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Home My WebLink About15613 1 RESOLUTION NO. 15,613 2 3 A RESOLUTION TO DECLARE THAT THE CITY OF LITTLE ROCK, 4 ARKANSAS, SHALL RESEARCH THE REASONS FOR FOOD DESERTS, 5 AND DETERMINE THE BEST PRACTICES TO DEAL WITH SUCH AN 6 ISSUE; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 7 8 WHEREAS,the Board of Directors City approved Little Rock,Ark.,Resolution No. 15,621 (January 9 18, 2022), which set a nine(9)-month moratorium on approval of the use of small stores which sell food, 10 have less than 12,000 square-feet, and a majority of inventory for sell at Ten Dollars ($10.00) or under 11 because many such stores have located in areas of a community that lacks a Full-Service Grocery Store, 12 and these smaller stores tend not to stock nutritional food in what is otherwise a food dessert;and, 13 WHEREAS,before such a moratorium is in place, it would be better to review the relevant data and 14 geographic and demographic information for the City of Little Rock, Arkansas, so that more complete 15 information can be used to develop an overall plan to assure that nutritious, affordable,and easy to obtain 16 food is available to all citizens;and, 17 WHEREAS, the lack of access to fresh health food contributes to significant chronic health issues, 18 such as obesity,hypertension, diabetes,cancer,and more; and, 19 WHEREAS,it is in the best public interest to promulgate policies that benefit residents. 20 NOW,THEREFORE,BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY 21 OF LITTLE ROCK,ARKANSAS: 22 Section 1. The City of Little Rock, Arkansas ("the City"), declares its intent to study the various 23 factors that lead to food deserts within the City, and to develop appropriate safeguards, to defeat the 24 existence of food deserts including, but not limited to, the development of appropriate ordinances, 25 resolutions,and policies to assure that such safeguards are carried out. 26 Section 2. The Board of Directors declares that this information should be collected, reviewed, and 27 discussed,within a period of nine(9)months from the date of this resolution. 28 Section 3. In fulfilling the obligations set forth in this resolution, the City shall utilize advisers and 29 resources from interested individuals, organizations, and businesses,to review of the policies, ordinances 30 and resolutions directed at such issues in other municipalities. 31 Section 4. Severability. In the event any title, section, paragraph, item, sentence, clause, phrase, or 32 word of this resolution is declared or adjudged to be invalid or unconstitutional, such declaration or 33 adjudication shall not affect the remaining portions of the resolution which shall remain in full force and [Page I of 2] 1 effect as if the portion so declared or adjudged invalid or unconstitutional were not originally a part of the 2 resolution. 3 Section 5. Repealer. All laws, ordinances, resolutions, or parts of the same, that are inconsistent with 4 the provisions of this resolution, are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency including, but not 5 limited to, Section 1 of Little Rock, Ark., Resolution No. 15,612 (January 18, 2022) which established a 6 moratorium. 7 ADOPTED. .nuary 25,2022 8 ,ilk APPROVED: 10 Al►�► fir. ,.- 11 sa L. glib% Clerk Frank Scott,Jr.,Ma 12 APPR• • 1 AS TO LEGAL FORM: 13 • 14 / ..A.il.. 15 Thomas M. Carpenter,City • lorney 16 // 17 // 18 // 19 // 20 // 21 // 22 // 23 // 24 // 25 // 26 // 27 // 28 // 29 // 30 // 31 // 32 // 33 // 34 // 35 // [Page 2 of 2]