Developer disappointed

Miller’s plat tabled

TIMES photograph by Annette Beard A truck hauls debris on Elkhorn Ridge subdivision, the final plat of which was tabled at a special Planning Commission meeting Monday night.
TIMES photograph by Annette Beard A truck hauls debris on Elkhorn Ridge subdivision, the final plat of which was tabled at a special Planning Commission meeting Monday night.

Less than two weeks after the regular monthly meeting for Pea Ridge Planning Commission, planners were back in City Hall for a special meeting Monday night. The meeting, called at the request of developer Franklin Miller, was to consider the final plat for Elkhorn Ridge subdivision, the final step before lots can be sold.

After extensive discussion, including testimony from city department heads Ken Hayes, water/wastewater, and Nathan See, streets, planners tabled the plat for numerous items not completed.

Initially, planner M.J. Hensley made a motion to approve the plat, but the vote was tied with three opposed and three in favor. With no attorney present, city building official Tony Townsend said: "We're at a tie; I don't know how that works."

"I don't feel like we're at 95 percent," chairman Zach Hoyt said in voting against the approval. "There are substantial grading issues."

He said the motion had failed but another motion could be made.

"It is more than 95 percent done. We need to get this thing done. I inherited something," Miller said. "If we delay this, I'm going to be very disappointed."

Miller said he had been handicapped by the recent wet weather and he wanted the approval so the plat could be presented to the City Council Tuesday for final approval.

Ultimately, all six members present voted to table the approval.

One of the main issues discussed was Ross Salvage Road, which Miller said was upgraded to 19 feet wide. City ordinance requires 30 feet, according to planner Jerry Burton, but the city asked for 24 feet due to a power pole and a ditch, according to Townsend. Planners also questioned whether there was a 50-foot right of way, as required. See said the pavement varied in depth and that DECCO was scheduled to come back out to repave the thin places.

"We did what we were told to do ... 19 is the maximum we could get," Miller said. "There's no problem with the right of way on my side."

Miller said he spent $30,000 on Ross Salvage and the city spent $6,000.

"I'm concerned that Ross Salvage Road will end up like Greer Street," Dr. Karen Sherman, planner, said, "with us rebuilding it in a year."

"My big issue is that what Franklin built isn't what's showed on the plan," M.J. Hensley, planner, said.

Also discussed were sidewalks and the pond, as well as clean up and seeding that are required by the city ordinance.

"I'm all for building this," Jerry Burton, planner said, "but we've been caught on several occasions where problems have occurred. I would prefer everything to be at 100 percent. I entertain coming back in a week to see if these problems have been resolved ... if it doesn't meet the specifications in our ordinances."

Some of the items to be addressed, according to planners, are:

• Pond construction finalized and seeded;

• General site grading, dirt work and seeding;

• Ross Salvage repair complete (pavement varies from 1-3 inches in depth);

• Streets cleaned (there is dirt all over the existing roads);

• Updated As-Built plans and Plat (once pond and general cleanup are complete); and

• Bond/Letter of Credit with amounts including labor.

The city ordinance requires the developer to pay for special meetings. Planners receive $100 per meeting they attend. Monday's meeting cost Miller $500.

"I threw away $500 tonight. I've blown it," Miller said. "I'm not very pleased with the situation. You're making a mountain out of a mole hill. I took an eyesore and spent a million dollars on it and I can't get the plat approved."

This wasn't the first time planners tabled a final plat from Miller.

In December 2005, City Council members tabled the final plat for the Battlefield View subdivision because Miller had not signed an agreement concerning retention ponds that was a contingency of the Planning Commission approving the final plat. There was a split vote on that 4-2 by planners. That plat was later approved in a special Planning Commission meeting Dec. 22, 2005.

Other developments by Miller include Oak Ridge West (1986), Givens Place (1996), Sugar Creek Estates (2003), Easterling Place (2007), Battlefield View Phase II (2005) and Patterson Place (2005).

General News on 03/16/2016