Freddy's, Dairy Queen go before city board

n There will be a workshop at 6 p.m. Tuesday before the regular meeting.

The city board will consider two resolutions during its meeting Tuesday night that would authorize significant development permits to allow for the construction of a Dairy Queen and a Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers in Siloam Springs.

This comes just a few weeks after the last planning and zoning commission meeting, where it recommended that both of the significant development applications be approved, according to a March 17 report from the Herald-Leader. There is the possibility that a Popeye's Chicken is also coming to the city, as this was also approved in the same meeting, but it will not be up for the board's review on Tuesday, according to the meeting's agenda.

The Dairy Queen would be located in a vacant lot located at 102 Highway 412 E., which is formerly the site of a gas station/convenience store. It would be approximately 2,100 square feet, and city staff is recommending it be approved with no conditions.

The Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers would be located on a vacant lot on the 3500 Block of Highway 412 East, east of RibCrib. It would be about 2,800 square feet and although it received the planning commission's approval in a vote of 6-0, city staff is recommending that the proposal be remanded back to the planning commission during its meeting on May 14 due to a revision that was made in the project's design plans that will eliminate one of the driveways that was initially suggested.

There are also two more resolutions authorizing significant development permits for proposals that are also not new. The first comes from Black Hills Energy, which wishes to construct a near 11,000-square-foot operations center for a natural gas utility on a 4.03-acre lot located at 2250 N. Country Club Road, according to a city staff report. City staff is recommending it be approved, subject to the conditions that the applicant file a lot split application, as well as pay approximately $360 in street fees.

The final resolution regards a proposal from Krein Development LLC, to construct an 80,000-square-foot apartment complex on a series of lots located along the portion of Country Club Drive that intersects with East Little John Street and East Sherwood Street, according to a city staff report. More specifically, the lots can be found at 2200 E. Little John St., 2220 E. Sherwood St. and 2225 E. Sherwood St.

The development would consist of a total of four buildings and house approximately 20 dwelling units each, according to a city staff report. City staff is also recommending approval for this project, subject to two conditions. Namely, that the applicant pay approximately $26,000 in street fees as well as file some drainage easements which were requested by the city engineer.

In other business, the board will:

• Consider a request from the city's electric department to purchase a new transformer for the Moss Substation from PanAmerica, in the amount of $480,109, according to a city staff report. The current transformer at this substation is 48 years old and is serving a considerable amount of industrial-scale electrical needs. Due to this, the department believes it would be best to replace it. The purchase was also allotted $500,000 in this year's budget, thus saving the department about $20,000.

• Consider whether to place an ordinance on its first reading that would amend the section of the city's land use code that pertains to the review and approval process for development permits, according to a city staff report.

• Consider whether to place an ordinance on its first reading that would rezone a 3.70-acre property located at 303 S. Country Club Road from I-2 (light industrial) to C-2 (roadway commercial), according to a city staff report. This proposal was reviewed by the planning commission during their March 12 meeting and was approved 6-0.

Prior to the meeting at 6 p.m., there will be a joint-workshop between the city board and the planning commission to discuss the possibility of granting the commission greater autonomy when it comes to approving certain requests, instead of simply providing a recommendation to the board. The notion was first raised by Karl Mounger on Dec. 4 during a joint meeting between the two bodies, who, generally speaking, argued that if the commission were allowed to approve certain requests outright, that it would make development more attractive in the city because developers won't have to wait as long for some requests.

Both meetings will take place at City Hall, and for comments or questions, visit siloamsprings.com or call City Hall at 479-524-5136.

General News on 03/31/2019