06-27-06Little Rock Board of Directors Reconvened Meeting — Minutes — June 27, 2006
MINUTES
BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECONVENED MEETING
City Hall — 500 W. Markham
June 27, 2006 - 6:00 PM
The Board of Directors of the City of Little Rock, Arkansas met in a reconvened session with
Mayor Dailey presiding. Nancy Wood, City Clerk, called the roll with the following directors
present: Pugh, Keck, Wyrick, Stewart, Hurst, Cazort, Hinton, Adcock, Kumpuris, Vice Mayor
Graves, and Mayor Dailey.
PRESENTATION
Proclamation - US Soccer Southern Regional Championships
After the presentation, the Mayor announced that he would address Item 6 on the agenda first
because of the large number of citizens present to speak in favor or opposition of the resolution.
6. RESOLUTION — Withdrawn - To authorize a lease and joint operating agreement between
the City of Little Rock Advertising and Promotions Commission and the University of Arkansas
Clinton School of Public Service for other use of Curran Hall; and for other purposes. Staff
recommends approval.
The Mayor felt that the letter he had received from Skip Rutherford was important and may
determine if the item should be discussed. The letter was read into record as follows:
Dear Mayor Dailey:
Thank you for your work on the proposed Curran Hall operating agreement. I appreciate your
efforts in trying to help the expanding University of Arkansas Clinton School with short term
space needs. UACS, as you know, is the only university in the nation which offers a Master of
Public Service degree. I thought the Advertising and Promotion Commission's proposal for a
Curran Hall partnership was fair and reasonable. As evidenced by Sturgis Hall Choctaw Station
which is open to visitors a partnership between tourism and education works very well.
We at UACS did not seek out Curran Hall, but when the lease opportunity arose we thought it in
our best interest to pursue this possibility. Our goal from the beginning has been to find space that
is functional, affordable, and accessible. Although there were good faith efforts made, an
agreement could not be reached.
We will hopefully find space elsewhere and are open to suggestions. In the near term we will
introduce the members of our new class and we will announce a strong distinguished visitor public
programming fall schedule. Classes will begin in about six (6) weeks.
Thank you again for your time and consideration. I regret that it did not work out; let's rise above
it and move on.
Signed,
Skip Rutherford
Dean of the Clinton School of Public Service
The Mayor expressed his opinion that the City of Little Rock was the loser in this situation.
Director Kumpuris agreed with the Mayor and added and that the withdrawal actually may put
the City in a worse situation.
Little Rock Board of Directors Reconvened Meeting — Minutes — June 27, 2006
Director Kumpuris continued with highlights from the presentation that was to be given to the
Board in favor of the contract. Background information included figures for the $1.3 million that
was raised to renovate Curran Hall. Of that $1.3 million $500,000 was from the Curran Hall
Foundation, $49,000 was from the State of Arkansas, $115,000 was from the City of Little Rock,
and $673,500 was from the Advertising and Promotions Commission. The proposal as it was,
retained Curran Hall as property of the City of Little Rock, with the Little Rock Convention and
Visitors Bureau continuing to maintain and operate the property. All operating costs, including
one (1) full time visitor information personnel, who would work daily, would be paid by the
Advertising and Promotions Commission. All prior volunteers would have been asked to return
and would be supervised by the full time employee. The primary function of the facility would
be to remain as a visitor's center, open and operated seven (7) days a week. The Mayor's
reception area was not to be used for school activities, but the other two rooms on the east and in
the back would be utilized. The school would have spent about 10 -12 hours per week at the
facility. The school would be on breaks during the peak visiting seasons at the center.
Essentially the users would not have been disturbed by the students.
Director Kumpuris added that the agreement had been worked on throughout the weekend to
take care of the issues brought up by those who objected. He stated that on Monday morning he
had spoken to members of the Advertising and Promotions Commissions, Clinton School
representatives, and the Board and thought he had a strong show of support for the agreement.
He added that on this morning the Curran Hall Foundation submitted a letter with twenty four
(24) items that had to be met before they would approve the proposal. He reminded the Board
that there was no contract between the Foundation and the A &P Commission, nor was there a
contract between the Foundation and the City. He expressed that he thought the Foundation's
request eviscerated the Board and the A &P Commission and listed a few of the requests. He
stated that agreeing to the Foundation terms would take control of a public building, out of
public control, and put it in the hands of a foundation. In response, he stated, the school decided
to move on because class is supposed to start in six (6) weeks.
Director Kumpuris stated that he thought it was a loss for the City and felt saddened that they
could not find a place for the class of sixteen (16) from various parts of the nation and the world.
