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Board grants variance to Stonebridge lot from cross-access requirement after developer and staff debate
Summary
The board approved a variance allowing a planned Stonebridge lot to remain without a cross-access tie to an adjacent Upper Crust Pizza parking area, after the developer argued the connection would reduce usable parking and the city's traffic study had not required it.
The Jonesboro Board of Zoning Appeals on Oct. 27 approved a variance request from a Stonebridge-area developer to avoid providing an on-site cross-access connection to an adjacent property (identified in the meeting as the Upper Crust Pizza parcel).
Representatives for the developer said the adjacent parking lot is narrow (they cited measurements of about 50 to 54 feet) and that connecting would force vehicles to drive through parking spaces and render a portion of the adjacent lot effectively unusable. The developer said the site's traffic study did not require cross-access and that their plans already provide for a potential future connection on the south side if the neighboring parcel is redeveloped.
Staff and board members questioned how multiple previous variances for the site affected the board's decision and whether the lot was too constrained to accommodate the developer's full program. A board member observed that granting multiple variances might indicate the site is undersized for the planned development.
A motion to approve the variance passed on a roll call with one abstention: Miles, abstain; Bailey, yes; Capels, yes; Gilmore, yes. The developer was instructed that any future physical connection would be undertaken only if the adjacent property were redeveloped and compliant cross-access easements were put in place.
The developer said they had modified permit plans for a related convenience store to show a proposed drive access while the variance request was pending and that a later variance would allow them to revert to the original layout if the board approved.
No additional conditions beyond the variance approval were recorded in the meeting minutes provided.
