Benton Planning Commission to discuss Mini Storage, Coorstek, Subdivisions & more, Jan 4th

The City of Benton Planning Commission will meet Tuesday, January 4th, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. in Council Chambers at 114 S. East St.

Scroll down to read the minutes of the previous meeting.

This meeting’s agenda is as follows:

1) Establish a Quorum / Call to Order

2) Approve Minutes from December 7th, 2021 Planning & Zoning Meeting

3) Board of Adjustments

4) Planning Commission

a. 510 S. Market Street – Conditional Use Request

b. Auburn Hills Phase 4 – Final Plat Approval

c. CoorsTek Phase 2 – Site Plan Approval

d. 5900 Congo Road – Mini Storage Site Plan [ETJ]

e. The Grove Phase 2 – Final Plat Approval [ETJ]

f. Jackman Trail – Preliminary Plat Approval [ETJ]

5. Other Business

Meeting Adjourned

Read the minutes from the previous meeting, held Tuesday, December 7, 2021.

Chairman Black called the meeting to order. Roll call resulted in 2 members being absent. Members Present Members Absent

Brian Black, Chairman; Pamela Gibson; Lois Burks; Mark Chilton; Stephanie Griffin; Johnise Lawani; James Stilwell; Carl West; Darrell Wood; Brad Jordan, Comm. Development Director; Chelsea Matthews, City Planner.

Approval of the Minutes of the November 2nd 2021 Meeting

Chairman Black asked if there were any additions, deletions, or corrections to the minutes. City Planner, Chelsea Matthews let the commissioners know that there were some grammatical errors that were fixed but that there was nothing changed content wise. Commissioner Wood makes a motion to approve the minutes. Commissioner Burks second. Minutes approved.

Approval of the Minutes of the November 22nd 2021 Special Meeting

Chairman Black asked if there were any additions, deletions, or corrections to the minutes. Commissioner Burks makes a motion to approve the minutes as is. Commissioner Stillwell second. Minutes approved.

BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTS:

Ample Mini Storage Variance – Tabled from 11.02.2021

Chairman Black asked Mrs. Matthews to introduce the Ample Mini Storage variance request. Mrs. Matthews reads the memorandum stating that Jonathan Hope, on behalf of Terry Bean would like to request a variance to the Zoning Ordinance as it pertains to landscaping.

The site plan for this project was tabled on 11.02.2021 due to the applicant not being in compliance with the Zoning Ordinance. Mrs. Matthews states that all comments from the Development Review Committee were addressed and approved by the various departments within the City of Benton. Chairman Black calls for any comments or questions regarding this variance request.

Discussion is made around the room about the requirements of the Landscape Ordinance and what it requires for Mini Storage facilities. Jonathan Hope with Hope Consulting speaks in favor of this request and states that he would be glad to answer any questions from Staff or Citizens. There are no additional questions or comments.

Commissioner Burks makes a motion to approve this request. Commissioner Chilton second. Motion carried 6-0. Chairman Black states the Planning & Zoning Commission will add the site plan for Ample Mini Storage to the Planning & Zoning Agenda since Mr. Hope is requesting site plan approval as well.

Empire Cheer Site Plan Variance

Chairman Black asked Mrs. Matthews to introduce the variance request for Empire Cheer. Mrs. Matthews reads the memorandum stating that Eric Richardson, on behalf of Mason Leigh, LLC would like to request a variance to the Zoning Ordinance as it pertains to landscaping and parking.

Mrs. Matthews states that Mr. Richardson is requesting to have 13 less parking spots than the minimum requirement for this size building and not have to have landscaping on the backside of the building. Mrs. Matthews states that all comments from the Development Review Committee have been addressed and approved by the various department within the City of Benton.

Chairman Black voices some concerns regarding the proposed parking off of the main highway and setbacks on the site plan. Chairman Black calls for any comments or questions regarding this variance request. Eric Richardson with Richardson Engineering speaks in favor of this request and states that he would be glad to answer any questions from Staff or Citizens.

Mr. Richardson gives clarification that the setbacks Chairman Black were referring to are actually from the retaining wall, not the property line. Discussion is made around the room regarding the upgrades to the site that Mr. Richardson is going to be doing and how he plans to make the parking off of the main road functional.

There are no additional questions or comments. Commissioner Chilton makes a motion to approve this request. Commissioner Burks second. Motion carried 6- 0. Chairman Black states that the Planning & Zoning Commission will add the site plan for Empire Cheer to the Planning & Zoning Agenda since Mr. Richardson is requesting site plan approval as well. Planning Commission

Chairman Black states that the Commission currently has 4 items on the agenda but 2 more items will need to be added: Ample Mini Storage site plan and Empire Cheer site plan. Commissioner Gibson makes a motion to approve this change to the agenda. Commissioner Chilton second. Motion carried.

