LR delays vote on sewage plant

Developer asks city board for time; it’s reset to March

The Little Rock Board of Directors has postponed a vote on a permit application for a private sewage treatment plant just west of the city limits.

The board was scheduled to vote on the item Tuesday, but it was removed from the agenda after the developer asked the city for a 90-day deferment. The application is now set for a vote by the board March 7.

No explanation for the deferment was provided by the developer, Rick Ferguson.

It’s the second time Ferguson has sought a deferral on the vote since the permit application was denied by the Little Rock Planning Commission in July in the face of strong neighborhood opposition. Ferguson then appealed the commission’s decision to the city board.

The sewage treatment plant developers are seeking would allow a 134-lot subdivision along a roughly 35-acre property along Arkansas 10. Because the property is outside of city limits, Little Rock would not be able to connect the homes to its sewer system. Instead, the treatment plant would process sewage from each of the homes and dispose up to roughly 40,000 gallons of treated effluent into Nowlin Creek daily.

Residents organized against the proposal, fearing the discharge could affect the quality of the creek, which flows through many of their properties and ultimately feeds into the Little Maumelle River.

When the permit application went before the planning commission, city staff members recommended against the project, calling it a “classic case of urban sprawl.”

“The proposed development is located over 2 miles from the city limits … essentially leapfrogging over 2 miles of rural development and undeveloped lands to construct an urban residential development,” the city’s zoning and subdivision manager Dana Carney said during that meeting.

Developers objected to Carney’s conclusion, saying the project follows a typical pattern of urban development.

“We could never have imagined a Wal-Mart at Chenal Parkway and [Arkansas] 10 when I was growing up, and yet there it is,” said Joe White, the subdivision’s engineer.

Rick Ferguson Custom Homes did not return calls requesting explanation of the deferment Tuesday, but City Director Lance Hines, who represents Ward 5 on the city’s west edge, is in favor of the development, said developers were looking at alternative options.

“Regardless of the outcome, there’s probably going to be a lawsuit filed by either party, and they wanted to see if they could work something out, so they wanted a 90-day deferral,” he said.

The neighborhood group — known as the Citizens of West Pulaski County — and the developer have the option to file a lawsuit challenging the city board’s decision in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

City Director at large Joan Adcock, who opposes the project, said developers deferred the application because they had not gained the support of a majority of the board.

“He’s counting his votes, and he didn’t have them,” Adcock said.