He thought that it also took away the special events that were going to be open to the public. He
ended by saying that the building is now in the same situation and that no one was trying to close
Curran Hall, but merely trying to enhance it.
Mayor Dailey announced his desire to move on to items 1 — 5. Director Keck reminded the
public that the sale, use, and possession of fireworks in the City of Little Rock were prohibited
and that citations would be issued.
Mayor Dailey recused himself from the vote on Items 1 -5 and Vice Mayor Graves presided over
the meeting.
1. ORDINANCE 19,557 - LU- 06 -18 -03 — To amend the Land Use Plan (16,222) in the Ellis
Mountain District from Multi - Family to Mixed Office Commercial; and for other purposes.
Planning Commission: 6 ayes, 0 nays, 5 absent. Synopsis: Land Use Plan Amendment in the
Ellis Mountain District from Multi - Family to Mixed Office Commercial, south of Kanis
Road, Chenal Parkway intersection, west of Kirk Road.
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Little Rock Board of Directors Reconvened Meeting — Minutes — June 27, 2006
2. ORDINANCE 19,558 - Z- 5617 -A - Approving a Planned Zoning Development and
establishing a Planned Commercial District titled Shackleford Farms 30.8 Acres Long -Form
PCD, located. on the southeast corner of Chenal Parkway and Kanis Road; amending the
official zoning map of the City of Little Rock, Arkansas; and for other purposes. Planning
Commission: 6 ayes, 0 nays, S absent. Staff recommends approval. Synopsis: The applicant
is proposing a rezoning of this site from various zoning classifications to PCD to provide a
conceptual plan to establish uses for the property.
3. ORDINANCE 19,559 - LU06 -19 -01 — To amend the Land Use Plan (16,222) in the Chenal
Planning District from Office, Neighborhood Commercial and Low Density Residential to
Mixed Office Commercial; and for other matters. Planning Commission: 6 ayes, 0 nays, S
absent. Staff recommends approval. Synopsis: Land Use Plan Amendment in the Chenal
District from Office, Neighborhood Commercial and Low Density Residential to Mixed
Office Commercial, either side of Wellington Hills Boulevard, east of Kirk Road.
4. ORDINANCE 19,560 - Z- 4807 -F — Approving a Planned Zoning Development and
establishing a Planned Office District titled Shackleford Farms Long -Form POD, located
north of Wellington Hills Road, west of The Villages of Wellington Subdivision, Little Rock,
Arkansas; amending the official zoning map of the City of Little Rock, Arkansas; and for other
purposes. Planning Commission: 6 ayes, 0 nays, 5 absent. Staff recommends approval.
Synopsis: The applicant is proposing a rezoning of this site from various zoning
classifications to POD to provide a conceptual plan to establish uses for the property.
5. ORDINANCE 19,561 - Z- 4807 -G — Approving a Planned Zoning Development and
establishing a Planned Commercial District titled Shackleford Farms Long -Form PCD,
located south of Wellington Hills Road, east of Kirk Road, Little Rock, Arkansas, amending
the official zoning map of the City of Little Rock, Arkansas; and for other purposes. Planning
Commission: 6 ayes, 0 nays, S absent. Staff recommends approval. Synopsis: The applicant
is proposing a rezoning of this site from various zoning classifications to PCD to provide a
conceptual plan to establish uses for the property.
Tom Carpenter, City Attorney, asked the Board to reference Item 4, pg 4, lines 21 and 22. He
stated that the applicant was in agreement with everything except those two lines and wanted to
strike a portion of wording. Mr. Carpenter explained that he had added that language in an effort
to meet the Boards concerns. A lengthy and complex discussion followed, with questions from
the Board about the definition of the area in question, the impact of striking the language, and the
intentions of the Board and the developer. In conclusion, the area is 1100 acres defined in the
ordinances, the Board was split on how to word the ordinance, and the developer thought that not
removing the language would bound them to make improvements in regard to developments that
they were not aware of and that may be out of the 1100 acre area.
Director Kumpuris asked Ernie Peters to brief the Board and the public on the traffic study
figures he had reported at Director Kumpuris' request. Mr. Peters stated that his June 22, 2006
letter included 3 parcels of property, with the maximum amount of square footage built in and
the maximum trip generation to that square footage. He found that this would add an additional
1900 vehicle trips a day to the area. He added that the increase only degraded one of the fifteen
(15) intersections affected from a "C" to a "D" level of service. He concluded that the current
development could still accommodate this additional traffic.
