LITTLE ROCK — The tangle between Central Arkansas Water and a developer who wants to build near its main water source plunged deeper Friday when the two sides became courtroom opponents.
The utility and Maumellebased builder John "Jay" De-Haven for months have been negotiating over his roughly 965-acre project near the Maumelle River, from which nearly 400,000 central Arkansans get most of their water.
Water officials fear De-Haven's plans will pollute the water. DeHaven disagrees and wants to profit off his 2005 land investment. Both sides have attorneys at the ready.
Two sets of DeHaven plans are now on appeal before different Pulaski County Circuit Court judges.
In one courtroom, the builder hopes to overturn the county Planning Commission's May rejection of his plans for an 87-acre parcel north of Highway 10. The overall project lies just west of Little Rock, mostly south of the highway on the Winrock Grass Farm property.
On Friday, Circuit Court Judge Tim Fox gave the utility the right to help defend the county's decision. His ruling pits the sides against each other for the first of what will likely be aseries of courtroom fights.
In another courtroom, the utility has appealed the commission's August decision to approve DeHaven's designs for about 200 acres south of the highway. The commission hasn't yet considered plans for the rest of the project.
Between the two cases, the utility and DeHaven will be simultaneously supporting the county and suing it.
As County Attorney Karla Burnett said, "The county is in an awkward position."
Meanwhile, the commission is set Tuesday to give final OK to some of DeHaven's plans south of the highway. If the project is approved, DeHaven can begin construction on that phase of the project, which is just off Higgenbotham Road.
At issue in both court cases is whether the utility's efforts to protect Lake Maumelle can play a factor in county consideration of a builder's plans.
Central Arkansas Water wants to limit development within the 88,000-acre Lake Maumelle watershed. But its plans to do that - generally by requiring at least 5-acre lots - have no legal weight because they are not a part of the county's building rules.
However, Central Arkansas Water argues that general public health guidelines give thecounty authority to reject plans that otherwise meet specific county building standards.
In DeHaven's northern tract, the county agreed with the utility's argument. DeHaven and his business partners sued and argued again Friday that the utility cannot get involved.
"I don't believe Central Arkansas Water has any place in the case," DeHaven lawyer Andrew Francis said.
Now that the utility is involved in DeHaven's appeal, Fox will set further hearings to decide the matter.
In the southern parcels, the county went the other way, arguing the existing building rules trumped Central Arkansas' concerns. The utility sued and said Friday that the county's reversal could mean it might not vigorously defend itsrejection of the other plans.
Also, the utility noted, Burnett and the Planning Commission staff have sided with DeHaven that the county has little legal room to consider the utility's arguments.
"I cannot see for the life of me how our interests can be represented by the county, who has now been in conflicting positions," utility lawyer Sam Ledbetter told the judge.
While the utility has and is willing to use its condemnation authority to stop potentially harmful building projects, it would rather avoid the cost and headache.
This year Central Arkansas Water ended condemnation battles with two other large landowners. It bought about 700 acres from El Dorado-based Deltic Timber Corp. and let Little Rock developer Rick Ferguson keep his land and build on most of the 300 acres the utility had earlier condemned. Ferguson is supposed to protect the lake with a concrete diversion ditch that is designed to channel runoff from his property outside the watershed.
Both cases dragged on for about three years and cost more than $9.7 million in legal fees, land buys and settlement payments.
DeHaven has offered to build according to the utility's wishes if only it will pay him for what he says will be a hit to his profits if he has to build fewer homes. And last month he said he would sell most of his property to Central Arkansas Water for about $15 million.
The utility isn't interested in either offer.
Arkansas, Pages 13, 15 on 10/27/2007