Ample Mini Storage Site Plan

Chairman Black asked Mrs. Matthews to introduce the site plan for Ample Mini Storage. Mrs. Matthews reads the memorandum that states that Hope Consulting, on behalf of Terry Bean would like to request approval for the site plan for Ample Mini Storage. Chairman Black calls for any comments or questions regarding this Site Plan.

There are no additional questions or comments. Commissioner Burks makes a motion to approve this site plan. Commissioner Chilton second. Motion carried 6-0.

Empire Cheer Site Plan

Chairman Black asked Mrs. Matthews to introduce the site plan for Empire Cheer. Mrs. Matthews reads the memorandum that states that Richardson Engineering, on behalf of Mason Leigh LLC would like to request approval for the site plan for Empire Cheer. Chairman Black calls for any comments or questions regarding this site plan.

There are no additional questions or comments. Commissioner Chilton makes a motion to approve this site plan. Commissioner Burks second. Motion carried 6-0.

Discussion of Changes to Zoning Ordinance related to C3 Properties

Council Member Robin Freeman introduces the discussion of changes to the Zoning Ordinance related to C3 properties. She states that Council Member Shane Knight put together an Ordinance to hopefully help the City of Benton protect their most valuable piece of property – C3 zones. Council Member Shane Knight comes forward to speak on the item and clarifies that this is just for discussion only.

He states that he hopes that this Ordinance will help the City place businesses that provide Sales Tax revenue to help fund the City and any future growth. The proposed Ordinance states that any business coming to the City of Benton, that will be placed within a C3 zone, will have to go through the Conditional Use process to ensure that the business has the capacity to generate Sales Tax revenue.

Discussion is made around the room regarding concerns with requiring every property to go through the Conditional Use process. Council Member Shane Knight states that he just wanted to bring this to the Planning Commission to start a discussion of the topic and get feedback from the commissioners. There is no item to vote on as this is just a discussion item.

416 5th Street – Rezone

Chairman Black asked Mrs. Matthews to introduce the Rezone request for 416 5th Street. Mrs. Matthews reads the memorandum that states that the property owner, Chris Dalby, would like to request a rezone for 416 5th Street.

She states that the purpose of this rezone is to lower the lot size minimum from 7,000 square feet that is required in the current zone [R2], to 3,500 square feet that is allowed in the requested zone [R3].

Mrs. Matthews states that all comments from the Development Review Committee have been addressed and approved by the various Departments within the City of Benton. Chairman Black calls for any comments or questions regarding this rezone request. Chris Dalby, the property owner, speaks in favor of this request.

Discussion is made around the room regarding the possibilities of future development on this property if rezoned to R3. There are no additional questions or comments. Commissioner Wood makes a motion to approve this request. Commissioner Chilton second.

Motion carried 6-0. Since this is a rezone request, it will go before the City Council for final decision on 12.20.2022 at 6:00pm.

Del Rey Phase 2 – Final Plat [Revised]

Chairman Black asked Mrs. Matthews to introduce the Final Plat for Del Rey Phase 2. Mrs. Matthews reads the memorandum that states that GarNat Engineering would like to request the re-approval of the final plat for Del Rey Phase 2.

She states that this Final Plat was previously approved on 04.06.2021 but whenever development started, there was an error within the setback. This revised final plat had the correct setback line of 21.5’. She states that all comments from the Development Review Committee have been addressed and approved by the various Departments within the City of Benton.

Chairman Black calls for any comments or questions regarding this final plat approval. Vernon Williams with GarNat Engineering speaks in favor of this request. There are no additional questions or comments. Commissioner Gibson makes a motion to approve this revised final plat. Commissioner Burks second. Motion carried 6-0.

Logan’s Creek – Final Plat

Chairman Black asked Mrs. Matthews to introduce the final plat for Logan’s Creek. Mrs. Matthews reads the memorandum that states that Hope Consulting would like to request approval of the final plat for Logan’s Creek.

She states that all comments from the Development Review Committee have been addressed and approved by the various Departments within the City of Benton. Chairman Black calls for any comments or questions regarding this final plat approval. Jonathan Hope with Hope Consulting speaks in favor of this item.

There are no additional questions or comments. Commissioner Wood makes a motion to approve this final plat. Commissioner Lawani second. Motion carried 6-0.

Meeting Adjourned.

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