HDC_05 03 1990City of Little Rock
HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION
LITTLE ROCK HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMISSION
MAY 3, 1990
5:00 P.M.
The meeting was called to order at 5:05 p.m. by Chairman
William Kennedy, III. A quorum was present - Mr. William
Kennedy, III, Ms. Cheryl Nichols, Mr. Thomas Johnson and Mr.
John Bush. Mr. John Jarrard was absent. Also present was
City Attorney Stephen Giles.
Before any order of business, Mr. John Bush was recognized
by Chairman Kennedy as a new member who had been added to
serve on the Board.
A motion was made by Commissioner Johnson and seconded by
Commissioner Nichols to approve the minutes of November 2
and January 4 as mailed. Also a motion was made by
Commissioner Bush and seconded by Commissioner Nichols to
approved the minutes of January 25 as mailed. Motion
passed.
The meeting was opened by a report from Mr. Giles regarding
the demolition of the Bossiner House. Mr. Giles said that
his office had spent a lot of time drafting and redrafing an
affidavit trying to get the Municipal Court Judge to issue a
warrant to the property owner. The Judge had a problem in
so doing because the City's Public Works Department made an
error. Even though the Statute and the Ordinance require
property owners to get a Certificate of Appropriateness
before anything can be done with the building, the Judge did
not see it that way, amd it appears to be a dead issue at
this point. Also it was stated by Mr. Giles that his office
has looked at all possibilities for further legal action or
civil action against the property owner for loss of the
Historic District structure.
Chairman Kennedy asked if action had been taken to assure
the Commission that this would not happen again. Mr. Giles
responded by saying he would give an update at the next
meeting. However, they have had several discussions with
Mr. Jim Hathcock, the Chief of Codes and Mr. Mike Batie, the
Director of Public Works. He said that the permit chief,
who issued the permit in error, is no longer with the City.
In fact, the person who issued the permit in error was
leaving that same week, therefore, there was no reprimand.
Mr. Giles said that he just failed to look at all the
records that were in the office at the time. But now he is
told that the permit person has a check list of things to
look at when a person comes in for a demolition permit. The
permit person is required to check the maps and also card
file by property address when someone comes in and asks for
a demolition permit. They go through the card file and if
it's in the Historic District, the card should indicate
that. This would let the permit person know right away that
no demolition permit can be issued unless a Certificate of
Appropriateness has been obtained.
Commissioner Bush said that it looks as if it was fraud and
he could see why the Judge had a problem in considering
this. He said that he wasn't sure it was a mistake, since
the guy was leaving in a week. Was he asked to do so? Mr.
Giles responded by saying that issue did come up and they
indicated to him that this was not the case. He had been a
very good permit person for the City for many many years and
this was the first big mistake he had made. Mr. Giles said
another element the Judge had a problem with was not only
the fact that the City issued the permit, but prior to that
the City sent a form letter to the property owner that gave
him 30 days to either initiate repairs or demolish the
structure. Mr. Giles pointed out that the letter can be
very effective for the City in giving the property owners
the last shot in trying to do something and in many cases
they do. Also one of the steps that has been taken is that
there will be a different letter prepared and sent out to
property owners in the Historic District that will not give
them the option to demolish. They will have to initiate
repairs or they will be prosecuted in Municipal Court.
Ms. Gross, Executive Director of the Quapaw Quarter
Association, gave an update on the 1989 Certified Local
Government Projects. Ms. Gross began by saying that the
Quapaw Qaurter Association had held a logo competition and
received approximately 70 entries. She said that
Commissioner Johnson was one of the 7 judges. They announced
the winner at a press conference. Ms. Debbie Strobel was
the first prize winner, winning $2,000 for her design.
Ms. Gross said that the Parks and Recreation Department
would be working with the author on how to take the logo
design revise it and adapt it to bronze plaques. Ms. Gross
pointed out that this would be done according to the budget
provided by the CLG Grant which is about $8,000.
Ms. Gross said the survey of property in the MacArthur Park
District was progressing on schedlue.
Ms. Gross said that they had been unsuccessful in locating a
buyer for the Bentley House and they are in no position to
move the house.
It was stated by Commissioner Nichols that there had been
problems with moving the building due to a price of $50,000
quoted by the Wittenberg Firm.
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Recommendation on the Knoop House Nomination to
the National Register of Historic Places
Randy Jeffery, State Historic Preservation Program
Mr. Jeffery gave a report on the Knoop House Nomination.
