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Home My WebLink Aboutletter from Spivey on applicationEDWARD L. WRIGHT (1903-1977) WRIGHT, LINDSEY & JENNINGS LLP JERRY EJ SHOWS SALLINGS COCK 4 ROBERT S. LINDSEY WILLIAM STUART JACKSON 11913-1991) ATTORNEYS AT LAW MICHAEL D. BARNES ALSTON JENNINGS STEPHEN R, LANCASTER (1917-2004) JUDY ROBINSON WILBER JOHN G. LILE KYLE R. WILSON GORDON S. RATHER, JR. C. TAD BOHANNON 3 MARTIN G. GILBERT KRISTI M. MOODY ROGER A. GLASGOW 200 WEST CAPITOL AVENUE, SUITE 2300 J. CHARLES DOUGHERTY 8 ALSTON JENNINGS, JR- LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS 72201-3699 M. SEAN HATCH JOHN R. TISDA LE (501) 371-0808 FAX (501) 376-9442 J. ANDREW VINES JOHN WILLIAM SPIVEY 111 JUSTIN T. ALLEN LEE J. MULDROW 903 NORTH 47TH STREET, SUITE 101 MICHELLE M. KAEMMERLING 5 N.M. NORTON ROGERS, ARKANSA572756 SCOTT ANDREW IRBY CHARLES C. PRICE 1 (479) 986-0888 FAX (479) 986-8932 PATRICK D. WILSON CHARLES T. COLEMAN REGINA A. YOUNG JAMES J. GLOVER www.wlj.com ERIKA ROSS GEE EDWIN L. LOWTHER, JR. BLAKE S. RUTHERFORD GREGORY T. JONES 2 PAUL D. MORRIS BETTINA E. BROWNSTEIN 3 OF COUNSEL EDWARD ARMSTRONG WALTER McSPADDEN RONALD A. MAY ON 6 EVA C. MADISON JOHN D. DAVIS ISAAC A. SCOTT, JR. DAWN D. JACKSON IUDY SIMMONS HENRY BRUCE R. LINDSEY 2 CALEY B. VO KIMBERLY WOOD TUCKER JAMES R, VAN DOVER COLIN R. JORGENSEN RAY F. COX, IR.8 R. SCOTT SUMMERS 7 GARY D. MARTS, ]R. TROY A, PRICE ERIC BERGER PATRICIA SIEVERS HARRIS MARK N. OHRENBERGER KATHRYN A. PRYOR Writer's Direct Dial No. 501-212-1310 J. MARK DAVIS 3jspivey®wlj.com Alm licensed licensed to Practice in Reply to Little Rock Office 1 Michigan _ 2 District of Columbia 3 Texas May 11 2006 4 New York f S North Ca rolbta 6 Oklahanra and Tennessee 7 Xentn cky 8 Licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office Mr. Tony Bozynski Director of Neighborhoods & Planning City of Little Rock 723 W. Markham Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 Mr. Steve Harrelson Director of Public Works Department 701 West Markham Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 RE: Impact of proposed rezonings upon standards of service on Chenal Parkway, Rahling Road and other intersecting city streets Gentlemen: Over the past several weeks, representatives of Chenal Valley Municipal Property Owners Improvement Districts of the City of Little Rock, Arkansas Nos. 4 and 10 (the "Districts") and Deltic Timber Corporation ("Deltic"), have raised serious concerns about the impact of various proposed land use changes and rezonings upon the physical condition of and standard of service along Chenal Parkway, Rahling Road and other major intersecting streets. Although we have sincerely appreciated the opportunities to present these concerns to you and your staffs, the Districts and Deltic do not believe that these considerations have been adequately considered in the context of your review of the pending land use and zoning changes and would therefore respectfully request that your staff continue your review of these matters. 638091-v1 May 11, 2006 Page Two As further evidence of the potential negative impact of these changes, we have discovered, but only within the past 48 hours, that traffic studies prepared at the behest of the City and the private development interests, illustrate a dramatic increase in traffic loads on these streets which would directly result from the commercialization of properties previously zoned for residential and office use. In particular, the traffic study indicates that the service level along these roadways will rapidly deteriorate from its current "A" and "B" levels to a "D" level or possibly even lower to an "E" level within the next decade as these properties are permitted to fully develop. The traffic study establishes that without significant expansion and improvement of these roadways, there will be traffic congestion and travelers will experience long delays at peak traffic times. It is also rational to assume that the dramatic increase in traffic will hasten the need for ongoing maintenance and major replacement of the roadways and related infrastructure. There is no indication whatsoever, at least from the staff recommendations and write ups which accompany the various proposed land use changes and rezonings, that any of these factors have been considered, other than in passing, as part of the City's consideration of these pending applications. In the history of the City of Little Rock, many of today's streets and other public amenities have been constructed by developers anxious to market residential, office and commercial properties to the public. The City also routinely conditions its approval of rezonings and issuance of building permits upon receipt of developers' commitments to widen rights-of-way, build and rebuild intersections and to otherwise make contributions for "off-site" improvements. These actions serve to "subsidize" the City's budget for road and infrastructure improvements. Finally, the City has, on occasion, through its own capital improvement bond programs directly paid for the cost of infrastructure enhancement, improvement and upgrades. In West Little Rock, Phase II of Chenal Parkway, Phases I and II of Rahling Road and many of the other minor arterial streets were constructed by improvement districts which were formed by the City at the request of Deltic and other property owners. These districts have worked closely with you and your staffs to insure that the design and construction of these major streets were completed in accordance with City standards. This has resulted in implementation of the City's Master Street Plan and resulted in the addition of millions of dollars of new infrastructure for the City of Little Rock. These improvements had been paid for, in large part, through assessments of properties benefited by these improvements. However, if the proposed dramatic increase in commercial zoning is approved by the Planning Commission without any concurrent consideration for the cost of replacing infrastructure in the future, the residents and businesses of the City who have contributed to the construction of these will be very poorly served. The City may well find itself in a position of undertaking major capital improvement bond programs to expand and improve these roadways if they are to adequately bear the increased burden caused by the development of these properties. 638091-v1 May 11, 2006 Page Three On behalf of the Districts, Deltic and the many families who live in West Little Rock, we ask you to carefully reconsider the applications before you and take steps today to insure that the costs of replacing major infrastructure along Chenal Parkway and Rahling Road and maintaining the current high standards of service are adequately funded. This is the last, best opportunity the City of Little Rock will have to prevent these dire consequences from becoming serious problems for us all. Sincerely, WRIGHT, LINDSEY & JENNINGS LLP John William Spi III JWS:jIh 638091-v1