PINE BLUFF -- Citing the need to gain resident input and put forward a comprehensive plan that will set the agenda for revitalization and growth in the city, civic leaders joined with city planners in Pine Bluff to meet with residents Monday night in the first of a series of meetings to discuss growth opportunities.
During a 45-minute presentation by city planning experts from Crafton Tull, the Little Rock-based engineering firm that contracted with the city to put together a comprehensive plan, about 80 people heard the results of a study of the city, identifying challenges and opportunities for the city.
"The first step was to go through all of the city's existing plans and documentation, to go through all of that information and do a technical assessment," said Julie Kelso , Crafton Tull's vice president of planning. "We've gone through and looked at those plans and taken a look at where the city is on various issues, what the past goals were for the city and where they have gotten to at this point."
Kelso said the main point of the presentation was to reveal what the planners had learned and to gain input from residents.
"We can look at plans, we can look at data," she said, "but whenever we're talking about the future of Pine Bluff, we're not going to get that from those assessments. We need to hear from the people of the community."
Part of the process, Kelso said, was the opening of a community survey that will be taking input from residents until the first week of October, after which a five-day workshop is planned to provide people with more opportunities for engagement.
"We have several exercises here tonight for public engagement for people to let us know what their vision is for the future of Pine Bluff," she said. "We've got some specific exercises that look at the city as a whole and let us know what areas of town they particularly love, what areas of town they would like to stay exactly the same in the future, what areas they love that they would like to see some enhancement in, and what areas they would like to see more transformation in."
Matt Lambert, a partner in the urban design firm DPZ CoDesign , based in Portland, Ore., showed how neighborhood development patterns changed over time as the city grew, resulting in neighborhoods that were less cohesive, broken up by major thoroughfares, railroad tracks, and industrial areas. He said an analysis of neighborhood development patterns showed that, as the city grew, walkability became less important.
Lambert said vacant parcels and abandoned structures have created safety issues and eroded neighborhood cohesion. He said the solutions to that would not be a quick fix, but will take time and work.
"It's a difficult question to grapple with as a city and it's really an idea of focus," he said. "We know that the casino is coming and there's going to be investment in those areas, and, while we'd like to fix everything over a period of time, we need to decide on places to focus and the process on which to go from one place to another and to build as best we can upon the advantages we get from one investment to build on another investment."
Dee Herring-Gatlin, a real estate broker, downtown property owner, and chairman of the Pine Bluff Historic District Commission, said she grew up in Pine Bluff, moved away for 40 years, then moved back in 2009. She said since moving back to Pine Bluff, she has bought a dozen properties in the downtown area.
"I've always thought downtown is the heart of the city and the fact that they are focusing and realizing that downtown is the heart of the city and everything kind of evolves from there is very encouraging," she said.
Much of the problem, Gatlin said, stems from absentee landlords not caring for their properties. Some, she said, also is rooted in big box stores locating outside of the city center, and nothing coming in to replace businesses that fold as a result.
Gatlin said she would like to eventually convert her properties into a mixture of boutique businesses and residential space.
Wil Jenkins, a business owner who owns seven downtown properties, said he moved to Pine Bluff a little over four years ago. He said his original plan when he and his wife moved to the city from Austin, Texas, was to flip houses.
"One night she says to me, 'Let's go downtown,'" Jenkins said. "We came downtown and at the time there were bricks in the road and you couldn't drive through. There were tears in her eyes and she kept saying to me, 'This reminds me of Oklahoma City 35 years ago.'"
Jenkins said he and his wife then began planning and buying properties in the downtown area, recognizing that the highway infrastructure has already been built, which he said makes Pine Bluff a natural location for tourism, especially once the planned Saracen Casino is in operation.
"The Quapaw Nation is about to build a $350-million facility," Jenkins said. "That should excite everybody. They're going to draw from the whole Deltaplex, I'm talking about Fordyce, Monticello, Warren, Stuttgart, and all these other great cities. Back in the day, this place was the mecca. People drove from those surrounding cities to come here and shop. We've got the opportunity to do it all over again but to do it better."
Jenkins said he believes the progress that has begun has started to create a momentum that is driving the city forward.
State Desk on 08/27/2019