5858 RESOLUTION NO. 5,858
A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE ASSISTANCE OF THE PULASKI
COUNTY JUDGE IN ESTABLISHING AN ANNEXATION REVIEW
PROCEDURE IN ORDER TO FACILITATE THE ORDERLY EXPANSION
OF CITY BOUNDARIES.
WHEREAS: Substantial land development of an urban character
is taking place within unincorporated areas of Pulaski County with-
in the City's area of extraterritorial planning jurisdiction; and
WHEREAS: The City is receiving numerous petitions from pro-
perty owners seeking to annex to the City in order to obtain urban
services, and this process is creating numerous problems for Little
Rock in the form of irregular boundary lines, "islands" of unincor-
porated territory within the City limits , and otherwise hampers the
efficient provision of public services ; and
WHEREAS: The establishment of an orderly annexation proce-
dure is of considerable interest to both the City and County, and
cooperation between the two jurisdictions is needed because the
County Judge must first authorize all annexation proposals , and all
annexation proposals must then be formally accepted by the City.
NOW LET IT BE RESOLVED: That Little Rock Board of Directors,
in recognition of the above stated problems, requests that the
County Judge and the City of Little Rock enter into a cooperative
arrangement to deal with this situation as soon as possible. Such
an arrangement should specify how and under what conditions annexa-
tion should be handled by both parties to the arrangement. It is
proposed that the following provisions be incorporated in any such
arrangement:
1 . The County Judge shall refer all annexation pe-
titions upon receipt to the Office of Comprehen-
sive Planning for its review and comment.
2. The Office of Comprehensive Planning shall sub-
mit the proposed annexation to affected City
departments for their review and comment.
The Office of Comprehensive Planning shall
then review the comments of affected City
departments , analyze the annexation propo-
sal for conformance with analysis criteria
specified in 5 below, and prepare a recom-
mendation.
3. The City review and recommendation shall be
completed and forwarded to the County Judge
within twenty-one days.
4. The County Judge shall in no way be bound
by the City staff recommendations, it being
intended that the review and analysis assist
the County Judge in evaluating the public
interests and issues associated with annex-
ations.
5. The following criteria are recognized by the
City as guidelines for the analysis of speci-
fic annexation proposals but shall be sub-
ordinate to 4 above.
A. Annexations shall be limited to parcels
greater than five (5) acres in size or
all of any area which is an island or out-
parcel surrounded by the City.
B. Areas in single ownership should not be
fragmented by annexations unless the land
area is at least 40 acres .
C. The City may reject pipe-stem annexations
which would complicate provision of public
service.
D. Degree of compliance with the subdivision
ordinance and City Codes shall be a consi-
deration in the analysis of all annexation
proposals.
E. Annexations which would create an island
shall not be accepted.
F. Abutting streets and additional property
ownership on the opposite side of the street
shall always be incorporated in proposed
annexations.
G. Undeveloped tracts such as flood plains, le-
vees, highways, public owned lands or quasi-
public holdings shall be incorporated in an-
nexation petitions when feasible.
H. Any area which due to its size or geographic
location, would deleteriously affect the level
of City services and not provide remedy shall
be rejected.
I . Annexations which avoid natural boundaries
and follow only ownership lines may be re-
jected.
J. Any annexation beyond the City's established
area or planning jurisdiction shall be rejected
unless it is sufficiently large to constitute
a logical expansion of the City of not less
than neighborhood scale.
ADOPTED: December 1, 1977
ATTEST: (4%421--- APPROVED: LcItCs\cUtk____
City Clerk Mayor