HomeMy WebLinkAbout18630I ORDINANCE NO. 18,630
2
3 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND LITTLE ROCK, ARK., ORDINANCE NO.
4 18,419 (JANUARY 16, 2001) AND LITTLE ROCK, ARK., ORDINANCE NO.
5 18,528 (JULY 17, 2001), TO CLARIFY THE PROCEDURE FOR THE
6 DEVELOPMENT AND PRESENTATION OF THE PLANS FOR CITY
7 PARKS TO ASSURE THAT THESE PLANS ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE
8 LITTLE ROCK PARKS & RECREATION MASTER PLAN; TO DECLARE
9 AN EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
10
11 WHEREAS, in Little Rock, Ark., Ordinance No. 18,419 (January 16, 2001), the City
12 created the PR (Parks and Recreation) Zoning District as a new zoning district to be
13 recognized with the City, and
14 WHEREAS, this new PR zoning district required compliance with the City Master
15 Parks Plan in place at that time, which had been promulgated in 1983, and
16 WHEREAS, the Board of Directors, passed Little Rock, Ark., Ordinance No. 18,528
17 Quly 17, 2001), after an extensive study conducted by the firm of Wallace, Roberts &
18 Todd, LLC, and a great deal of public discussion, and in doing so adopted a new Little
19 Rock Parks & Recreation Master Plan to incorporate overall goals and create a "city in a
20 park" vision, and
21 WHEREAS, language in the zoning ordinance for the PR zoning district suggested
22 that Planning Commission approval was required for any parks plan, but language in the
23 Little Rock Parks & Recreation Master Plan indicated that the ultimate decision about a
24 particular park use was to be decided by the Board of Directors, and
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Ordinance
Amendment to Park District & Park Master Plan Ordinances
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1 WHEREAS, the City has already undertaken new and creative ideas for the
2 creation, construction, development, and maintenance of City parks including, but not
3 limited to, a lease arrangement with the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Foundation
4 for the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Park, the Audubon Society of Arkansas for a
5 nature center to be located within one of the City parks, and
6 WHEREAS, the City has also been involved with various creative arrangements
7 with other entities in existing parks such as the River Market portion of the Julius
8 Breckling Riverfront Park, and First Tee, and Junior Deputy,
9 WHEREAS, the national certification that the City Parks & Recreation Department
10 has achieved from the National Recreation and Parks Association Commission for
11 Accreditation establishes that the City's department has met all standards for proper and
12 effective use of community based planning and use of resources for city parks, and
13 WHEREAS, the City Planning & Development Department, and the City Public
14 Works Department, have established their expertise in the areas of planning and use of
15 public infrastructure as demonstrated by, among other things, the fact that the Arkansas
16 Supreme Court has referred to and relied upon testimony from City Planning &
17 Development staff members as the basis to affirm various zoning cases, and
18 WHEREAS, notwithstanding the desire of the Board of Directors to rely solely
19 upon the expertise of its staff in these three departments to help develop plans and
20 concepts for the construction, creation, maintenance and development of City parks and
21 recreation facilities, particularly since the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Master Plan
22 already contains assurances that there will be public input into any such programs, it is
23 felt that there should be at least some extra - departmental review before the development
24 of any plans occurs,
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Ordinance
Amendment to Park District & Park Master Plan Ordinances
1 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
2 THE CITY OF LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS:
3 Section 1. Section 1 (a) of Little Rock, Ark., Ordinance No. 18,419 (January 16,
4 2001), codified as Little Rock, Ark., Rev. Code § 36- 322(a) (1988), is hereby amended to
5 read as follows:
6 (a) Purpose and Intent. The PR park and recreation district is
7 intended to provide areas where active and passive recreation activities may
s be conducted and for conservation of natural and cultural areas and
9 resources, allowing flexibility adequate to permit reasonable development of
10 the site to meet the recreation and conservation needs of the city. This
11 district is intended to include those public and private park and recreation
12 and conservation areas which are designated as parks, or for park uses, in
13 the adopted Little Rock Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
14 Section 2. Section 1(b) of Little Rock, Ark., Ordinance No. 18,419 (January 16,
15 2001), codified as Little Rock, Ark., Rev. Code § 36- 322(b) (1988), is hereby amended to
16 read as follows:
17 (b) Development criteria. The following development criteria
18 should apply to the PR park and recreation district:
19 (1) Development of all properties in the PR district should
20 conform to the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Master
21 Plan.
22 (2) No property shall be zoned PR until that property has
23 been established on the Little Rock Parks and Recreation
24 Master Plan by the Board of Directors. For purposes of
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Amendment to Park District & Park Master Plan Ordinances
17 states:
18 (A) That the City staff is in error; and
19 (B) The proposed plan is totally inconsistent
20 with goals and vision of the Little Rock
21 Parks and Recreation Master Plan; and
22 (C) That the City Board of Directors should
23 review the presented plan to determine if it
24 is consistent with the Little Rock Parks and
25 Recreation Master Plan; and
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Ordinance
Amendment to Park District & Park Master Plan Ordinances
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the official Land Use Plan of the City, the adopted Little
2
Rock Parks and Recreation Master Plan shall control.
3
(3) Multiple uses and structures shall be permitted on
4
individual park sites as specified by the Little Rock
5
Parks and Recreation Master Plan.
