Two requests for retail liquor sales in Pea Ridge have been received by the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Mayor Jackie Crabtree and Police Chief Tim Ledbetter received copies and were asked for comments.
The first request is for Hilltop Liquor at 165 W. Pickens Road - between Pea Ridge Intermediate School downtown and Pea Ridge High School just west of the property.
“I had concerns with ingress/ egress,” Crabtree wrote on the application from Chuck Simmons, who filed the application. The property is on the south side of West Pickens on a curve west of downtown.
“I am concerned that this business sits between the schools and children walk along there every day,” Ledbetter said.
The deadline for permits was April 30. More than 70 requests for alcohol sales in Benton County were received by the ABC, and there will be 55 approved by lottery.
Raymond Charles “Chuck” Simmons, who lists a Bentonville address, wrote on the application that the living quarters on the second floor of the building would be converted to inventory storage if the request is approved.
The building is 962.75 feet from Pea Ridge United Methodist Church on North Davis Street,according to Google Earth maps, 1,003 feet from the edge of the new intermediate school building and about .4 of a mile from the high school.
Crabtree said he is working on having maps prepared delineating 1,000 feet radius around schools and churches within the city limits for the use of the Planning Commission and city officials.
There was a public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m.
Tuesday night for a conditional use for the business.
The meeting was after the newspaper’s deadline.
In April, the City Council approved an ordinance outlining guidelines for businesses selling alcohol within the city limits. The ordinance had been considered for some time by both the Planning Commission and Council before being approved. One facet of the ordinance includes all the state statutes governing alcohol sales which includes a prohibition of sales within 1,000 feet of a school or church.
The second request was from Chad Smith, who requested a permit for 139 N.
Davis St., Suite C, which is the location of Dr. Rhonda Higgins medical clinic.
There is a sign posted on a brick column on the north side of the building advertising the liquor sales permit requested. The permit said the business would be named Chad’s Bev Shop.
“I don’t think that’s a good place, the set backs aren’t there for a stand-alone building. There’s no place for one that we know of, but it’s all got to go through the Planning Commission,” Crabtree said of Smith’s request.
News, Pages 1 on 05/08/2013