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Little Rock Board of Directors Reconvened Meeting — Minutes — June 27, 2006
Bill Henry, Traffic Engineering with the City of Little Rock, agreed that the traffic would be
handled at an acceptable level.
Director Hurst asked the developer about the anticipated date for bringing the final plan before
the Board. The response was that it would be within the next year. Director Keck reiterated that
the Board could not ask developers to be responsible for future projects and felt like the
ordinance language was far reaching. He added that he felt like the applicant had made a good
faith effort and that they should only be held accountable for issues at the time of that their
building permits were issued.
Director Kumpuris asked Tony Bozynski, Planning Director, about future applications in the area
and how it would affect the items being considered tonight. Mr. Bozynski responded that he
could not answer the question; he added that the Master Street Plan dictates how the road is to be
developed.
Bill Spivey spoke against striking the language in question because he felt like the developer was
protected in subparagraph C of the ordinance. He appealed to the Board to take the entire area
into consideration when placing their votes and showed several diagrams of the traffic
progression in the area.
Mr. Dick Downing, representing the applicant, reiterated that he and his clients were not pleased
with the language and that it held them to an inordinate amount of accountability for the impact
of other developments. He added that if the Master Street Plan changed before their applications
were submitted for the actual structures that were to be built on the property; that they would be
happy to build to the required standards. He stated that his client was prepared to proceed with
the passing of the ordinances at the will of the Board, but appealed to the Board that there was a
fundamental unfairness to the language and felt it inappropriate.
Tom Carpenter, City Attorney, added that his intent was to cover the directives of the Board and
to protect the City and restated that he thought the language should not be removed.
Director Adcock called on Steve Haralson, Public Works Director, to ask questions about the
history of developers in the City. Specifically, she wanted to know if any other developer had
ever agreed to do the improvements that the Wisenhunt Group had agreed to and about the cost
of said improvements. Mr. Haralson stated that there had never been such an offer and that his
staff had worked very closely with the developer and felt comfortable with the proposal, which
could be as much saving to the City as $5 million.
Director Adcock also called upon Mr. Robertson from Fellowship Bible Church and asked him
about the impact of the proposal on the church. Mr. Robertson answered that the church was
very excited about building on the site in question. He added that they could not afford to do the
improvements from the church budget and felt that its value was not only . monetary but it was
beneficial to the safety and access of the church's members to the church. He appealed to the
Board to move forward with approving the ordinances.
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Little Rock Board of Directors Reconvened Meeting — Minutes — June 27, 2006
Director Cazort disagreed with Director Hurst that the language in subsection G was necessary.
He made a motion, seconded by Director Adcock, to strike the language out of paragraph D (1)
(a) in all the ordinances (2, 4, and 5) requesting that after the word sought a semi colon be added
and that the next two lines be deleted. A roll call vote was taken and recorded as follows:
Directors Keck, Wyrick, Stewart, Cazort, Hinton, and Adcock voted aye. Directors Hurst,
Kumpuris, and Vice Mayor Graves voted nay. With 6 ayes and 3 nays, the language was
stricken from the ordinances (2, 4, and 5).
After striking the language, Director Cazort, seconded by Director Keck, made a motion to
amend the ordinances to reflect the stricken language. By unanimous voice vote of the Board
members present, being two - thirds in number, the amendments were adopted.
Director Cazort, seconded by Director Keck, made a motion to suspend the rules and place the
ordinances on third reading. By unanimous voice vote of the Board members present, being
two - thirds in number, the rules were suspended and the ordinances were read the third time. By
unanimous voice vote of the Board members present, being two thirds in number, the
ordinances: Item 1, Item 2 (as amended), Item 3, Item 4 (as amended) and Item 5 (as
amended) were passed.
6. RESOLUTION — Withdrawn - To authorize a lease and joint operating agreement between
the City of Little Rock Advertising and Promotions Commission and the University of Arkansas
Clinton School of Public Service for other use of Curran Hall; and for other purposes. Staff
recommends approval.
Bruce Moore, City manager, reminded the Board that there was no meeting next Tuesday, July 4,
2006, and that the Board was scheduled to convene again on Tuesday, July 11, 2006, at 6:00 PM.
Vice Mayor Graves reminded the Board of the Jail Taskforce Meeting on Wednesday, July 28,
2006.
A motion was made by Director Keck, seconded by Director Cazort to adjourn. By unanimous
voice vote of the Board members present, the meeting was adjourned at 7:31 PM.
PASSED:
ATTEST:
Nanc Wood, ity Clerk
E
APPROVED:
Jim ailey, Mayor