6
(4) The City Departments of Planning & Development,
7
Parks & Recreation, and Public Works, shall present any
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plans for the development of a property within the PR
9
park and recreation district to the Planning Commission
10
at a public meeting and shall demonstrate that the
11
proposed development, or redevelopment, plans are
12
consistent with the goals expressed in the Little Rock
13
Parks and Recreation Master Plan. This presentation is
14
for information purposes only, and no formal action is
15
required unless a majority of the members of the
16
Planning Commission vote to approve a motion that
17 states:
18 (A) That the City staff is in error; and
19 (B) The proposed plan is totally inconsistent
20 with goals and vision of the Little Rock
21 Parks and Recreation Master Plan; and
22 (C) That the City Board of Directors should
23 review the presented plan to determine if it
24 is consistent with the Little Rock Parks and
25 Recreation Master Plan; and
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Ordinance
Amendment to Park District & Park Master Plan Ordinances
I (D) If such an affirmative vote is taken,
2 provides to the City Board of Directors a
3 written list of the reasons that a majority of
4 the members of the Planning Commission
5 believe that the proposal is inconsistent
6 with the Little Rock Parks and Recreation
7 Master Plan.
8 Section 3. Section 1 (e) of Little Rock, Ark., Ordinance No. 18,419 (January 16,
9 2001), codified as Little Rock, Ark., Rev. Code § 36 -322 (e) (1988), is hereby repealed.
10 Section 4. Section 1 (f) of Little Rock, Ark., Ordinance No. 18,419 (January 16,
11 2001), codified as Little Rock, Ark., Rev. Code § 36 -322 (f) (1988), is hereby repealed.
12 Section 5. Section 1 (g) of Little Rock, Ark., Ordinance No. 18,419 (January 16,
13 2001), codified as Little Rock, Ark., Rev. Code § 36 -322 (8)(1988), is hereby repealed.
14 Section 6. Section 7 of Little Rock, Ark., Ordinance No. 18,528 (July 17, 2001), is
15 hereby amended to read as follows:
16 Park and Recreational Uses.
17 (a) City parks and recreational facilities may be used for any purpose set
18 forth in the master plan, city ordinance, state statute, or such purposes
19 as used in recognized parks and recreational facilities in other parts of
20 the State of Arkansas, or the United States, that are consistent with
21 this Little Rock Parks and Recreation Master Plan and any applicable
22 planning and zoning ordinances or state law provisions.
23 (b) If the Planning Commission has referred to the Board of Directors the
24 question of compliance of a particular property with the Little Rock
25 Parks and Recreation Master Plan in accordance with Little Rock,
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Amendment to Park District & Park Master Plan Ordinances
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1 Ark., Rev. Code § 36 -322 (b)(4) (1988), the Board of Directors shall
2 hold a public hearing to address the questions raised by the Planning
3 Commission. After the Board considers the comments of the Planning
4 Commission, it may by majority vote:
5 (1) Disagree with the Planning Commission and permit
6 further development of the proposed plan; or
7 (2) Agree with the Planning Commission and:
g (A) Send the matter back to the involved City
9 Departments for additional review by the
10 departments and the Planning Commission;
11 (B) Seek advice from the Planning Commission as to
12 what modifications to the proposed plan would
13 bring the matter into compliance with the Little
14 Rock Parks and Recreation Master Plan; or
15 (C) Order modifications to the proposed plan that the
16 Board of Directors believes will bring the matter
17 into compliance with the Little Rock Parks and
Is Recreation Master Plan.
19 Section 7. Severability. In the event any title, section, paragraph, item, sentence,
20 clause, phrase, or word of this ordinance is declared or adjudged to be invalid or
21 unconstitutional, such declaration or adjudication shall not affect the remaining portions
22 of the ordinance which shall remain in full force and effect as if the portion so declared or
23 adjudged to be invalid or unconstitutional was not originally a part of the ordinance.
24 Section 8. Repealer. All laws, ordinances, resolutions, or parts of the same
25 not otherwise specifically repealed herein that are inconsistent with the provisions of this
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Ordinance
Amendment to Park District & Park Master Plan Ordinances
i ordinance are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency including, but not
2 limited to, the provisions of Little Rock, Ark., Ordinance No. 18,419 (January 16, 2001) and
3 Little Rock, Ark., Ordinance No. 18,528 (July 17, 2001).
4 Section 9. Emergency Clause. The ability to enforce a visionary plan for the
5 maintenance, and operation of a viable municipal parks and recreation system and to provide
6 appropriate flexibility to the involved City departments, with some oversight from the Little Rock
7 Board of Directors and the Little Rock Planning Commission, yet to not delay the development and
8 creation of facilities such as the proposed nature center by Audubon of Arkansas, is essential to
9 protect the public health, safety and welfare; the need to clarify the relationship between City zoning
to ordinances for PR -Parks and Recreation Districts and the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Master
11 Plan is essential to assure that both the City zoning ordinances and its master plan for parks are
12 properly implemented in any undertaking to create new parks facilities, or to redevelopment
13 existing facilities; this ordinance meets these needs; an emergency is, therefore, declared to exist and
14 this ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of its passage.
15 PASSED: January 15, 2002
16 ATTEST: APPROVED:
17
18
19 N y Wood City Clerk d Cazort, Vice -Mayor
20 APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM:
21
22 �L9 w .t Itr
23 Thomas M. Carpenter, C4 Attorney
24
25 H
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Ordinance
Amendment to Park District & Park Master Plan Ordinances