The Little Rock City Board of Directors is scheduled to vote Tuesday night on a resolution opposing efforts by the Little Italy community in Pulaski County to become its own municipality.
Kristy Eanes, co-chair of the Little Italy Incorporation Task Force, says residents filed a petition to become its own city in hopes of preserving its historic, rural atmosphere as Little Rock continues to expand westward. Fewer than 400 people live in the community.
“The main reason for incorporation, the driving force behind it, is to keep it the way it has been for 100 years, and to keep it this way for a hundred more,” Eanes said.
Central Arkansas Water and the City of Little Rock are opposed to the proposal. CAW Chief Legal Council Tad Bohannon says his concern is that Pulaski County regulations to prevent pollution runoff, which protects drinking water for 400,000 people, would no longer be in place if Little Italy becomes its own municipality.
“Numerous city groups and citizen’s organizations met with and discussed over a period of time and agreed that these were the best protections for the lake,” Bohannon said, “Once Little Italy is incorporated they all go away.”
The Little Rock Board of Directors meeting begins 6 p.m.