A Little Rock city director has proposed a yearlong moratorium on apartment development along Bowman Road in light of a recent rezoning request to allow for a 408-unit multifamily complex there.
A scheduled vote on that zoning request was deferred Tuesday at the request of the developer, Keith Richardson of Richardson Properties LLC. It has been reset for March 1.
If Ward 6 Director Doris Wright's proposed ban on apartments in the corridor is approved by vote before then, Richardson's planned development would be on hold for at least a year.
Wright will ask that her moratorium resolution be discussed for consideration at the board's 4 p.m. agenda-setting meeting next Tuesday, and then come up for a vote at the 6 p.m. Feb. 16 meeting.
The resolution says a moratorium on multifamily development along Bowman Road would be put in place for a year "to determine traffic patterns and the impact of existing neighborhoods of current multifamily developments, to consider whether multifamily should be part of the land use plan on this road, and for other purposes."
"I'm asking you all to allow us time to look at this area to see what the impact is going to be, because we have two huge developments under construction right now, and Bowman Road is mainly unimproved, and it needs additional work, and no money has been allocated for that," Wright told the board at the start of Tuesday's meeting. "Unless we pull back and look at it and let the current apartments under construction come online and see what additional traffic is going to be like, we don't know. All we have is speculation."
Before Tuesday's meeting, Ward 4 City Director Brad Cazort, who is an attorney, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that he thinks the city would be treading on thin ice if it were to cut off Richardson's planned development with a moratorium.
"I've got some serious legal concerns about cutting off something that's ongoing in the process. I think there are some concerns about the validity of that," Cazort said.
City Attorney Tom Carpenter has said he thinks he could defend a one-year halt on multifamily development in a limited area in order to study an issue.
Richardson is attempting to get a 74-acre wooded site south of Brodie Circle Trail and northwest of the Bowman Road and 36th Street intersection rezoned from single family to mixed use.
That would allow for the 408-unit Herrick Heights multifamily development, office space, single-family homes and a nursing home or recovery house.
Richardson didn't return phone messages seeking comment Tuesday. He requested the deferral of the rezoning vote Monday before Wright proposed her resolution at Tuesday's meeting.
"I think he wanted [the deferral to allow for] more time to talk to the homeowners' associations and residents to get them to understand what it is he's trying to do. I think he felt like there was a lot of information out there, not all of it accurate," city spokesman Jennifer Godwin said.
Many property owners in the area of his planned development have written to city directors asking that the rezoning request be denied. They have cited increased traffic, at-risk green space and the number of apartments already in the area as reasons for their opposition.
Property owners' associations for the nearby Brodie Creek and Woodland Edge subdivisions gave support for the development, but some residents said they weren't properly notified by the associations.
The Pointe at Brodie Creek Apartments -- a Richardson development -- is already in the area, and two other apartment complexes are under construction. The developments already underway wouldn't be affected by Wright's resolution.
With the Herrick Heights development, Richardson is proposing to have 120 units ready by 2017 and then add 96 units each year for three years.
Another developer -- Panther Branch LLC -- filed a request with the city Monday to build 330 apartments in the area -- on a 13.49-acre lot stretching between Kanis Road and Chenal Parkway.
That request still would have to go through the Little Rock Planning Commission and the city Board of Directors before it could be authorized. It would be halted at least for a year if Wright's resolution is approved.
Jena McDonnell, president of the Spring Valley Manor Property Owners Association, said residents fear more apartment development in the area, because another real estate development company has purchased land on Kirby and Kanis roads.
Spring Valley Manor is 1.2 miles from the Kanis and Cooper Orbit roads intersection.
"I want it to be clear that [the Spring Valley Manor] POA is not against development. We continue to be concerned with the high number of apartments in a relatively small area, traffic and safety -- as Kanis Road was not developed for high volume of vehicles (no shoulder, line of sight issues, etc.)," McDonnell wrote in an email.
"No one seems to be concerned with aesthetics, green space, amenities," she wrote. "Our neighborhood was developed with green space in mind. We have three lakes in the center and are surrounded by trees. Other neighborhoods were developed with similar concepts such as Woodland's Edge."
The Herrick Heights rezoning request will be discussed at the city board's Feb. 23 agenda-setting meeting and is set for vote March 1. Residents can attend the March 1 meeting at 6 p.m. in the second-floor board room at City Hall and sign up beforehand to speak about the issue.
Metro on 02/03/2016