County planners back watershed amendment

Task force comes up with code change

In a meeting that took less than 15 minutes Thursday, the Pulaski County Planning Board approved without dissent a resolution supporting the proposed amendment to the Lake Maumelle watershed zoning ordinance.

The amendment has been proposed by a 25-member task force commissioned by the Pulaski County Quorum Court to review the original zoning code during a year-long pause on most development in the watershed. The task force included property owners, environmentalists, engineers and ratepayers who reviewed the code through the lens of protecting water quality and property rights.

Lake Maumelle provides the drinking water for about 400,000 central Arkansans. Property owners have been in dispute with county and Central Arkansas Water officials about the extent to which zoning regulations were needed to protect the lake.

Planning Board Chairman Ray Vogelpohl called for a vote after three task force members spoke for about five minutes at the public hearing in support of the amendment. They said the amendment wasn't perfect but that it was better than the original zoning code and the result of lengthy deliberations.

"It's not exactly what it could be to both protect landowners and the quality of water and the environment," said Carolyn Shearman, who represented Friends of the Ouachita Trail on the task force. But the amendment is still good, she said, noting its protections against certain drilling activities in the watershed and the enhanced abilities for property owners to create trails on their property.

The amendment also modified some inconsistencies in the code and lessened some of the restrictions on activities in certain zones of the watershed. The text of the amendment can be found on the front page of the county's website: www.co.pulaski. ar.us.

District 2 Justice of the Peace Tyler Denton, D-Little Rock, an advocate of the task force, said the meeting had to be the shortest watershed-related meeting he's sat through during his nearly two years on the Quorum Court.

He hopes it's a step toward the Quorum Court adopting the amendment and toward future policy considerations throughout the watershed in Pulaski, Perry and Saline counties.

"This is not the end of the conversation, I don't think," he said.

Metro on 08/15/2014

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