After hearing from a roomful of people in opposition, the North Little Rock Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended denial of a special-use proposal that would have placed a sand storage facility next to the Cypress Crossing subdivision on the city's east side.
The special-use permit that was sought would have allowed an adjoining business at 11150 U.S. 165 to use the lower part of a 28-acre commercial property to store sand dredged from the Arkansas River to the property's south.
Commissioners voted 7-0 against the application. Commissioners Charley Foster and Jackie Alexander were absent.
The applicants were former North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hays and former city Planning Director Robert Voyles, representing the owner, Cypress Land Holdings LLC. The recommendation will be forwarded to the North Little Rock City Council if an alderman will sponsor the proposal.
About 30 residents from the Cypress Crossing and nearby Willow Beach neighborhoods raised their hands when asked how many in attendance opposed the proposal.
A "full buffer," Voyles told the commission, would be placed about 300 feet between the sand storage site and houses in the Cypress Crossing neighborhood. Use of the property for storing sand would be temporary, he said.
The property was recently purchased through an auction, Voyles said. The existing business has been located adjacent to the property for about the past 10 years, he said.
"We'd like to see development of the property if someone is willing to buy it," Voyles said.
Some residents said a buffer wouldn't prevent sand stored on the site from blowing onto their properties.
"I'm worried about my safety, worried about my health and worried about my property value," neighborhood resident Stephen Hart said. "I don't care what buffer you put there, you're going to see it every day. This is not an improvement to our area. When the wind blows, sand goes everywhere."
Resident Samuel Yutuc, a respiratory therapist, said his "main concern is for the health of the neighborhood's residents."
"You can't put a buffer on dust," he said.
John Santoro, representing the Willow Beach Property Owners Association, said his association, as a group, opposed the application.
"There is nothing pretty about it, nothing economical about it," Santoro said of the proposed sand storage site. "There's nothing good about it."
Commissioners did approve placing additional conditions on the special-use application if the City Council considers the proposal. Those conditions, added to those already agreed to by the applicants, would limit hours of operation to 6 a.m.-6 p.m., require a dust-control plan and prevent any trees from being removed from the property.
Metro on 07/12/2017