HomeMy WebLinkAboutHDC1998-019 Ltter To D.M. Lewis From COLRDOH&HP 09/04/1998City of Little Rock
Department of Housing & Neighborhood Programs
Administration
615 West Markham, Suite 100, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 4 September 1998
Phone 501-371-4748, Fax 501-399-3461
D. M. Lewis
Lewis, Elliott & Studer, Inc.
11225 Huron Lane, Suite 104
Little Rock, AR 72211
Dear Mr. Lewis,
On behalf of the Little Rock Historic District Commission (LRHDC), I am writing to notify you
and the Second Baptist Church that the Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) application for the
construction of a 35-space parking lot at 619 Cumberland and 618 Rock streets was denied at the
3 September 1998 meeting. Denial of the application is based on several factors, which include,
but are not limited to, the following:
♦ a windshield survey of off-street parking revealed that there is ample parking to be
utilized in a two -block vicinity of the church;
♦ the determination that a parking lot in this particular location would be incongruous
with the character of the historic district (see Arkansas Supreme Court opinion 1987);
♦ a parking lot is not in character with the predominant residential nature of the block;
♦ additional parking at this location and on the district's perimeter would deteriorate an
already fragile area that is susceptible to downtown growth;
♦ there was insufficient documentation and data to justify a parking lot at this location;
♦ circumstances have not dramatically changed since the applicant's previous application
in 1985 to support the construction of a 35-space parking lot;
♦ neighbors, property owners and related neighborhood and preservation interests who
opposed the application;
♦ while wanting to maintain good relations between the neighborhood and church, it
would be beneficial if a parking lot did not create more of a chasm between a downtown
institution and its neighbors.
Denials from the LRHDC may be appealed through the filing of appropriate pleading with the
Pulaski County Chancery Court; an appeal must be filed within thirty (30) days from the
LRHDC's decision on 3 September 1998.
Respectfully,
V. Anne Guthrie, Historic Preservation Administrator
xc: Judy Henry
Ray Higgins
Lyndell Lay
Mayor Jim Dailey
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