MAUMELLE, Ark. – A new wedding venue to be located in the middle of the Maumelle Country Club is sparking lots of commotion among those who live close by.
This has been a long journey as an old water treatment plan was sold and was going to be rezoned for condos, then residential homes, and now it has been bought by Krash Inc. and they plan to build a wedding venue there.
The issue some said, is it is surrounded by the country club property and a short distance from people’s homes.
“It’s something to get excited about,” area resident, Lee Wefel said.
“Our whole lives will be turned upside down,” neighbor Jody Parker said.
In the middle of a busy country club, lies a piece of property that will now be developed into a wedding venue.
Residents living near the country club said they feel blindsided by the decision.
“Somehow nobody reached out to us and informed us and we found out about it on social media,” area resident Cynthia Adams said.
“We 100% could’ve done a better reaching out to those people,” co-developer on the project, Brent Ashcraft, said.
People living in the surrounding neighborhoods have mixed concerns about the safety of their neighbors and families, with lots of traffic coming in and out.
“Are they going to have to carry flashlights now, they are in a very safe neighborhood, now they are going to change it all up,” neighbor Mike Holligan said.
“I know it’s going to be monitored I know when there is going to be people up here when there is going to be potential traffic on that road, and therefore I can make a decision as a father what I am going to let me kids do and what I am not going to let my kids do,” Wefel said.
They also brought up noise levels with the space being visible right from their windows.
“It’s going to be a huge quality of life issue for us my bedroom is just right there, I can hear everything and once they start having entertainment and so forth, I just don’t know how they are going to be able to stay within the noise ordinances,” Adams said.
“There is a certain amount of noise we are allowed to make until 9 or 9:30 at night and then we will go down to 0 decibels 100 feet from the building, so we will have to shut our events down, that’s all covered by city code,” Ashcraft stated.
The Mayor, Caleb Norris, said the developers have gotten approval on some things like the 12,000 sq ft venue, but there are still some additional changes to the size of the building and things that need to be approved in the future.
Mayor Norris also added, there is still an opportunity for the public to share their input with the Planning Commission and City Council.
