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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA-350 Board Communication1 OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS BOARD OF DIRECTORS COMMUNICATION JULY 1, 2025 AGENDA Subject: Annexation 350 – Project Boar Annexation/Z-10172 Zoning Designation of I-3, Heavy Industrial Submitted By: Planning and Development Department Action Required: √ Ordinance Resolution Approved By: Delphone Hubbard Acting City Manager SYNOPSIS The ordinance will grant and accept the petition for voluntary annexation of approximately 783 acres of land located east of the Fourche Bayou for the purposes of industrial development through the Little Rock Port Authority. FISCAL IMPACT Not determined RECOMMENDATION Approval of the Ordinance. The Planning Commission recommended the annexation at the June 12, 2025 hearing by a vote of 6 ayes, 4 against, and 1 absent. BACKGROUND The area requesting annexation is contiguous with the City limits along its northeastern boundary. The City of Little Rock annexed the area to the north of the site in 2024 (Elopak Annexation) by Ordinance No. 22,555 and to the east of the site in 2021 (Amazon Zeuber Annexation) by Ordinance No. 22,034. The annexation area consists of primarily wooded, open farmland and wetlands and has been rural farmland since the land was considered to be within the Arkansas Territory. Development plans have been submitted for review for a ± 933,565 sq. ft. distribution center at the north portion of the land with access planned from Zeuber Road 2 with the intention of extending to the intersection of Harper Road to the south upon future development of the area. The entire Port South Planning District, where the area is located, is protected by a levee system. Two sections of land within the subject area are within the 100-year flood plain. The property is in the City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), where zoning authority is granted but has not been exercised. For this reason, the property is not zoned. Additionally, with the enactment of Act 314 by the Arkansas State Legislature the City’s authority over zoning, land use, and infrastructure planning in unincorporated areas outside the city limits will expire in August 2025. The request is in the Port South Planning District. The development principles of the district include two goals: to allow for future expansion of industrial uses and the protection of existing agricultural land. The annexation area consists of approximately 45 acres of wetland habitat identified in the National Wetlands Inventory by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Land Use Plan shows Industrial (I) for the requested area. The incorporated land to the north and northeast is zoned I-3, Heavy Industrial District, is designated for Industrial (I) use, and is characterized by three large scale industrial developments that have completed construction within the past four years. The area to the west of the subject area is designated Park/Open Space (PK/OS), Agriculture (A), and Residential Low (RL) and is characterized by woodlands, the Fourche Bayou, a Union Pacific rail line, and rural residential tracts associated with the Sweet Home community. These lands are unincorporated and not currently zoned. Concurrently with annexation, the applicant requests that the lands be zoned I-3, Heavy Industrial District (Z-10172). The requested zoning designation for the annexation area is consistent with the Land Use Plan and the Port of Little Rock’s internal land use plans. 3 Upon annexation, the City will be responsible for the continued maintenance of approximately 9,044 linear feet of roadway—Riverport Road and portions of Harper Road—and related drainage facilities. Riverport Road is being constructed to the City’s ‘Industrial Street’ standard approved for roads within the Port Industrial Park area. No comments have been received by Little Rock Water Reclamation on the proposed annexation. As part of the development of any land within the annexation area, the developer will have to extend these services from the existing service lines to any new development in coordination with CAW and LRWRA. The nearest fire station is Station 4, approximately 2.29 miles from the closest annexation area utilizing the existing street system. No comments have been received from the Little Rock Fire Department on the proposed annexation. The current patrol district for the Little Rock Police Department for this area is approximately 6,080 acres. The annexation would increase the patrol district by 12.9 percent. The Police Department indicated there are no issues with the annexation request. The applicant has provided the City with a letter, dated May 12, 2025, from the Arkansas Geographic Information Systems Office (AGIO) that the annexation request meets all requirements outlined in Arkansas Code § 14-40-101. The area is contiguous to the City of Little Rock’s municipal boundary along the area’s northeastern boundary and meets all requirements for a petition of annexation by 100 percent, in accordance with Arkansas Code § 14-40- 609, verified by the Pulaski County Judge’s Order that was signed and filed on May 14, 2025. The Order sets the exact boundaries of the annexation, which, by custom, includes all adjacent rights-of-way.