Planning Commission works on drive-through ordinance

The Planning Commission unanimously approved the first phase of a re-crafted drive-through ordinance during a special meeting Monday.

The original ordinance was first approved by the commission on Oct. 8, according to a staff report. It went before the city board for its first reading on Oct. 15. During the second reading on Nov. 5, the ordinance was withdrawn due to concerns by local citizens.

Ben Rhoads, senior planner for the city of Siloam Springs, presented this information to the Planning Commission and discussed the re-crafted ordinance. According to Rhoads, the ordinance will now have two phases. The first phase will address residents' immediate concerns.

Rhoads said any commercial property seeking a drive-through that is adjacent to or touching a residential zone will be subject to a special use permit. This encourages conditions to be added to the applicant to address issues on a case-by-case basis, Rhoads said.

For example, if a residence is impacted by headlights of approaching vehicles, then a condition to the permit could be that a special screening or fence to block the lights be installed by the applicant, Rhoads said.

Jacob Frese and Carla Wasson, two of the residents who weighed in on the original ordinance on Nov. 5, were invited to attend Monday's meeting, according to Rhoads.

Wasson, who lives in a nearby residence and objected to Taco Jake's drive-through at the Nov. 5 city board meeting, attended the meeting on Monday but did not speak.

Frese, owner of Taco Jake's, requested a driveway variance permit to add a drive-through at the restaurant, located at 403 U.S. Hwy. 412 W., on Aug. 5, according to a story in the Herald-Leader on Aug. 18. If approved, the drive-through would have encroached into five feet of the required six foot green space buffer, according to the story. It would have left a 1.2-foot clearance from the edge of the property line to the drive-through.

The permit was addressed at the board of adjustment meeting on Aug. 13, where Wasson spoke about her concerns that installing a communications system to take orders was going to be a nuisance, as well as lowering the value of the property that Wasson's Funeral Home, which is adjacent to Taco Jake's, the story states.

The board of adjustments denied Taco Jake's request because of a lack of space, according to the article. Taco Jake's is presently closed.

The originally proposed code changes were written to address deficiencies in the existing driveway code that became apparent when Taco Jake's was denied the variance, according to a staff report for the October planning commission meeting. While the Taco Jake's situation brought the code deficiencies to light, the amendments are not related to Taco Jake's and do not mean the drive-through lane at Taco Jake's will be automatically approved, Rhoads said in October.

On Monday, Frese asked if he was looking at another three to four months before going back in front of the board to reexamine his special use permit request.

When the commission answered yes, Frese said he is losing more than $10,000 a month because his business is sitting idle.

"The question is do you really want to see that building sit vacant for another 10 to 12 years before somebody comes along and does something different or is there any way to resolve this in a quicker manner so that we can move forward and attempt to cash-flow this business?" Frese asked.

Frese asked for a show of hands of how many people have been inside Taco Jake's. Four of the commissioners raised their hands. Frese said that he spent a lot of money on the interior and that if he can attempt to cash-flow the business he will continue to reinvest in the building where Taco Jake's presently sits.

Frese then asked if the commission can move this forward and give him an answer now.

"If you are going to deny me a drive-through, I need to cut my losses now so I don't waste another $50,000 over the next five months waiting on an answer," he said.

Planning Commission Chair Judy Nation said that all the commission can presently consider is what is before them on the agenda.

The first phase of the ordinance will go before the city board of directors on Dec. 3.

The second phase will be to address specific drive-through regulations, according to the staff report. It will not be a repeat of what was already presented, Rhoads said.

The second phase of the ordinance will go before the planning commission around the first quarter of 2020.

General News on 11/20/2019