Little Italy gets delay to prep incorporation bid

A map shows the proposed incorporated area for Little Italy.
A map shows the proposed incorporated area for Little Italy.

Facing opposition from community groups and public entities in central Arkansas, Little Italy leaders requested and were granted an extension to prepare for their hearing to incorporate into a new town within Pulaski County.

The 8.8-square-mile northwest Pulaski County community's incorporation hearing was scheduled for Monday, but it is now postponed until after Sept. 21. The extension will give Little Italy leaders time to work on compromises with Central Arkansas Water officials that would keep the utility from opposing the incorporation.

"We both have the same goals," said Kristy Eanes, co-chairman of the Little Italy Incorporation Task Force. "We would like to keep the area rural."

Eanes met with Central Arkansas Water officials June 18 to discuss risks the incorporation would pose to Lake Maumelle and its watershed, where the 380 Little Italy residents occupy or own much of the land. Incorporation would remove the town from the county's watershed zoning ordinance, which is designed to protect the lake.

"Our concern is right now we have uncertainty in terms of water-quality protections," Central Arkansas Water spokesman John Tynan said.

The watershed is the 137-square-mile drainage area surrounding 14-square-mile Lake Maumelle, which provides drinking water to more than 400,000 central Arkansans.

Barry Hyde, the county judge of Pulaski County, presides over incorporation hearings. Arkansas Code Annotated 14-38-104 says a county judge shall determine whether a community may incorporate based on whether enough signatures were collected, the map of the area to be incorporated is correct, the town's name is distinguishable from others in the state and whether he deems incorporation to be "right and proper."

Pulaski County Attorney Amanda Mitchell prepared a memorandum on Little Italy outlining case law on what has been considered "right and proper" in court. Courts have considered whether the land was suitable for a city.

The Arkansas Supreme Court also upheld a decision to not grant the community of Ouita near Russellville incorporation after "substantial" evidence mounted that residents were mostly trying to prevent annexation and avoid Russellville regulations.

Mitchell said no case law exists on whether a county judge can consider resolutions opposing incorporation during a hearing. She said that would be within his discretion.

In a June 26 letter to Eanes, Tynan outlined two circumstances under which the utility would not oppose the community's incorporation.

The first compromise, Tynan wrote, would be if the community task force dropped its petition for incorporation and instead worked with Central Arkansas Water to adopt a historic and rural community overlay district and get listed on the state and national registers of historic places. The utility also would "try to improve services in the community."

The second compromise would allow for the town to incorporate but would require owners of 75 percent of the land in Little Italy to agree to continuing water-quality regulations through a historic preservation covenant.

Asked whether she thought enough residents would be receptive to maintaining watershed regulations, Eanes said that would be something to consider in the next three months.

On Thursday, the Central Arkansas Water board of directors voted to oppose Little Italy's incorporation as a town while a compromise remains uncertain.

Little Rock has not passed a resolution in opposition to the community's incorporation, but North Little Rock has. Other community groups, including the League of Women Voters of Pulaski County and the Coalition of Greater Little Rock neighborhoods, also have opposed it, citing uncertainty over water-quality protections.

The community's business plan notes preventing annexation, protecting property rights and allowing the community to make its own planning decisions. Other opportunities include the ability to receive state turnback funds for roads and eligibility for grants.

Central Arkansas Water worked for more than a decade to establish restrictions on land use in the watershed and purchase easements on properties in strategic portions to protect water quality. That concluded in 2013 with a zoning code for the area passed by the Pulaski County Quorum Court.

It went into effect in 2014, the same year the Lake Maumelle Watershed Task Force proposed amendments to the zoning code that were later passed to better satisfy watershed residents who objected to the code as written.

Eanes and Chris Dorer, the other co-chairman of the Little Italy Incorporation Task Force, were both members of the Lake Maumelle Watershed Task Force.

Eanes said she wants to maintain good relationships with the community's neighbors.

"We all appreciate what Central Arkansas Water does to maintain the lake," she said. "We're right there with them wanting to protect it."

Metro on 07/11/2015

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