The Lake Maumelle Watershed Zoning Code has come under the microscope in a property rights lawsuit that has led a Wye Mountain landowner to challenge the code's constitutionality.
Wesley Snodgrass filed suit against the county after his plans for a 4,000-square-foot event center were rejected by the Pulaski County Planning Board. His suit, filed through his attorney Kent Walker, alleges that the zoning code should be void due to the "unconstitutional" vagueness of certain provisions.
On Wednesday, Central Arkansas Water, which provides drinking water to 400,000 customers in the region and is tasked with the watershed's oversight, was approved to enter the case as a third party.
"Central Arkansas Water's chief concern is the plaintiff's allegation that the watershed zoning code is void," said the agency's attorney, David Johnson.
In 2001, the Arkansas Court of Appeals determined that a law or ordinance can be ruled null and void if a person must guess at its meaning and application, so as to limit any arbitrary and discretionary enforcement of the law.
At issue are three provisions in the code that establish development standards: specifically, how a development could endanger water quality, how it could affect its neighbors, and whether it includes safeguards against pollution, noise or other unwanted emissions.
In April, the Pulaski County Planning Board denied Snodgrass' building plans, finding that the proposed event center did not meet such standards.
In 2016 Snodgrass purchased a 1,600-square-foot log cabin on 90 acres along Arkansas 113 in the Wye Mountain area of unincorporated Pulaski County. And in April, Snodgrass proposed to construct another 4,000-square-foot event center on the property for weddings and retreats -- to be called Ever After Events Center.
His plans were halted by the county's Planning Board, which rejected his permit application at the urging of several neighbors. Many were concerned about the noise and traffic the event center would create.
In May, Snodgrass and his company, S&L Futures LLC, appealed the board's decision through a lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court, arguing his application for a use permit did indeed meet the requirements.
"There is no evidence to substantiate a finding that the proposed facility would adversely affect neighboring properties," a court filing reads.
Last month, Circuit Judge Cathleen Compton and her husband, federal Judge Billy Roy Wilson, who live on an adjacent property, were also approved as intervenors in the case. Despite the plaintiff's objections -- that the couple has no interest in the property, rather, only a concern in the outcome of the case -- presiding Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen approved their motion to intervene.
"They would be directly affected by the operation of the proposed event center. Therefore, they have standing to protect their interest in this case," said their motion, filed by attorney Timothy Dudley.
The Watershed Zoning Code was approved by the Pulaski County Quorum Court in 2013 to help protect drinking water quality as the watershed's 88,000 acres around Lake Maumelle are developed.
The crafting of the zoning ordinance took several years and struck a careful balance between area residents' property rights and environmental protections for Lake Maumelle, the county's principal water source.
Snodgrass' proposal is the first major development proposal since the adoption of the code.
Metro on 08/17/2017