Coalition's letter addresses rentals
Kathy Wells, the president of the Coalition of Little Rock Neighborhoods, in a letter Thursday told the Little Rock mayor and Board of Directors that a short-term rental ordinance before the city board has "major issues" and expressed hope that they will revise the proposal.
"The Coalition of Little Rock Neighborhoods includes fully-developed neighborhoods, such as Hillcrest, and blighted areas urgently in need of redevelopment, such as the Central High School neighborhood," she wrote. "Homeowners in both should be shielded from problems short-term rentals can bring; parties with excessive noise and misbehavior that is a nuisance to neighbors is a good example."
Nevertheless, Wells added that "where there are many vacant lots and houses needing redevelopment, this business model can be a useful tool and should be given incentives."
She also suggested that the city must hire more code enforcement officers to cope with several hundred new rental properties. "Let's not set up separate staff in the Planning Department to do this same work. That's bad government," Wells wrote.
A public forum on the proposed ordinance is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at Philander Smith College. The city board is scheduled to take up the ordinance for a first reading at a 6 p.m. meeting the following day.
Airport's website to get makeover
Members of the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission at a meeting on Thursday authorized an agreement with a firm to reconfigure the website of Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/Adams Field.
"The existing website has been in place since 2014 and does not support current technological needs," commission documents said. "The website needs an updated and user-friendly layout."
The company We Are Few LLC is expected to provide website design, development and hosting services in exchange for $109,021, a figure that includes a 10% contingency.
Additionally, We Are Few will provide on-call services during a three-year term with the option of three additional one-year extensions at the discretion of the airport's Executive Director Bryan Malinowski.
The Little Rock-based firm has agreed to a 9% diversity-participation commitment in partnership with Silverlake Design Studio; the airport's goal was 7%, according to commission documents.