194191
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ORDINANCE NO. 19,419
3 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND LITTLE ROCK, ARK., REV. CODE § 2-111
4 (1988) TO ADD A PROVISION TO ASSURE THAT THE CITY MANAGER
5 MAY AUTHORIZE CERTAIN ACTIONS IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS; TO
6 DECLARE AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
7
8 WHEREAS, the recent destruction of Hurricane Katrina has forced the evacuation and
9 relocation of thousands of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi residents, and
10 WHEREAS, many of these evacuees have found temporary housing in the City of Little Rock
11 as churches and other entities have made space for them to stay, and
12 WHEREAS, it is not clear how long any particular group will need to stay in any particular
13 area, and such boarding, even for an emergency situation, may conflict with zoning for that
14 particular area,
15 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF LITTLE
16 ROCK, ARKANSAS:
17 Section 1. Little Rock, Ark., Rev. Code § 2 -1 1 1 is hereby amended to read as follows:
18 There is a city manager. The city manager is appointed as provided by law and has
19 the powers and duties provided by ordinance. In addition to any other powers, and
20 notwithstanding any other provision of this Code, including zoning regulations, if an
21 event is declared a disaster by the President of the United States, or by the Governor of
22 Arkansas, and temporary housing for victims of the disaster is provided within the
23 corporate limits of the City, the city manager may, upon request, grant special
24 permission for up to ninety (90) days at a time for such housing, provided that the
25 facilities to be used meet basic health and safety standards, and the impact of the
26 disaster situation continues to make it impractical for the victims to return to their
27 homes.
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Ordinance to grant city manager emergency powers to
permit temporary housing after a disaster
1 Section 2. Severability. The provisions of this Ordinance are hereby declared to be
2 severable. If any provision shall be held to be invalid or to be inapplicable to any persons or
3 circumstances, such invalidity or inapplicability shall not affect the remainder of the provisions
4 of this Ordinance.
5 Section 3. Repealer. All laws and parts of laws are hereby repealed to the extent of such
6 inconsistency with this ordinance.
7 Section 4. Emergency Clause. The Board of Directors has determined that because of the
8 impact of the Presidentially declared disaster after Hurricane Katrina, and the City's experience
9 with other disasters such as the tornadoes and ice storms that have hit the City within the last
10 few years, it is important that churches, and other organizations, make available temporary
11 housing for the victims of these disasters; further, that even though such temporary housing
12 may conflict with City zoning ordinances the City should not be estopped from being able to
13 provide this service; further, that the ability to provide this service is essential to protect the
14 public health, safety and welfare; therefore, an emergency is declared to exist and this
15 ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of its passage.
16 PASSED: October 4, 2005
17 ATTEST: APPROVED:
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20 Na aki S. Blocker, Assistant City Clerk J11;1jailey, Mayor
21 For Nancy Wood, City Clerk
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23 APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM:
24
25
26 Thomas M. Carpenter, City Attor
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Ordinance to grant city manager emergency powers to
permit temporary housing after a disaster