BENTONVILLE -- The Benton County Planning Board on March 20 voted 7-0 to approve a new plan for a glamping resort on Beaver Lake after denying a plan for the project from the same applicants nearly two years ago.
Board member Vernon Reams made the motion to approve the plan for Contentment on Beaver Lake with the approval of county Fire Marshal Gary Yarno, the Arkansas Department of Health and the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality after a public hearing.
Glamping is a form of camping in which the accommodations are more luxurious than traditional camping.
Contentment on Beaver Lake is planned to be built on seven parcels comprising 209 acres at 12200 Shockley Place Road.
Application materials submitted by Jason Appel, secretary/treasurer for Engineering Services Inc. in Springdale, pinpoint the site at about 8½ miles southeast from Rogers on the north shore of Beaver Lake. Gene and Candia Nicholas are the owner/developers for the property, which is planned to include the 21-acre resort and "extensive hiking and outdoor space."
Appel wrote in a narrative addressed to the Planning Board that the development will consist of 40 glamping tents and 12 covered wagons, as well as a lodge, pavilion and spa. Other features planned for the resort include an equipment rental space, a maintenance building/well house and a bathhouse, along with private systems for water distribution, sewer collection and storm drainage conveyance, according to a drainage report Engineering Services Inc. prepared for the project.
"The project will also include a sanitary sewer lift station and septic system," the report states. "All proposed roadways and street improvement will be privately maintained."
Appel noted in his narrative Gene and Candia Nicholas have secured approvals from the Department of Health for the proposed water and septic systems for the project. The site's water service will be facilitated by an existing on-site well, according to the meeting materials.
Appel said the proposed project also meets all the requirements and offsets from Beaver Lake the development team discussed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Planning Board had voted to deny an earlier version of the proposal for this project in September 2022. Among the concerns board members raised at that time were the impact wastewater from the glamping site could have on Beaver Lake and the proposal having "too many unknowns, hypotheticals and threats." The project likewise faced pushback from the public as the Planning Board was considering it.
This year's proposal was met with similar opposition.
Attorneys Robert Rhoads of Fayetteville and Richard Mays of Little Rock wrote in a letter to the Planning Board dated March 20 that they represent people and entities who own land adjoining and directly across the lake from the project.
"We, and our clients, are extremely concerned about the project in general, as it will completely change the character of the area from a quiet, pristine, natural setting to one with non-compatible carnival-like tents, covered wagons and other structures and novelties that will generate traffic, crowds, lighting, noise and pollution of Beaver Lake and the groundwater in the area," the letter states.
Rhoads and Mays argued in a memorandum to the Planning Board the project is more of an "entertainment venue" than a campground and it would be more suitable for an urban setting than otherwise wooded, undeveloped lake-side property.
Other concerns Rhoads and Mays raised included various types of harm they argued the glamping site would have on the environment and a reported lack of information on aspects of the proposed project. They recommended the Planning Board either deny the project proposal or defer considering it until these issues are addressed.
Rhoads attended the March 20 meeting to present his concerns to the Planning Board personally during the public hearing. Six other residents also voiced their opposition to the project, concurring with Rhoads while weighing in their own issues.
Rogers attorney Brent Johnson, who represents the applicants, was present to answer questions from the Planning Board and respond to concerns, along with the architect for the project and a soil scientist.
"It's not an amusement park," Johnson said. "It's supposed to be a peaceful, tranquil place where you can go out and enjoy nature a little bit, camp, glamp, for people who don't necessarily like sitting in a tent."
A report included in the meeting packet prepared by Madison Kienzle, county planning director, stated Yarno has commented the project site will require hydrants for fire suppression and the site plan will be revised to detail where these hydrants will be.