HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-07-21 email nichols1
Minyard, Brian
From:Malone, Walter
Sent:Tuesday, July 21, 2020 11:50 AM
To:Minyard, Brian
Subject:FW: I oppose HDC2019-023
fyi
-----Original Message-----
From: Cheri Nichols [mailto:cgnichols79@comcast.net]
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2020 11:32 AM
To: LRzoning <LRzoning@littlerock.gov>; Mayor Scott <mayorscott@littlerock.gov>; Christina Aleman
<caleman@fridayfirm.com>; Lindsey Boerner <lindseymboerner@gmail.com>; Lauren Frederick
<lfrederick@hosto.com>; Robert Hodge <rob@hcglawoffice.com>; Ted Holder <holderheuvel@yahoo.com>; Amber
Carter Jones <ambercj@swbell.net>; Jeremiah Russell <jeremiah@roguearch.com>; Collins, Jackie
<JCollins@littlerock.gov>; Minyard, Brian <BMinyard@littlerock.gov>
Cc: Latimer, Sherri <slatimer@littlerock.gov>; Malone, Walter <WMalone@littlerock.gov>; Capi Peck
<peckcapi@gmail.com>
Subject: I oppose HDC2019-023
Dear Mayor Scott, Commissioners, Mr. Collins, and Mr. Minyard:
I am re-sending my letter of May 20, 2020 (below) expressing opposition to the proposed development at 10th and Rock
Streets in the MacArthur Park Historic District. Since nothing about the project has changed, neither have the reasons
for my opposition.
However, I would like to make one additional point: Along with the neighbors in the vicinity of 10th and Rock Streets,
virtually the entire historic preservation "universe" in Little Rock, including the statewide preservation organization and
the local preservation organization, has expressed opposition to this project for basically the same reasons: it is too big
and its design is not compatible with neighboring historic buildings. With neighbors and local preservationists united in
opposition, it is difficult to understand why the Little Rock Historic District Commission seems to have had difficulty
making a decision on the project.
I hope you will honor the views of neighbors and preservationists by denying the application at Thursday's hearing.
Thank you,
Cheri Nichols
315 Rock Street, #1303
Little Rock, AR 72202
On 5/20/2020 11:03 AM, Cheri Nichols wrote:
> The Honorable Frank Scott, Mayor of Little Rock Little Rock Historic
> District Commissioners Jamie Collins, Director, Little Rock Department
> of Planning and Development Brian Minyard, Urban Designer, Little Rock
> Department of Planning and Development
>
> RE: HDC2019-023
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>
>
> Dear Mayor Scott, Commissioners, Mr. Collins, and Mr. Minyard:
>
> I am writing to reiterate my opposition -- previously expressed in an
> email of December 18, 2019 -- to the proposed infill project at 10th
> and Rock Streets in the MacArthur Park Historic District. Although
> revisions have been made since December, the proposed development
> remains out of scale with the area around it. It still is too tall
> and too wide and contains too many dwelling units in too little space.
> (As an aside, I hope all HD Commissioners have made a point of
> visiting the proposed project site because the submittals for the
> project rather misleadingly include only photos of the largest and
> least architecturally important buildings adjacent to the site,
> entirely omitting the several charming one-story historic houses that
> stand directly across both Rock and 10th Streets.)
>
> As a professional historic preservationist who has been involved in
> issues in the historic district since shortly after it was created in
> 1981, I am disturbed by what seems to be a trend toward shoehorning
> large multi-family developments into Little Rock's oldest surviving
> neighborhood. These developments epitomize exactly what the historic
> district was created to prevent: major intrusions into the historic
> fabric that undermine the district's distinctiveness and lead to the
> irreplaceable loss of the district's aesthetic, cultural, and historic
> values.
>
> Previous large-scale projects constructed in the 500 block of Rock
> Street and 900 block of Scott Street at least were at the margins of
> the historic district. The proposed project site at 10th and Rock,
> however, is in the heart of the district, surrounded by
> well-maintained one- and two-story historic homes, including the
> especially important Kadel Cottages at 407 and 417 East 10th Street,
> both built before the Civil War. (They are two of just a handful of
> houses in Little Rock that survive from the antebellum period.) The
> corner of 10th and Rock Streets most certainly is not an appropriate
> place to build fifteen units on just three lots.
>
> (An exception to the one- and two-story scale, of course, is the
> mid-20th century Park Place apartment building which backs up to the
> proposed project site. But it is just that: an exception, not the
> rule. Consequently, it is not the model that should be followed.)
>
> It does appear that the revised project design makes an effort to
> incorporate Craftsman and Mission-style elements. The Craftsman style
> (but not the Mission style) is found in the historic district,
> especially in the design of early-20th century fourplexes. If the
> proposed development also adhered to the scale of those early-20th
> century apartment buildings, a Craftsman-influenced design could be
> appropriate.
>
> As it is, with the scale of the proposed project so thoroughly
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> incompatible with the surrounding area, I urge the Little Rock
> Historic District Commission not to approve the project and to make
> clear that large multi-family developments are not the future of the
> MacArthur Park Historic District.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Cheri Nichols
> 315 Rock Street, #1303
> Little Rock, Arkansas 72202