SPRINGDALE -- The Planning Commission on Tuesday rejected a request for rezoning agricultural land along West Wagon Wheel Road at Arkansas 112. The commission's vote was unanimous, 7-0.
Blue Ribbon Industries owns the 14 acres and requested a commercial zoning. That city zoning would have allowed institutional development; culture, recreational or health establishments; restaurants; retail stores; large commercial buildings; limited manufacturing; or a parking lot.
Most recently, the land was used by Blue Ribbon as a lot from which to pull topsoil and a dump trucking operation.
Blue Ribbon recently was cited for operating a trucking business, not allowed under the current agricultural zone, said Patsy Christie, director of the city's Planning Department. She said the company also received citations regarding environmental measures.
Daniel Ellis, a senior vice president for infrastructure at Crafton-Tull civil engineering firm, representing Blue Ribbon, said the company has no plans for the land. He said the owner was considering options that would work under the commercial zoning.
Ellis said the owners have no plan to bring the trucking business back. He said that business had been sold.
Residents said they were glad to see the trucking business leave, but they were afraid it would return, as it is an approved use under the requested commercial zoning.
Planning Commissioner Roy Covert voted against the rezoning, feeling like Blue Ribbon did not have plans substantial enough to prevent the land from becoming an even worse problem for the community, he said after the meeting.
Commissioners Shannon Mueller and Dale Tyler said they didn't want to turn this size of tract into commercial space.
About 15 owners of properties adjacent to Blue Ribbon came to the commission meeting, and many voiced their opposition. The Planning Department also received more than six letters from residents opposing the zoning change.
Much of the area is still zoned for agricultural use. Any development there includes single-family homes on large tracts and a few residential subdivisions. Blue Ribbon owns more land surrounding this tract targeted for rezoning.
One resident, who said she lives in the Creekside Estates subdivision, said neighbors were not opposed to a commercial development, but asked that it be "neighborhood friendly" or commercial with a transition to residential. The resident did not give her name when she spoke to the commission.
Jared Spencer spoke of the natural beauty of the property along Spring Creek, which is lined with bluffs.
"Now it's a wasteland with a gravel pit and junkyard," he said. "It looks terrible. The land has been churned up, and it's in a flood zone. It should be a showplace for Springdale."
Neighboring landowners said Blue Ribbon is using the land to store swimming pool inserts, pipes and construction debris.
Residents spoke of the surrounding roads --Wagon Wheel and Wager Drive -- ruined by the heavy weight of the trucks constantly coming and going to the property.
David Gosvener said he lives across the street from the Blue Ribbon property. He said he was awakened at 5:30 a.m. each morning by a "back up buzzer" or the tailgates on the dump trucks banging.
"It was supposed to be a plant nursery and tree farm," Gosvener said. "But it's been twisted and turned."
The Blue Ribbon company operated a corn maze on the site during several fall seasons.
In November 2021, Alex Blass, representing Blue Ribbon, told the Springdale City Council that the company planned a nursery and tree farm on that property.
Blass came before the City Council asking to deannex seven parcels of land owned by the company and annex them into Cave Springs.
The properties were purchased by Blue Ribbon from different owners and belonged to several different jurisdictions -- Cave Springs, Benton County and Springdale, explained City Attorney Ernest Cate.
The company annexed them all into Springdale to ease development, but wanted to return to Cave Springs.
The Springdale City Council took no action, which meant the land stayed in Springdale.