A legal tiff between the Stephens family and the city of Little Rock could help determine the future connectivity and growth corridors on more than 1,300 acres in west Pulaski County.
The lawsuit by SF Holding Corp. challenges the city’s approval of a preliminary plat for a 43-lot expansion of the Copper Run residential development.
At the heart of the dispute is SF Holding’s contention that the plans represent a roadblock to the proposed route of a westward extension of Capitol Hill Boulevard. That minor arterial road currently ends at the eastern property line of an undeveloped 1,000-acre tract the Stephens family has owned for 57 years.
The SF Holdings complaint alleges the future proposed route of Capitol Hill through its property should cross Copper Run land now platted for homesites. The corporation alleges the city’s preliminary approval for that residential development required an amendment to the master street plan, which didn’t happen.
The city denies that claim along with a laundry list of technical administrative deficiencies presented by SF Holding regarding the preliminary plat approved nearly a year ago as well as subsequent planning staff and planning commission actions.
SF Holding’s complaint wades into the weeds of the city’s master street plan, zoning ordinances, codes, permits and regulations for land development along with planning commission bylaws.
The lawsuit was filed May 3 in Pulaski County Circuit Court by SF Holding, led by Warren Stephens and his cousins, Witt Stephens Jr. and Elizabeth Stephens Campbell.
The defendants are the city of Little Rock; Gilbert Collins, director of the city’s planning department; and Michael Vickers, chairman of the Little Rock Planning Commission.
Collins, head of the planning department since 2017, resigned from the post June 28 to become area manager for the engineering firm of Neel-Schaffer Inc., based in Jackson, Mississippi.
Neither City Attorney Tom Carpenter nor Brad Jordan, interim director of the Little Rock planning department, could be reached for comment. Attempts to reach John Tull, SF Holding’s attorney; Warren Stephens and Witt Stephens Jr. were also unsuccessful.
The litigation has brought a halt to an expansion of the Copper Run residential development by Layman Lane LLC, led by Graham Smith. While looking for future judicial clarity regarding its plans, Smith expects to become part of the lawsuit at some point.
“We’re waiting for the city to report back to us, and we’ll decide what they want us to do,” Smith said. “We’re not a named party yet, but we will be a named party.”
The Stephens property, held in the names of Real Properties Inc. and Real Estate Properties Inc., lies along the western city limits of Little Rock. Its boundaries stretch west toward Stewart Road and south to Col. Glenn Road, linking with another large Stephens-owned tract.
The Stephens family acquired the property for an undisclosed sum as part of a June 1967 transaction with Pritchard Lumber Co., led by Dave Lee Pritchard, and the namesake testamentary trust of his father, Albert Lorenza Pritchard.
While the Stephens land has remained dormant, the Copper Run project has produced 177 lots in the first five phases. About 80% of those homesites have developed into an estimated $60 million worth of new addresses.
As part of discussions with city officials, Layman Lane made provision for right-of-way along the south end of its property to accommodate future construction of Capitol Hill Boulevard.
However, SF Holdings wanted the proposed route of the minor arterial road to be farther north on Copper Run land.
“The end result was what they want wasn’t feasible and didn’t work for us,” said Scott Hurley, a minority partner in the Copper Run development. “They wanted to run the road through our development, and the city told them our roads weren’t built for that.”
The position of SF Holdings is the city should have held firm that a proposed route through Copper Run property was more than a possibility on municipal plans.
“The preliminary plat did not show that the Capitol Hill Boulevard Extension shown on the Master Street Plan runs through Lots 158, 159, 160, 203, 204, 205, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219 and Tract Q of the proposed preliminary plat for Copper Run – Phase 6, and as required by the city code,” according to the SF Holding complaint.
A definitive route for the westward extension of Capitol Hill Boulevard has never been charted because the Stephens family has never submitted development plans for its property with its challenging topography and dearth of roads.
Little Rock developers have a strong say in the details of a future road, which will be reviewed and if approved ultimately dedicated to the city.
The dotted route of the future Capitol Hill Boulevard construction on city maps indicates a proposed road and not its precise path, Smith said.
The northernmost portion of the wooded Stephens-owned tract adjoins the southeast boundary of the proposed 40-lot seventh and 44-lot eighth phases of the Copper Run development.
Smith intended to clear 14 acres in anticipation of phase six construction. The land is part of a nearly 43-acre parcel, lying almost entirely south of Brodie Creek, that would also be home to phases seven and eight.
“We have to build a bridge across Brodie Creek,” Smith said, to access the phase six-eight land. “I have pulled a permit, but I have decided not to clear the land to see what the city wants to do.”
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