Council schedules public hearing on Wawa improvements and rezoning for Century Boulevard property

At its Feb. 4 meeting Springdale City Council held first readings on two development items and directed staff to follow up on site‑specific questions.

Ordinance 9‑20‑26 would accept public street improvements constructed as part of the Wawa development — including a traffic signal and a turn lane — and authorizes the mayor to execute documents required to accept and dedicate those improvements to the city. During questions Councilmember Gleaves asked whether trees in front of the Wawa site would have to be removed. City staff (Mr. Riggs) said the public improvements were installed according to plan but that screening decisions and riparian‑buffer work were site‑side matters and could be limited by EPA or ODOT requirements; he offered to look into the specifics and report back to council.

Ordinance 10‑20‑26 is a proposed zoning map amendment for 11550 Century Boulevard, a 3.107‑acre parcel. The application would change the property’s zoning from Office Business (OB) to General Industrial (GI) to permit operations by Closets by Design and Shine (Radiant Development Group LLC). The planning commission recommended approval. Mr. Jacobs said the rezoning is advertised for a public hearing at the council’s next meeting (Feb. 18).

Why it matters

If accepted, the Wawa public improvements would be dedicated to the city and maintained by the municipal public works department. The Century Boulevard rezoning would change allowable uses for the parcel and enable the applicants to locate industrial‑scale operations at the site pending council action after the advertised public hearing.

Next steps

Council asked staff to investigate tree removal/screening and riparian‑buffer constraints at the Wawa site. Ordinances 9 and 10 will return to council on Feb. 18 for further consideration and, in the case of the rezoning, a public hearing.

Quotes

"I don't recall exactly what was required with the screening... I can look into it for you," Mr. Riggs said in response to a council question about trees at the Wawa site.

"We will also have a public hearing at our next meeting," Mr. Jacobs said regarding the Century Boulevard rezoning.

The council adjourned after completing the agenda.