By Ray King
The Pine Bluff City Council on Monday rejected a plan from the city’s Economic and Community Development Department to locate a shelter for homeless families in a four-plex complex in the 300 block of West 16th Avenue after a number of residents in the area spoke against the plan.
The Pine Bluff Planning Commission had previously turned down the idea but Economic and Community Development appealed that action to the council. After the vote, Council Member Win Trafford explained why the council voted the way they did.
Council Member Joni Alexander noted that residents of the neighborhood had voiced their opposition to the proposal when the planning commission met in September and asked why community development had not come up with alternatives to the location.
“I didn’t run for office because I was satisfied with city services,” Alexander said. “A lot of departments are not doing their job and community development is one of them.”
Lori Walker, who works for Economic and Community Development said the city had received a grant from the state for $599,000 over a two-year period to fund the shelter, which Walker described as a “means to permanent housing.”
“My concern is this program is funded for 24 months,” Council Member Ivan Whitfield said. “After 24 months, then what?”
Walker said one of the barriers was that the grant required a 100 percent match but using funding from the CARES Act will cover that match. “If it is successful and we see the fruits of our labor, this body can decide whether to appropriate (funds to continue the program).”
The grant was specifically geared to the location on West 16th Avenue and Walker said if the council did not approve the idea, community development would have to go back to the state and see if they would approve a second location.
Economic and Community Development Director Larry Matthews said his department had three weeks to come up with a location and described the property on West 16th Avenue as the “best fit.”
Matthews also said the decision was “not personal. We will have a problem where ever we try to put it (the homeless shelter).”
“It is personal to me and the people who live in that neighborhood,” Alexander said.
A second hearing focused on a request to build a convenience store at the intersection of Hazel Street and Ridgway Road, property which is currently zoned as a commercial site but a use permit on request (UPOR) is required for the installation of gas pumps. The Planning Commission had previously rejected the request.
The developer of the property said his company currently owns and operates other convenience stores in Pine Bluff and said without the ability to sell gasoline, the venture would not be feasible.
Council member Bruce Lockett said the area is already zoned for business and he did not see a problem in with selling gas or that “this particular store will negatively impact the community.” Whitfield also described the store as “a good fit for Pine Bluff. We talk about trying to make it grow. We can’t stop him from building. All he wants is just to sell gas.”
“People move out there to get away,” Alexander said. “Fifty years from now, what will that building look like? We need to honor what the community wants.”
An attempt by Trafford to send the proposal back to the Planning Commission for further review failed and a vote to overturn the vote of the commission and grant the permit passed 5-2 with Alexander and Council Member Steven Mays voting no and Trafford abstaining.
After the meeting, Trafford was asked about resolutions sponsored by Mays asking the council to approve a no confidence vote against the management of the street department and asking the mayor to replace the street department manager and a resolution encouraging the Code Enforcement Department to enforce the city’s property maintenance and nuisance regulations at the Pines Mall. Mays pulled one of those resolutions while the other was beaten.
