The former owner of the vacant lot at 2105 Malvern Ave. spent much of last year trying to rezone the 2.2 acres from residential to commercial use.
In July, the Hot Springs Planning Commission denied James Green's application for neighborhood commercial, or C-3, zoning. In October, commissioners denied his application for commercial transitional, or C-TR, zoning, a ruling the Hot Springs Board of Directors upheld in December. Prior to the board hearing Green's appeal, he entered into an agreement to sell part of the lot to Chambers Bank that was conditioned on the property being rezoned.
The current owner, Dragan Vicentic, has applied for planned development, or PD, zoning, the city confirmed Friday. The planning commission will consider the application that included a site plan for two banks and a single-family home at its July 8 meeting.
Residents of the Suburban Heights Subdivision, the Hot Springs Golf and Country Club and other property owners in the area objected to Green's rezoning attempts. The agreement with Chambers Bank was for the southeast part of the lot, Green's attorney, Q. Byrum Hurst, told the board in December. The neighborhood questioned if the balance of the lot would be developed for multifamily housing, a permitted use under the C-TR zoning Green requested.
Realtor Dayton Myers, who filed the PD application on Vicentic's behalf and is a co-developer in the project, said the site plan required for PD zoning details land uses proposed for the entire property. PD is a custom zoning designation not subject to the restrictions of other zoning designations.
It's become more sought after as the inventory of land that can be developed within the strictures of conventional zoning has become less available. Applicants submit a detailed site plan and list of uses that have to be followed to the letter. Amendments require board approval.
"We chose the planned development method because we believe that is the best way to make this property usable, both for the neighborhood and for us," Myers said in a letter sent to owners of property within 200 feet of the vacant lot. "I met with one of your neighbors in April and got a lot of very good suggestions as to why the neighborhood was so opposed. Traffic, safety, and the unknown use of the property seemed to be the three biggest concerns, and we believe our plan helps to address those."
The letter said there will be no access to the banks from Suburban Drive.
"The only new driveway on Suburban Drive will be to the new house located on Tract 3R. In addition, there will be a 5-foot sidewalk with curb and gutter along the southern side of Suburban Drive from the start of Suburban to just before the new house as well as on Malvern Avenue in front of the banks."
The banks would have a shared access to Malvern Avenue, with an entrance lane and right and left turn lanes for traffic exiting the banks. The banks would be open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"These times are optimal for a business that abuts a residential neighborhood so not to disturb the residents when they are home," the letter said.
The two-story, single-family home proposed for the northeast corner of the lot would separate the banks from the residence at 108 Suburban Drive.
The lot has sat idle for more than a decade. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, a previous owner of the parcel, was in negotiations to sell the land to Arvest Bank in 2011. The planning commission approved the church's application for C-3 zoning, but the zoning change was appealed to the city board and overturned.
"Dragan Vicentic, the new property owner whom I represent, lives in Eastgate II," Myers said in his letter to adjacent property owners. "Mr. Vicentic has taken on this development to ensure that what is built on the site does not harm his and your neighborhoods in any way. Mr. Vicentic owns Indiandale Shopping Center and other properties along Malvern Avenue, and was instrumental in bringing the Walmart Neighborhood Market in and revitalizing that area."