HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-08 1104 email Emergency Demolition 72-hours 1019 South Rock Street1
Minyard, Brian
From:Overton, Shawn
Sent:Tuesday, January 08, 2019 11:04 AM
To:Minyard, Brian
Subject:RE: Emergency Demolition (72-hours)| 1019 South Rock Street
Brian,
Please contact me as soon as you get a chance.
From: Carpenter, Tom
Sent: Tuesday, January 8, 2019 9:58 AM
To: Overton, Shawn <soverton@littlerock.gov>; Minyard, Brian <BMinyard@littlerock.gov>
Cc: Betton, Alex <abetton@littlerock.gov>; Wisdom, Debbie <dwisdom@littlerock.gov>; Turner, Victor
<vturner@littlerock.gov>; Garland, Ed <egarland@littlerock.gov>
Subject: Emergency Demolition (72-hours)| 1019 South Rock Street
Dear Shawn,
This is a RUSH.
A house burned in the last few days at 1019 South Rock Street. This property is in the MacArthur Park
Historic District. The roof is about to collapse, and the property is next to a residential neighborhood. The question
is notice because the owner is deceased.
I asked Victor and Ed to contact a cousin – identified by Brian Minyard – to see what heirs may exist to the
property.
I also asked Victor and Ed to contact the Fire Marshall to get a determination about the condition of the
building. If it is an emergency situation that needs to be handled quickly, then we should get sign-off from them.
One question is whether we need additional support for this decision – i.e., someone from Planning &
Development, or an independent individual who can make a determination on structural integrity. There was a
time when Public Works had an engineer on call who could make such a determination.
Whether a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) from the MacArthur Park Historic District is required is
another question. Typically, no demolition occurs within the District without Commission approval. I have not
read the enabling statutes in years, so I do not know if an emergency situation is treated differently. I seem to
remember that nothing in the statute overcomes the police powers of the City, but this should be checked.
Finally, check Arkansas probate law and see if there is any obligation to provide a particular kind of notice in
this situation. Perhaps posting is sufficient, but if so, for how long. Or, perhaps the cousin can sign a release of
some kind. If so, let us take that approach. Of course, we need to gather the LRFD report on the fire, any reports
on the condition of the building, and have plenty of photographs to illustrate the lack of structural integrity of the
building (dated and time-stamped accurately) before we move forward.
Since there would be a 72-hour bid process for demolition, we have a bit of time.
2
VICTOR/ED I recommend that you start that bid process now. It is consistent with the City’s position that
this is an emergency situation. However, note that while we want the structure down in 72-hours, it may be
necessary to delay that by a couple of days because of notice issues.
Please keep everyone in this loop. I will be basically involved in other matters today, but if something is vital
and cannot be worked out with Alex, then please contact me.
Tom
Thomas M. Carpenter
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
500 West Markham, Ste. 310
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
(501) 371-6875 (O)
(501) 371-4675 (F)
(501) 993-1052 (M)
tcarpenter@littlerock.gov