LR board to seal housing project’s fate

Proposed complex divides city planning agencies, draws neighbors’ opposition

up to the Little Rock Board of Directors whether a proposed residential complex for the elderly will go up in west Little Rock against neighborhood opposition.

In a rare occurrence, the staff of the city’s Planning and Development Department is in disagreement with the city Planning Commission about the project.

The staff is recommending the board approve a rezoning request that would allow Deltic Timber Corp. to build a multifamily complex for senior citizens at the northwest corner of Champagnolle Drive and Rahling Road, near Chenal Parkway.

The Planning Commission voted 5-4 in March to recommend the denial of the project.

The Little Rock Board of Directors will make a decision Tuesday at its 6 p.m. meeting at City Hall.

The property in question is zoned for quiet office space. Deltic Timber wants it rezoned for residential development.

The company plans to build a three-story, two-wing apartment building with 130 units for people age 55 and older. A company spokesman said he anticipates the average tenant’s age to be 75 to 80 years old.

The building would contain studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units. There would be live-in managers, round-the-clock staffing, concierge service, free scheduled car and bus service, full-service dining and weekly housekeeping.

Single-family property owners on nearby Witry Court aren’t welcoming of the plans.

They pointed to an agreement signed by Deltic Timber almost 20 years ago that spelled out the company’s plan to turn the land into office space. The city board approved that plan in 2010, but the development never occurred.

Members of the Witry Court Property Owners Association have said the extra traffic that a living complex would draw to the area would be a hazard. But the city’s Planning and Development Department said the living facility would have minimal impact on the area.

Residents also said they bought their homes with the understanding that they would be living next to offices, not apartments.

Kyla Aycock told the Planning Commission in March that a Deltic Timber representative told her real estate agent just eight months earlier that offices were still planned for the adjacent undeveloped land.

She wouldn’t have purchased the home had she known about the apartment complex, she said.

“As a mom, privacy and safety of my children is very important. So we looked for two years for a Chenal home meeting our needs,” Aycock told commissioners.

She said her house has floor-to-ceiling windows that residents of the proposed apartments would be able to peer into if the development moves forward.

Little Rock city directors said at an agenda meeting last week that they had received several calls objecting to the proposed development.