North Little Rock City Council OKs unzoned-rubble deal.

North Little Rock City Council members passed a resolution Monday to forgive a local business for disobeying a council directive from February, but with a nonbinding recommendation that the business give up the profit it makes from its action.

The resolution finalized an agreement reached between the city and Kaye Lynn Tankersley, AR Trison Group LLC and AR Trison Farms LLC, to clear concrete rubble off Tankersley’s property, 12602 Faulkner Lake Road. The recycled concrete is contracted to be sold for roadway rehabilitation on Interstate 440.

Council members approved the resolution 5-2. Debi Ross and Charlie Hight voted against it. Murry Witcher was absent.

Hight asked to discuss the proposal, though Mayor Joe Smith said it had been explained at the council’s Aug. 14 meeting, which Hight had missed. Hight insisted and questioned what penalties were to be assessed.

The City Council had refused Tankersley’s application for a special-use permit for AR Trison Farms to crush, store and sell concrete at the property that is within a residential zone. Despite the rejection, the operation went forward without proper zoning or a city business permit. A “significant amount” of rubble is now stored on the property and needs to be removed, city officials have said.

The business is a supplier for a construction company contracted with the state Department of Transportation for roadway rehabilitation of I-440 north of the Arkansas River. The rubble to be sold is to be removed no later than Nov. 30. Any left over is to go toward a planned residential development on that site.

“Did they say ‘Oops, we made a mistake?’” Hight asked the mayor. The answer was no.

Smith said that the business had been issued a citation, and a court appearance is scheduled Sept. 21 in North Little Rock District Court.

“The judge will determine the punishment,” Smith said. “That’s the responsibility of the judge.”

Hight said that his “recommendation is that they be asked to forfeit any profit they make off the sale of the concrete that was crushed without permission.”

Smith directed that the recommendation be part of the meeting minutes and that it be forwarded to District Court.

Hight then voted no on the resolution. Ross also voted against it, explaining that she would have rather waited for the court’s decision.

Smith asked the council at its Aug 14 meeting for a voice vote to authorize him to notify the Transportation Department that the city would allow Trison Farms to fulfill its contract to provide the materials from the property in order for the I-440 project to move forward. Smith informed the state agency in an Aug. 21 letter of the city’s agreement with Tankersley, pending the council’s final approval Monday that finalized it.