KATV ends bid to build LR spire

Station sought height-limit pass

KATV, Channel 7, has withdrawn its request for a zoning variance to allow the Little Rock television station to build a 100-foot broadcast tower at a potential new home in Riverdale.

It was unclear Monday whether KATV would continue with plans to move its offices and studios from its long-time location at Fourth and Main streets in downtown Little Rock to 10 Turtle Creek Lane, the former home of the Student Loan Guarantee Foundation of Arkansas.

The Riverdale property is a 2-story, 26,615-squarefoot office building listed by Colliers International for $3.69 million.

Little Rock zoning ordinances limit tower heights to no more than 75 feet. Mark Rose, the station general manager, previously said the additional tower height was needed for the station to operate “efficiently” from its new home.

City planning staff

had supported the zoning variance request, calling it reasonable and not out of character with the heights of other buildings and towers in the area. A radio station owned by Signal Media, which also owns KATV, has a 154-foot tower at 2400 Cottondale Lane, an address 1 mile from the Turtle Creek property.

But the owners of Treetops condominiums, a 10-story, 48-unit building off Rebsamen Park Road and about a quarter-mile from the proposed

tower, opposed the zoning variance request before the Little Rock Board of Adjustment, saying the tower would mar their views of the Arkansas River and downtown Little Rock.

The board took up the request at its Feb. 26 meeting, but the condo owners persuaded the board to give them an additional month to allow them to obtain legal representation.

KATV officials submitted a revised plan on March 6, according to planning staff. The revision moves the tower location slightly to the west to provide a better signal.

They also were prepared to present information on health and safety issues as well as distance and visibility issues.

But on March 18 station officials asked that their application be deferred to Monday’s meeting.

Bill Russell, real estate director for the Sinclair Broadcast Group in Hunt Valley, Md., informed staff on April 23 by email that the the application for the variance was being withdrawn.

Russell couldn’t be reached for comment Monday afternoon. Rose didn’t return a telephone call, either.

A separate email to a public relations executive who represents Sinclair also failed to elicit a response.

Philip E. Kaplan, a lawyer with the Little Rock law firm of Williams & Anderson, represents the condo owners. In an interview, Kaplan said he had little success in speaking with officials from the station or its owner.

“There was nobody to talk to,” he said.

About all Kaplan said he knows is that Signal Media has not purchased the Turtle Creek property.

“As far as I can tell, they haven’t taken title to that piece of property,” he said.