LITTLE ROCK — Landlords get less time for repairs
Little Rock has shortened the time period that rentalproperty owners have to correct “life-safety” violations, from 30 days to seven days.
City directors approved the new time frame Tuesday, putting it into effect immediately. They also reduced the time from 60 days to 30 days for landlords to address lesser safety violations.
“We just feel like we need to push people to come into compliance with the [city] code. This is the minimal housing code. We believe that our houses in this city should meet minimum housing codes,” said Tracy Roark, Little Rock’s code enforcement manager.
Violations include inoperable smoke detectors, “electrical wiring that’s just not correct,” Roark said. “Not totally unsafe, but it’s a concern.”
Roark said that the changes weren’t prompted by one incident, but by a “big-picture thinking of what we need to do to improve overall code enforcement and compliance within the city.”
The city already requires property owners to address life-threatening code violations in 24 hours.
Section of street to be renamed
A section of Lewis Street is being renamed for Bishop Leodies Warren after Little Rock city directors approved the name change Tuesday.
Warren’s Greater Christ Temple Pentecostal Church congregation has tried since last year to get a street named for him - a previous attempt to rename 12th Street after Warren failed.
Although Warren lives in Sherwood, the emeritus pastor has overseen the Little Rock church for decades and congregation members said they want to recognize his work.
The section of Lewis Street being renamed is from 12th Street to Charles Bussey Avenue.
City officials weren’t ableto find any significance for Lewis Street, which is one of three common-name streets that separate streets named after trees and presidents.
Because of numerous requests to change street names in the past year, Little Rock’s planning commission is working on creating an official street-naming policy.
Talks to explore race, ethnicity
Several Little Rock institutions are joining together in October to host a series of community conversations on race and ethnicity.
The first program will take place at 6 p.m., Oct. 5, at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Bailey Alumni Center, 2801 S. University Ave. The next opportunity will be at 6 p.m., Oct. 19, at the Willie L. Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center, 3805 W. 12th St. It will be followed by a similar program at 6 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the Clinton School of Public Service, 1200 President Clinton Ave.
Free parking is available at all locations.
Just Communities of Arkansas is hosting the seriesalong with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Center for Public Collaboration and the Little Rock Racial and Cultural Diversity Commission.
Their goal is to give people a “safe place” to explore what they think about race and ethnicity, and how those issues affect them on a daily basis. The organizations also want people to discuss how they might create a culture in Arkansas where a person’s race or ethnicity does not limit his ability to live, work or make contributions in the community.
Reservations are encouraged. To reserve a seat, people can e-mail publicprogram s@clintonschool.uasys.edu or call (501) 683-5239.
Arkansas, Pages 17 on 09/26/2010