit, add conditions to the permit or revoke it. Discussion over the options got heated at times.
Commissioner Sloan Scroggin suggested allowing the permit to expire in October if a concrete plan to deal with the noise issue for neighbors wasn't presented to the commission by then.
"I feel like we've already gone through the process of playing nice," he said.
Chairman Matt Hoffman used the gavel at one point, prompting owner Jody Thornton to sit down after he asked to address the commission further.
Commissioner Zara Niederman made the motion to table the item until the next meeting, saying there may be a way to find a better solution than the current arrangement.
In other business, the commission forwarded to the City Council a proposal to downzone a neighborhood on the south side of town.
About 30 residents in the Parksdale neighborhood south of 15th Street petitioned the city. The entire neighborhood was zoned decades ago for multifamily housing up to 24 units per acre. The proposal would allow those property owners to rezone to a neighborhood conservation district allowing 10 units or fewer per acre.
Resident, Robin Devine, helped spearhead the effort after a three-story duplex went in on Brooks Avenue near Walker Street. The structure was allowed under the current zoning. Neighbors contend it and ones like it don't mesh with the mostly one-story, single-family neighborhood.
City planners held community meetings to develop the proposal planning commissioners considered Tuesday. The first part would let the property owners who signed the petition to downzone.
A second part of the proposal entails initiating a neighborhood-wide rezoning and putting an overlay district on it. An overlay district is an additional set of design standards. In this case, it would limit building height in the neighborhood to two stories. The lowest threshold right now anywhere in the city is three stories.
A dozen residents spoke, most of whom supported both measures.
City Attorney Kit Williams said the second part effectively puts on hold any potential developments such as the one the neighbors oppose. The City Council will make the final decision.
NW News on 05/30/2018
