Unfriendly to Business?

“You can’t be trusted as a public servant to tell the truth,” shouted developer Gary Combs, “and I can get contractors from here and all over the country to come in here and say the same thing.” He called Planning Director Patsy Christie a "liar" at the Springdale Planning Commission's meeting last night, then continued, "You tell us we have your support and then you do this. You tell us one thing, do another and throw us under the bus. Every developer in Northwest Arkansas would agree with me. I've got the guts to say it."

That's a new approach, calling Signdale unfriendly to developers. But it worked in this municipal morass that neglects downtown, loves billboards, and considers a truckstop the very essence of smart growth economic development. After his outburst and without having seen a final plat they trust him to file later, the Planning Commission approved a commercial rezoning of 23 of the 46 acre "travel plaza" and a truck repair permit for Diesel Downs, the gigantic truck stop planned at I-540 and Wagon Wheel Road. Since Chickenopolis doesn't have a tree ordinance, he didn't have to worry about getting permission to strip the land and cover it with red dirt.

Gary Combs will be all set when the proposed Regional Mobility Authority gets our tax dollars to build that Springdale Bypass the trucking industry is demanding and will surely get before anyone even considers funding mass transit.