The vote on a request to rezone a 74-acre tract of wooded property in west Little Rock to make way for the Herrick Heights development project has been postponed three times.
The city Board of Directors will have another chance Tuesday to have its say on developer Keith Richardson's proposal to build a large apartment complex, along with office space and single-family homes. But the plan could undergo changes yet again, the board was told last week.
The board originally was to take up the proposal for the 408-unit complex Feb. 2, but the vote was put off at the developer's request because of community opposition.
Another vote was set for March 1, but the board sent an amended version of the proposal back to the city's Planning Commission.
A vote was expected on that amended version July 20, but Vice Mayor Lance Hines didn't allow the ordinance to go to the third reading required for a vote because two board members were absent and he wanted everyone to have a say.
The amended version of the proposal was Richardson's form of a compromise with nearby residents in single-family subdivisions who strongly opposed the idea of another multifamily unit near their homes.
There are already 504 apartment units in the area at the Pointe at Brodie Creek. Another 500 are approved for Bowman Pointe, and a planned development of 250 units has been approved farther south on Bowman Road.
Earlier this year the city approved a one-year halt to apartment development in the area, but the temporary moratorium didn't apply to the Herrick Heights request because it was already in the pipeline.
In response to complaints about increased traffic on Bowman Road, Richardson agreed to build a traffic circle or traffic signal at the intersection of South Bowman Road and Brodie Creek. Under the proposal, he wouldn't have to fulfill that obligation until he began developing along that road.
Richardson offered two other compromises: He would put a 50-foot buffer area between the neighborhoods and his apartment complex, and he would build the proposed single-family houses on his property to be similar in size and character to those in nearby neighborhoods Brodie Creek and Woodlands Edge. This was in response to concerns that the new development would decrease the value of current properties.
All three amendments will be included in a deed restriction on the property if the city board allows the rezoning.
In addition, Richardson is expected to offer a fourth compromise at Tuesday's board meeting, said Tony Bozynski, director of the city's Planning and Development Department.
Richardson has said he will agree to reduce the number of apartment units from the proposed 408 to 312, Bozynski said.
The Brodie Creek Property Owners Association had requested in May that the units be reduced to 312. The association also polled its members at that time and reported that 36 were for the rezoning, 16 were against, four had no opinion and 26 didn't vote.
Despite that poll and the changes made by Richardson, there are still neighbors who oppose the rezoning. About 40 showed up at City Hall the last time a vote was expected, all wearing red clothes and "Stop Rezoning" stickers.
In addition to the Herrick Heights apartment complex, Richardson has plans for a single-family subdivision and office space on the site. It's already zoned for single-family use, and he could continue with his plan to add the homes without any approval from the city board.
Richardson has said he is planning to build Herrick Heights in four phases. His original proposal suggested having 120 units ready by 2017 and then adding 96 units each year for three years.
Bozynski's department is recommending that the city board approve the rezoning request.
"What is before you is a mixed-use development, and I think that's something the city has tried to encourage," Bozynski told the board in an agenda-setting session Tuesday. "We feel with the approach being a mixed-use plan, that we think with the area that's being set aside as open space, that it's a reasonable development."
Metro on 09/19/2016