Historic district to update guidelines

LITTLE ROCK — A planned update to the design guidelines that govern construction and rehabilitation in Little Rock’s MacArthur Park neighborhood is expected to be comprehensive and result in a full set of new guidelines, members of the Little Rock Historic District Commission were told on Thursday.

The seven-member commission reviews requests for exterior design alterations, new construction and demolitions within the MacArthur Park Historic District. The guidelines serve as the basis for their decisions.

Urban Designer Hannah Ratzlaff, the city of Little Rock’s staff liaison to the commission, on Thursday said that while a lot of the existing material will be incorporated again, the formatting of the new version of the guidelines will be different and hopefully more user-friendly, with an eye to assisting people with their home maintenance.

Ratzlaff mentioned Eureka Springs’ Historic District Design Guidelines as a model. She also expressed a desire to make some of Little Rock’s past “piecemeal” initiatives more consistent across the guidelines.

The latest list of staff goals for the process shown to commissioners on Thursday included a high expectation for community engagement and participation on the part of a consultant; addressing gaps in the guidelines; incorporating clearer guidance on the use of artificial materials; and applying national best practices to Little Rock’s context.

The MacArthur Park Historic District is the city’s only so-called local-ordinance district created by Little Rock municipal ordinance.

Grant funding from the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Fund, through the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, is expected to help support the work of updating the design guidelines for the MacArthur Park Historic District.