A new position has been created in the city, as a response to the demands placed on city officials with the extreme increase in building in the city limits.
The new position -- Planning Director -- will manage all things planning and be the secretary for the Planning Commission, according to Mayor Nathan See.
Heretofore, building and planning have been under the direction of the city building official, Tony Townsend.
In 2020, there were 203 building permits issued by the city. By 2021, that number had increased to 298, a number reached in 2022 by September. The 2022 numbers by the end of November were 314. The only time in the history of the city the numbers have been over 200 was in 2005 when there were 306 building permits sold.
Jessica Grady began as Planning Director Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.
"I hope that her being put in that position is going to help us plan better for our future land use and be able to streamline information from the city to developers and investors that are wanting to do work within our city limits," See said.
"We want to have a 10-year plan eventually for all departments. Her being there is going to help, not only the city, but be able to help other departments."
See said Grady's position will allow a lot of responsibilities that building official Tony Townsend to be alleviated from many responsibilities he's been carrying.
"She'll be taking all the planning stuff Tony was doing. She will solely be our planning director, which is a lot of what Tony was doing," See said. "My goal is to take as much as we can away from him so he can focus more on building side, cause as we all know building is not slowing down... We will relieve him so he can be taking care of the building side."
See said Grady will also be the secretary to the Planning Commission taking care of keeping the minutes and creating the agenda. He said the current bylaws for the Planning Commission will have to be changed as currently a member of the commission takes the minutes.
"The home occupations, public notices, all that will through her," See said. "She will do all things planning."
"Tony is the building official, so he'll take care of permits -- from commercial to residential, keeping up with all the building codes; he'll strictly be building official, which is enough for one person to have to do," See said.
Another position created recently is that of community development, a position filled by Dustin Phy.
"Phy is the inspector for any assets that we take -- for streets, drainage, sidewalks. He also helps with design factors of projects we'll be doing and are doing already. He goes out and takes topos (topographical) of area," See said, explaining that having the three positions creates a team of people "who are going to be able to work together, execute planning and have a better product by the end of the day.
See said Grady will receive the plans and send them to the Planning Commission and Phy, who will send them to the third-party engineer (Robbie Bullis with McClellan Engineering).
"I'm excited for the future of Pea Ridge and the momentum we have ... we have great opportunities at our disposal right now... I hope that we grow in a sustainable way... I think this will help the process to be able to grow in a sustainable way to have a full-time planner who can focus just on planning," See said
"Planning is very, very crucial to every city that's growing.
"If you don't have a plan, then you won't have a vision and if you don't have a vision, you're not going to be able to succeed or move forward and so, I think that this is crucial for us at this point where we're at as a city -- to have that planner to share that vision with the people who want to invest here."
"We have to be able to cast a vision with the people who want to invest here," See said. "If you don't have a vision ... your city is not going to grow in a sustainable way.
"We want to get that vision and a certified 10-year plan with every department. We want to have a vision not only for city employees, but our residents to see where we're headed.
"I think it's crucial for our residents to see how much we have done and yet, how much we need in next five to 10 years," he said.