SPRINGDALE — Members of the Planning Commission said they aren’t sure if minorities who appear in front of them understand why their applications are being turned down.
Commissioner Jerry Horton said several Hispanics and Marshallese people were recently refused variances or rezonings and appeared bewildered by the process.
“I hope they don’t think we are prejudiced,” Horton said. “We are applying the same standards to everyone. Some of our minorities seem to be unaware of our standards, or not understand our reasoning because of the language barrier.”
Commissioner Roy Colvert suggested education could prevent the lack of understanding that comes at commission meetings.
Recently, an application for a rezoning at 1124 Jefferson St. by Justin Latdrik was denied. Latdrik is Marshallese.
By The Numbers
Springdale’s Minority Population
• Population: 69,797
• Hispanic: 35 percent
• Marshallese: 5 percent
• Asian: 1 percent
Source: 2010 U.S. Census
At the same meeting, a variance for setbacks for Joel Calderon and Maritza Sandoval for their home at 606 Curtis St. was also denied. The couple is Hispanic.
Latdrik didn’t understand why he was denied, said Patsy Christie, planning director.
“After the vote, I met with him several times,” Christie said. “I kept explaining it to him and he finally understood.”
The rezoning, from industrial to commercial, would have allowed Latdrik to open a church in the building as a conditional use. According to the minutes of the meeting, the tone of the commissioners’ comments became heavily against the rezoning when they were told the building once housed a chemical company that stored some of its products outdoors.
Chemicals could have leaked into the ground and be danger to the public, Horton said.
Ed Stith, fire marshal, said there would be a risk to children and the elderly if they attended church there.
In the Marshall Islands, the owner or renter can do anything with their property they want to, said Carmen Chong Gum, Marshallese counsel general. Many Marshallese don’t know they have to follow regulations, she said.
“The landlords know about the regulations,” Gum said. “They should tell their renters about the rules before they start spending money.”
In several cases, Marshallese renters have spent thousands of dollars in renovation before they become aware of the rules they must follow, Gum said. Many times, the renter loses all the money he invested because the building will not meet the regulations, she said.
Latdrik is looking at other buildings for his church, Gum said, but he lost the money he had already invested in the Jefferson Street building.
Calderon and Sandoval asked to be allowed to extend their carport to within 3 feet of the property line. They were turned down because the extension would allow fire to spread easily from one house to another.
“Our first priority is to make sure, if your house burns, your neighbors’ doesn’t go with it,” Stith said.
Calderon, who was using a child to translate for him, didn’t seem to understand the reasoning. When called recently, Calderon, again through translation by a child, first said he didn’t understand, then said he did. He then hung up.
Language and terminology are huge barriers, Christie said. Professional translators aren’t available for meetings and many applicants use friends or relatives to translate who don’t understand the terms.
Colvert asked, at a commission work session, for the planning staff to look at methods to educate minorities on the city’s rules. A glossary could be the first step, Christie said.
“It’s hard to translate what a footing is,” Christie said. “Unless the translator is familiar with the terms, he can’t explain what it is.”
The commission could hold informational meetings instead of work sessions during some months, Colvert said.
The problem of not understanding a ruling isn’t limited to minorities, said Vivi Haney, a commissioner. Several Springdale natives don’t agree with commission rulings and don’t understand why they were denied, she said.
Haney, whose mother is Hispanic, spoke Spanish as her first language. She lost the language as she learned English.
“The family was told to speak only English in the home,” Haney said. “I had to relearn Spanish when I was grown.”
Haney said she has listened to the translations of the rulings to see how effective it has been.
“A lot of people understand a lot more English than you’d think,” Haney said. “If you speak slowly and, if you have to repeat an explanation, use different words, they will understand a lot more.”