Developer defers six‑unit Pettaway project after commission raises parking, safety concerns

Mike Orndorff, a local home builder, asked the Little Rock Planning Commission on July 9 to rezone a 0.16‑acre lot in the Pettaway neighborhood to a planned development residential (PDR) zone so he could build six attached two‑story single‑family units aimed at first‑time buyers.

City staff told the commission the site plan provides no off‑street parking and does not comply with the zoning ordinance’s parking standard (Section 36‑5‑02), and staff recommended denial. "The site plan is overdeveloped in a manner that does not allow the development to comply with off‑street parking standards," the staff report said.

Orndorff defended the proposal as a way to create more attainable housing close to transit and retail, saying many prospective buyers do not own cars and that existing on‑street parking and nearby bus stops would serve future residents. "We want to increase density and provide attainable housing; these homes are on a bus line and within walking distance of Kroger," he said.

Commissioners expressed repeated concern about safety and the effect of adding overnight on‑street parking on East 21st Street, which commissioners described as an arterial with existing speed issues and speed humps. Several commissioners urged the applicant to provide off‑street parking off the alley or to reduce the number of units so that on‑site spaces could be included. "Adding more on‑street parking for a development of this size is going to make that street less safe for pedestrians," one commissioner said.

Orndorff agreed to seek a compromise and asked for a short deferral to revise the site plan. The commission approved the applicant’s requested one‑month deferral on a roll‑call vote (yes: Brown, Menard, Hodges, Person, Russell, Samad, Vickers, Eaves, Haney, McDonald; Baxter absent). The item was deferred to the August agenda so the applicant can submit a revised site plan showing potential off‑street parking.

The commission did not take a final vote on the rezoning; next steps are for the applicant to file a revised site plan and for staff to review that submission before the August meeting.