02-24-04Minutes
Little Rock Board of Directors Meeting
February 24, 2004
4 P
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
City Hall — 500 W. Markham
February 24, 2004
4:00 PM
The Board of Directors of the City of Little Rock, Arkansas met in a reconvened session
from February 17, 2004, with Mayor Dailey Presiding. City Clerk, Nancy Wood called
the roll with the following Directors Present: Director Pugh, Keck, Vice Mayor Hinton,
Kumpuris, Graves, Adcock, Stewart, Hurst, Wyrick, Cazort, and Mayor Dailey.
The purpose of the reconvened meeting was to consider the following ordinance:
Mayor Dailey recused; turning the meeting over to Vice Mayor Hinton. Vice mayor
Hinton called for the first reading of the ordinance.
1. ORDINANCE NO. 19,057 - An Ordinance to Repeal Little Rock, AR., Ordinance No.
18,456 (April 3, 2001); to inform the Planning Commission of this action as it considers a
request to extend the time for the Summit Mall- Revised PCD,
(Z- 4923 -A); and for other purposes.
The ordinance was read the first time. Director Adcock made a motion, seconded by
Director Keck to place the ordinance on second reading, by unanimous voice vote of the
Board members present, the rules were suspended and the ordinance was read the second
time. A motion was by Director Adcock, seconded by Director Keck, to suspend the
rules and place the ordinance on third and final reading, by unanimous voice vote of the
Board members present, the rules were suspended to provide for the third reading. Mr.
Jim Lynch was present to speak in favor of the ordinance. Mr. Lynch stated he was
making his remarks today as a member of the Committee for an Accountable Future, a
committee of citizen groups, put together with friends and allies collected 21,000
signatures in twenty -one days in April of 2001 to set the city in the right direction and
steer it away from the Summit Mall. He stated that never before have thousands of
signatures been collected so rapidly. He believed the reason for this is that many citizens
realized at the time of the Planning Decision made in support of the Summit Mall were so
obviously flawed that only direct action could set things right. He stated this group
believed that only direct action could set things right. The danger was primarily the fact
that little or no consideration was given to the impact of constructing a one million square
foot mega mall on the rest of Little Rock's retail industry and on the city's
neighborhoods. The developer at that time would not say what his plans were for the
mall that he already owned on University. The corporate retailer would not say what his
plans were for the anchor stores that he owned on University Avenue. No competent
studies were made detailing the impact on property values, jobs, small businesses, and
services in mid -town Little Rock. The single credible agency that did analyze the mall
Minutes
Little Rock Board of Directors Meeting
February 24, 2004
4 P
proposal, The Urban Land Institute, said the project would devastate Park Plaza and other
retailers on University Avenue. Unfortunately this information was made public seventy
two hours after the Board approved the zoning. Great timing if you're the developer, but
bad timing for sound city planning. To compound this mistake, the City Manager, four
months later, introduced a proposal to create a tax increment financing district that would
swipe millions of dollars from our public schools and channel this money into a fund to
pay for Summit Malls streets and traffic. This episode was a low point for city planning
in Little Rock, moving tax money away from our children and toward a project benefiting
the Simon Property Brothers. Citizens who activated themselves in the petition campaign
have every reason to be proud of themselves. They have won. The mall developer has
decided not to build in Little Rock because they know the citizens will reject the Summit
Mall in a referendum. Mr. Lynch gave congratulations to the petitioners and others on
the committee who have seen their hard work pay off. The Sierra Club, the Little Rock
New Party, The Downtown neighborhood Association, The Hillcrest Residence
Association, ACORN, the Walnut Valley Homeowners Associations, and Women
Actions for a New Direction. Mr. Lynch urged the Board to vote for the revocation of
the Summit mall zoning. Director Keck stated he thought there was a point of
clarification that needed to be made in regard to tax increment financing. He stated that
there were several proposals that were made and there was a specific resolution passed by
this Board that no tax dollars were going to be spent to construct the infrastructure
necessary to support Summit Mall at that sight. Director Keck thought it was ridiculous
for someone to come forward and make such a comment to fan the flames of emotion
associated with this issue by some people. He thought it was important to realize that
because this project is not going forward, other projects are moving forward and while
there will not be a one million square foot mall in one place there will be two or other
three other larger developments dispersed throughout the city that in some total be
grander than what would be proposed for Summit Mall. He said he thought it was good
that other developers still want to work in the city, and thought it was a sad day that the
city was not able to come to some agreement and find a way to work with Simon or for
them to find a way to work with the city. He stated he wanted to set the record straight,
as the obvious facts had been misrepresented tonight in this issue. Mr. Carpenter
explained that the ordinance notes that the Summit Mall Revised PCD Ordinance, which
was passed in April 2001, has been through litigation, that the Pulaski Circuit Court has
ordered an election in sixty days if the Board doesn't take action sooner to repeal this
ordinance. Based upon that fact, the Board would be taking the legislative action to
repeal this ordinance at tonight's meeting. Mr. Carpenter explained that the second
section of the ordinance notes that notice will be given to the Planning Commission
because the Summit Mall or Simon Properties had requested an extension of the Summit
Mall ordinance. He stated his office had received a letter with today's date that stated
they were withdrawing that request, but the ordinance had already been written so that
paragraph would not be stricken. He stated the Planning Commission would be the ones
to act upon this. He stated the Planning Commission would get the letter and the
ordinance. Mr. Carpenter stated what this should do is moot any need for an election
because all an election would be about is whether to approve the ordinance as it was `
Minutes
Little Rock Board of Directors Meeting
February 24, 2004
4PM
_.. passed in 2001, or overturn the ordinance that was passed in 2001. A vote for the
ordinance is to repeal the Summit Mall PCD. Director Stewart congratulated the citizens
and petitioners for standing up and fighting for their community and neighborhoods. The
ordinance was read the third time. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members
present, the ordinance passed. Vice Mayor Hinton asked if there was an emergency
clause to be voted upon. Ms. Nancy Wood, City Clerk, advised there was an emergency
clause in the ordinance, but was not reflected in the title of the ordinance. Director
Cazort made a motion to amend the ordinance to include the emergency clause in the
title. Director Adcock seconded the motion, and by unanimous voice vote the title was
amended to reflect the change. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present,
the emergency clause was adopted.
A motion was made by Director Cazort, seconded by Director Kumpuris to adjourn. By
unanimous voice vote of the Board members present the meeting was adjourned.
ATTEST:
N cy r
City Cler
APPROVED:
Dailey V
ayor