VILLAGE NEWS: Cammack Village, a city within the city of Little Rock north of Cantrell Road and west of University Avenue, is evolving.
In recent years, construction of homes there has seen an increase in size and use of contemporary architectural design. The newer houses are in contrast with the majority of existing homes, which are more modest World War II-era cottages built when the city was established in the early 1940s. The original wood-frame homes, averaging about 1,000 square feet, are dwarfed in comparison to the larger, modern brick ones springing up.
Side by side, the differences are glaring. In a recent example, the uppermost part of the roof of an original home barely reaches the height of the gutters on the garage of its next-door neighbor, a newly constructed two-story home.
A recent Cammack Village City Council agenda meeting, described as a town hall meeting, was held to discuss updates and changes to the housing codes in the proposed Preservation and Development Ordinance. During that meeting, at least one alderman, Mary Grace McCullar (Ward 1, Position 1), commented, "No one wants to live in a 900-square-foot bungalow anymore with real small closets and when you sit on the toilet, your knees are up against the bathtub."
Other residents are concerned that as larger, more modern-style homes continue to spring up, Cammack Village's historic integrity will suffer and its quaint charm will be lost. (Full disclosure: This columnist owns and lives in an original Cammack Village home.)
Those wishing to take a peek into one possible future -- in which new development continues unrestricted -- need only to take a drive down some of the streets a few blocks over in the Heights neighborhood, where ever-increasing mansions tower over the fewer and fewer much smaller original homes there. At those larger houses, children play in small front yards or, in some cases, the streets, because most of the property's land has been used for the building.
The recent agenda meeting focused solely on reviewing and modifying the city's 55-page preservation and development ordinance, Ordinance 17-02, Building Codes and Permits. The meeting was attended by about a dozen residents (not counting city officials). One reason for the low turnout may be that the city, which in the past delivered its monthly printed newsletter, The Cammack Periodical, door to door, recently stopped doing so, moving it to the city's online website. Many of the city's nearly 800 residents are elderly and don't have access to computers. But those wishing to receive a printed version of the newsletter may continue to do so if they request it.
To view the ordinance, visit cammackvillage.org. For more information or to voice a concern, contact Mayor Dave Graf at mayorgraf@cammackvillage.org or at (501) 663-4593.
Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 607-0675 or lindashaymes@gmail.com.
SundayMonday on 05/14/2017