A public forum sponsored by Jeffrey Sand Co. on Wednesday didn't leave a number of attendees ready to accept the company's proposal to locate a sand storage and distribution site along the Arkansas River on Maumelle's eastern edge.
"For $1.5 million, I'll sell you my property and get out of your hair," a man among the crowd of more than 50 people called out from the back of the room to Jeffrey Sand President Clay McGeorge, prompting a chorus of "Me, too!" from some others.
The company has applied for a conditional-use permit to place a wholesale sales and storage business on 22 riverfront acres that the company owns on Crystal Hill Road at the border of Maumelle and North Little Rock. The commercially zoned property abuts a planned residential district.
Those who showed up for the lunch-hour session at a pizza restaurant on the North Little Rock end of Maumelle Boulevard included residents of Maumelle, North Little Rock and Little Rock's Walton Heights neighborhood, which overlooks the Jeffrey Sand property from the river's south side.
Six Maumelle city aldermen also attended. The Maumelle City Council will have final say on whether to approve the conditional-use permit.
An opposition group later Wednesday announced that it will hold a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, at Crystal Hill and Counts Massie roads, to discuss the proposal.
Janet Watkins, one of the organizers of the opposition group, began asking McGeorge a string of questions until McGeorge stopped her, saying that she had agreed this was his meeting and she had promised beforehand not to be "disruptive." McGeorge added that he would attend her group's meeting to answer more questions.
"You might not want to come to our meeting," Watkins replied. "I didn't get to ask all my questions. I didn't want to be accused of being impolite."
During his presentation, McGeorge stressed his pride in being a fourth-generation member of a family business in operation for 102 years and tried to negate concerns about truck traffic, sand dust and how the sand storage site would look.
Jeffrey Sand Co. is part of the Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel Company, which includes Pine Bluff Materials Co., with operations in Little Rock, Conway and Pine Bluff. It also has Tennessee operations in Nashville and Clarksville. Jeffrey Sand is headquartered in North Little Rock.
McGeorge said the company's investment would be in the $3 million to $4 million range. The company would add landscaping and be responsible for repairs on Crystal Hill Road in front of the site, if its permit is approved by Maumelle. The company also would plant "mature trees" as screening for aesthetics purposes.
"They can't put trees tall enough to where we can't see it," said a Walton Heights resident who asked that his name not be used. "People bought those homes for a river view. Do you think they want to look at sand piles?"
Concerning truck traffic, McGeorge said the company has trucks going in and out of Maumelle now taking sand to customers.
"Basically it will be like a loading operation, and that would be it," McGeorge said of the proposed satellite site. "A truck driver will come in, load his sand and 90 seconds later be leaving with his load. On normal business days, we'll have 50 loads of sand come out of this facility. But there are 50 loads of sand coming out here to Maumelle today. It will be the same number of loads of sand."
In 2007, the Maumelle City Council unanimously voted against amending city zoning regulations that would have allowed Jeffrey Sand to locate on the property. In 2003, the state Supreme Court decided to not allow the property to be detached from Maumelle and annexed into North Little Rock, which had approved a favorable rezoning for the company.
Metro on 07/09/2015