Fort Smith board approves cable franchise, rejects Williams Lane project

The lengthy process to reach a franchise agreement between the city of Fort Smith and Cox Communications ended Tuesday night (Mar. 3) with the Fort Smith Board of Directors voting to extend the existing agreement to Dec. 31, 2011.

City staff and Cox had negotiated to reach a new agreement for more than a year. Two temporary contract extensions were sought and approved, with Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker vetoing a third extension.

On Feb. 24, Len Pitcock, Arkansas director of government affairs for Cox, presented to the city board a compromise in which Cox would abide by the terms of the existing franchise agreement through Dec. 31, 2011 — which is also the expiration of the video service franchise agreement between the city and AT&T.

The board vote was 6 in favor, with Kevin Settle abstaining. Settle cited a conflict of interest because his brother works for AT&T, a competitor to Cox.

WILLIAMS LANE
The board also voted to reject a rezoning that would allow a Fort Smith Housing Authority development of 29 single-family homes and 13 affordable housing duplex units.

Ken Pyle, executive director of the housing authority, said the $9 million project meets a need for “quality, affordable rental housing” in Fort Smith. He said the authority had worked with area residents to address their concerns in the development.

However, Reva Stover spoke against the housing authority development, saying it would threaten home values and the potential for better development in the area. Stover, who spoke for the Williams Lane-Nowland Springs Neighborhood Association, urged the board to “give us a chance to see new development come” to the area rather than the low-income projects that “fall into disrepair rather speedily.”

City Director Gary Campbell moved to approve the housing authority rezoning request, and City Director Don Hutchings seconded the motion. But when the vote was called, it was a 5 to 2 defeat, with only Campbell and Hutchings in support.

The board then unanimously approved a rezoning request sought by Stover and the neighborhood association that consolidated a hodgepodge of zoning classifications in the area into one residential-2-single-family classification. The new classification restricts residential development to those more favorable to area residents, Stover said.