Mr. Jeffery said that in the June meeting they would be
nominating the Knoop House to the National Register but he
wanted to present it to the Commission first for their
approval. Mr. Jeffery pointed out that this particular
structure had been considered because of its architectural
style, which is the Art Moderne. Also Mr. Jeffery gave a
brief run down on how the house is actually structured. He
said that the house maintains all the original features with
the exception of a garage which was turned into living space
in the 1950's and some casement windows had been removed.
There was discussion about the original light fixtures by
Commissioner Bush. Mr. Jeffery said that the original light
fixtures were there. After discussion, a motion was made by
Commissioner Nichols to recommend the Knoop House for
nomination to the National Register of Historic Places and
seconded by Commissioner Bush. Motion passed.
Commissioner Nichols gave a brief report on the Hillcrest
National Registernomination. She said that she and Ms.
Sandra-Taylor Smith had been working on the project since
the first of March. They have determined it to be 1, 604
properties in the District making it the biggest Historic
District ever in Arkansas. The next largest would be the
Governor's Mansion Historic District which has 686
properties. Mrs. Nichols stated that they had entered 1,384
of those properties into the computer. Also it was stated
that they had until the end of July so that the Preservation
Program could assemble it all and send it to members of the
State Review Board who will officially act on it at their
September State Review Board meeting. Commissioner Nichols
said that the project was taking longer than they had
expected because information received was not information
they could use, therefore, they are having to go back and
get other information that they don't have. Most of the
information gathered was information that they got from the
Assessor's office which was often 10 to 20 years off on
construction date.
Discussion of Proposal for 1990 Certified Local
Government Projects
It was decided by the full Commission that Central High was
an area that they needed to look into. Also Commissioner
John Jarrard wanted to put his Downtown Survey project on
for discussion.
Chairman Kennedy said that he would like to take a look at
the parking and zoning laws for the district.
Commissioner Nichols asked if the City would consider
McArthur Park as part of the Central Little Rock zoning
district and if so, ask that that zoning be changed.
Commissioner Johnson responded by saying that he had talked
with Jim Lawson about the Hillcrest area and he was
receptive to it. He said if they would come up with some
specific proposals and some real strong guidelines and
ordinances, they would be receptive.
Commissioner Nichols said that the City was going to have to
do something with the Central High neighborhood in order to
salvage what is left of the neighborhood.
Commissioner Nichols said that they needed to get some type
of publication out regarding the MacArthur Park District.
She said there are people who own property in the district
and do not realize that they are in a Historic District.
There was discussion initiated by Commissioner Bush
regarding underground utilities. Commissioner Nichols said
that the QQA was working to get underground utilities on 9th
and 17th Streets and part of Rock Street. That would be
done in conjunction with the installation of period
lighting. There is a limited amount of money and just so
many blocks that can be done now. Also it was pointed out
that AP &L had donated the work.
After discussion, Staff was instructed by Chairman Kennedy
to find out what the CLG grant proposal deadline was and
notify everyone by letter.
Commissioner Nichols gave a brief report on the "wish list"
that she and some of the neighborhood groups had compiled
and submitted to the City Board in January. Also
Commissioner Johnson had been working on the task force as a
representative of the Historic District Commission. Ms.
Nichols said they had met with Tom Dalton, Charles
Nickerson, Jim Lawson and Mike Batie on April 18 to go over
the recommendations. She said the City is willing to start
making some changes in the way that they operate
particularly in older neighborhoods.
There being no further business before the Commission, the
meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m.
nm
4
Correction of May, 1990 Minutes:
On page 2, paragraph 2, the minutes stated that Commissioner
Bush said that it looks as if it was fraud and he could see
why the Judge has a problem in considering this. He said
that he wasn't sure it was a mistake, since the guy was
leaving in a week. Was he asked to do So?
The minutes should have stated: Commissioner Bush said it
really looks like it was almost fraud. He could see how the
Judge might consider that the City made a mistake. He said
also that he wasn't sure it was a mistake when you weigh the
facts, the circumstances speak of fraud. Has anybody looked
to see if the guy who signed it who was leaving in a week
was in collusion or was asked to do so?
On page 2, paragraph 7, the minutes stated that Commissioner
Nichols said that there had been problems with moving the
building due to a price of $50,000 quoted by the Wittenberg
Firm.
The minutes should have stated: Commissioner Nichols asked
if there had been some problem with moving the building?
Ms. Gross stated that the original quote was based on Mr.
Wittenberg's quote of $2,000. Since that time the
contractor did a complete investigation of the building, and
gave a minimum estimate of $50,000 to move the building.