Rogers Planners Commission approves retirement community, Chick-Fil-A expansion

Rogers City Hall, April 11, 2016
Rogers City Hall, April 11, 2016

ROGERS -- A retirement community is a step closer to being built after the Planning Commission on Tuesday approved plans for the project.

Plans for Pinnacle Springs Retirement Community show the development will have 130 residential units on 7.7 acres at the northeast corner of Bellview Road and Hampton Place. The commission also agreed to rezone the land from highway commercial and residential office to the neighborhood commercial zoning district to allow Pinnacle Springs to be built there.

Other action

The Rogers Planning Commission met Tuesday and voted to:

• Allow a photography studio at 606 N. Fifth St. at the request by Angela Blake

• Rehear a request by Dash Storage to allow warehousing and storage on 4.27 acres on South First Street, south of East New Hope Road.

• Allow Innisfree Rehab to add a 13,500-square-foot residential building at 299 S. 24th St.

Pinnacle Springs would be a part of Resort Lifestyle Communities, which has similar facilities in 23 states, according to its website.

Bob Lewis, a representative for the project, said the company has 29 facilities open and is working on another 30-40 communities. Residents pay a monthly rent that includes three meals a day, housekeeping, transportation, gym access, theater access and other amenities, he said during a committee meeting.

While residents must be at least 55, the average age is about 80-82, said Dwight Kiser, another representative for the project.

"We don't even market it to people under 75," Lewis said.

About 13% of residents, or about 36,000 people, in Benton County are older than 65, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2018 estimate.

Kiser said construction would likely begin next spring.

"It's very clear to me this is a very well-developed project model," said Don Spann, commissioner.

Spann said the project was high quality and would work well in the area.

The commission unanimously approved the plans and the rezoning with commissioner Mark Myers absent.

The Chick-fil-A at 2601 W. Pleasant Grove Road will also be able to expand with more than 190 square feet of kitchen space and a second drive-through lane with an awning after a 5-3 vote.

The contention was over whether the city should bend its rules to allow for the expansion, which would cause Chick-fil-A to lose six of its required parking spaces and to have shorter setbacks around its building than required.

Bryan Burger, a representative for the project, said the extra lane and more kitchen space would help alleviate traffic by getting food out to customers faster. Chick-fil-A used to build restaurants on an acre to 1 1/2 acre but, because of its popularity, builds new restaurants on 2-2 1/2 acres. The company sometimes does these types of expansions on its older restaurants, such as the one on Pleasant Grove Road, because there typically isn't adjacent land to purchase, Burger said.

The commission generally grants variances such as the one Chick-fil-A was requesting when a development has a hardship preventing it from being able to meet all of the city's requirements. John McCurdy, community development director, said hardships generally have to do with a site's geography and there's nothing unique about the geography of the Chick-Fil-A site, other than the business has outgrown the location.

"I'm not weighing in one way or the other too strongly because I do see a public good in moving the traffic through, but it's not unlike a small auto repair shop that has outgrown its location," McCurdy said.

Commissioners Spann, Tony Noblin and Eriks Zvers voted against the variances. Commissioners Dennis Ferguson, Kevin Jensen, Mandel Samuels, John Schmelzle and Rachel Crawford voted in favor.

The commission also approved expansion plans, including more than 16,800 square feet of new and expanded buildings, for the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion. The concert venue in November announced its $13.9 million expansion would include increasing seating capacity from 10,000 to 11,000, a box office, two outdoor plazas for two concession stands and 56 restroom stalls and an expanded main entry plaza with more concession stands and restrooms.

NW News on 06/19/2019

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