By Martin Couch
Upon the approval of the of site plans by the Bryant Planning Commission and the Bryant City Council, a new family center for fun and entertainment could be coming to Bryant soon.
Scene Extreme, which would be a family-friendly entertainment center, could be constructed in the near future following the Bryant Planning Commission passing a rezoning application in Monday night's meeting. The area, approximately 7.92 acres located at 6837 Highway 5, was partially zoned as residential and partially commercial. The applicant, David McCombs, who is the president of Scene Extreme, asked the Commission to rezone the area entirely as commercial property.[more]
"When the area was originally annexed into the city, it was zoned commercial in a portion," said property owner representative Ed Penick. "Part of it is residential and our application is to have it all zoned as commercial."
McCombs will run the business that is 50,000 square feet for family entertainment purposes. McCombs has already contracted the property.
"When it is up and operating, the property would provide a nice and safe place for young families, teenagers and young adults to enjoy a family outing," Penick said. "The current $5 million plan will benefit the community to increase the tax base for schools. There will be 40 people hired to be employed there and there will be a lot of spending with the local vendors for other services from the community, as well."
In a public hearing setting at Monday's Commission meeting, Doug and Colleen Mays of 6822 Highway 5 north in Bryant had some concerns and requests for McComb.
"We are directly across the highway from the proposed property," Ms. Mays said. "I don't think we have objection to the rezoning of the property, but we do have questions and concerns. If the deal goes through, I would request of the developer that the driveway to the business not be directly across from our driveway to our residence for issues of us getting out of our own driveway. We don't like headlights at night."
The Mays' other concern dealt with storm water drainage.
"There is a creek that runs through our property and we have livestock, so the flood takes our fences out," Ms. Mays added. "When this eight acres of concrete, brick and asphalt are built, there is going to be a tremendous amount of run-off and it would be devastating to our property. We don't have a problem with the property and the business, but can something be done or will be done to protect us from excessive run-off?"
Bryant Planning Commission chairman Lance Penfield addressed the Mays' concerns.
"They have to bring the site plan back to this commission and your concerns will be notated," Penfield told Ms. Mays. "The property owner has plenty of ground to relocate the driveway away from your driveway."Bryant City Engineer Richard Penn addressed the concerns for the storm water run-off."They would have to meet all the requirements of storm water run-off and have it reviewed by a third party to meet with our plan," Penn said.
Mr. Mays asked to be able to see the plans for the site before construction, to work with the developer.
"Our building is a 400-feet long zone and the driveways are going to be away from the house driveway," McCombs said. "We will have a driveway on the backside of it facing Highway 5 for delivery purposes only and we have hired a consultant for our development planning of the land to address draining issues. I don't want my deal to get flooded either."
The proposed hours of operation for Scene Extreme are Sundays from 1 to 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday from 4 to 10 p.m., then Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to midnight.
The rezoning of the area to commercial was passed by the Commission.
