GENTRY — The rejection of a plan to operate a metal recycling business near Gentry was upheld Feb. 25 by the three Benton County justices of the peace chosen to hear an appeal from the county’s Planning Board.
Tom Smith, chief operating officer of USA Metal Recycling, said immediately after Monday’s hearing that the process was not at an end, with an appeal to Benton County Circuit Court being the next step.
“I respect their time, and I expect we’ll follow the appeals process,” Smith said. “This was just a formality.”
The Benton County Planning Board rejected Smith’s application for the business at 13670 Old Highway 59 after a December public hearing at which 15 people spoke in opposition to the business’ plans. Planning Department staff noted at the time the proposal would establish a heavy industrial use in an area where no other heavy industrial uses are in proximity; in an area where there is an established residential and agricultural pattern of land use; where the transportation infrastructure does not currently support a heavy industrial use; and that allowing such disparate land use will change the character of the area. Most of that same information was reviewed Monday by Chris Ryan, the county’s planning and environmental director, and supplemented by Mark Curtis, chairman of the Planning Board.
Several neighbors and owners of nearby property spoke against the business proposal at Monday’s hearing. Terry McCormick, of Shreveport, La., represented the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which has a church and school in the area. McCormick asked the panel to deny Smith’s request to operate his business at the site.
“This operation is completely out of place in this neighborhood,” McCormick said, citing the difficulty of having church services or offering programs to individuals if they would be continually interrupted by the noise of the recycling facility. “It should be in a heavy industrial area. This absolutely has no place here. It’s like a sore thumb sticking out in the community and he needs to find a better place.”
Justices of the Peace Steve Curry of Gravette, Susan Anglin of Bentonville and Kurt Moore of Siloam Springs were chosen by County Judge Bob Clinard to hear the USA Metal Recycling appeal. After hearing a report from the county Planning Department staff, public comment on the proposal, and Smith’s rebuttal, the three voted unanimously to uphold the Planning Board’s decision.
“I’m going to support what the Planning Board has done,” Curry said, “I think the key word is compatibility.”
Anglin, who farms in the Vaughn area, said she was concerned about the potential for groundwater pollution from the business. She cited the location of the site in the Illinois River watershed and the long battle between Arkansas and Oklahoma over water quality standards in the river. Anglin also pointed to the surrounding use of property for farming and for residential use.
“I do believe it is an incompatible use for that area,” she said. “I would have to support what the Planning Department has said.”
Moore said he also was influenced by opposition from Gentry city government, as expressed by Gentry City Attorney Jay Williams. Williams said the location of the proposed metal recycling and transfer station is between 100 and 200 yards outside the city limits but is within the city’s planning jurisdiction. In answer to a question from Moore, Williams said an effort to voluntarily annex the land into the city has been discussed, but no formal action taken.
“My decision was based a lot upon the city of Gentry’s opposition to having this facility in that location,” Moore said. “Even though they didn’t make a request to be a part of the planning process, they made it clear this is an area they are planning to annex in the future.”
Curtis said he appreciated the support of the appeals panel.
“I’m pleased with the process working once again,” Curtis said. “I’m pleased that the appeals board upheld the decision we as a planning board made.”
In a pair of appeals in 2012, the panels chosen to hear planning appeals split, upholding the Planning Board once and reversing it in another case. The two appeals heard last year stemmed from decisions made by the board in June. The board rejected a proposed large-scale development for Nighthawk Custom Training Academy, characterized in the appeal as “a private shooting range,” on a site at 2016 W. Centerton Blvd. near Centerton. Another plan for Downtown Towing, which planned a “temporary holding lot for wrecked and impounded vehicles” for property at 21819 Meadow Wood Drive near Siloam Springs, also was rejected. Both businesses were operating at those locations without permits from the county and were asked to submit plans after complaints were made to the Planning Department, according to information presented at the June meeting. Both decisions were appealed. The denial of the application for the gun range was overturned. The towing lot decision was upheld.
News, Pages 5 on 03/06/2013