ROGERS -- A Planning Commission decision this week further establishes the extension of commercial development farther east along Pleasant Grove Road.
Commissioners on Tuesday approved a conditional use permit to allow Splash Car Wash to operate at 1707 W. Pleasant Grove Road, at the corner of Pleasant Grove and South Concord Street.
Conditional use permits are used to regulate land uses that may only be appropriate at certain locations and under specific circumstances.
A car wash at the location matches the commercial zoning of the property but doesn't match the intended land use of the city's comprehensive growth map, which guides development decisions in the city and was adopted more recently than the original zoning.
Empty lots between Dixieland and Concord and north of Pleasant Grove were meant to be residential and not an extension of the neighboring commercial area near Interstate 49 and South 26th Street, according to the growth map.
According to a report by city staff, approving the permit for the car wash would set a precedent contrary to residential use of the land and promote commercial uses instead -- at least directly along the north side of Pleasant Grove Road.
The proposed car wash would be across Concord from residential buildings.
In September, a permit was approved for a Circle K gas station and convenience store about 1,000 feet to the west at 1787 W. Pleasant Grove Road, near the corner of Dixieland and Pleasant Grove roads.
Commissioner John Schmelzle said approving the gas station months ago more or less decided the rest of the lots along the north side of Pleasant Grove would be for commercial uses. Commissioner Jorge Andrade said he also didn't see an issue with the location of the car wash because the business will operate between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. and likely will not be unreasonably loud.
Commissioners voted 7-0 to grant the permit. Steve Lane abstained. Mark Myers was absent.
In other business, the commission unanimously approved a rezoning request by Welcome to Rogers, a planned 300-apartment mixed-use development, to rezone property at 335 S. Dodson Road from agricultural to neighborhood commercial. The development will be on the west side of town, near the Rogers-Bentonville border.
Plans include four apartment buildings situated in the shape of a rectangle with a clubhouse, fitness center and 428-space parking deck in the center.
The apartment buildings each will have three stories of dwelling units. The building directly along Dodson Road will have retail space on the bottom floor, according to the plans.
City engineering staff said they didn't believe the additional retail space on Dodson would add much traffic on the street.
The rezoning will move to the City Council for approval. A large-scale plan will need city approval before construction begins.
Armor Bank plans to build a 5,419-square-foot building at 1100 S. 52nd St., north of the Village on the Creeks shopping center in west Rogers. The commission unanimously approved development plans for the project, which will move to City Council for approval.
Van Dyke Center Warehouses also received unanimous approval to use property for warehouse office space at 1702 and 1704 W. Commerce Drive and 1703 and 1705 W. Industrial Drive.
Commissioners unanimously tabled a request by Juliana Cuevas and El Senor de los Carros for a conditional use permit for auto repairs at 1614 S. Eighth St. in the Southgate Shopping Center.