Local veterans left City Hall fuming Tuesday after the Planning Commission indicated it would reject their appeal of a zoning decision barring fundraising events at a nightclub-turned-veterans center.
Representatives of the VETs 4 Veterans Resource Support Center at 2221 South Olive Street said the events were necessary to continue providing services there to local veterans.
Planning Commission members said the decision had nothing to do with the veterans’ mission, but with applying the city’s rules on event centers the same across the city.
In addition to the veterans support center, the location houses American Legion Post 401 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Retired Lt. Col. Kenneth Cole said he began renting the location on South Olive four months ago to operate as a veterans service office as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation and a 501(c)(19) tax-exempt veterans organization. Cole said he comes into contact with 15-to-20 veterans each day, and the organization serves about 150 total.
The office provides tutoring, mentoring, resume writing and interview techniques, among other services. It is also intended to house a music program for disadvantaged youth. Cole and the other veterans said funding for the office is currently coming from their own pockets, but they are seeking permission to hold as many as 2-3 events per month at the site with alcohol. The events are needed to keep the program running, he said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Pine Bluff Inspection and Zoning Department official Lakishia Hill said she offered Cole the ability to conduct outreach and counseling services for veterans at the site, but she was prevented by the city’s municipal code from approving events there.
“This location is the location that caused the city to put a moratorium on event centers and develop an ordinance restricting them,” Hill said. “It’s right next to a residential area and there is no soundproofing, so noise spilled over into the neighborhood.”
Jackie Kirby, commander of American Legion Post 401, said he felt the ordinance was being misapplied based on a past history of disturbances at the location, which he described as a club where young people “were blasting music.”
“We’re not here to have events,” Kirby said. “But every nonprofit has to have a way to support itself.”
Verleen Conic, past commander of VFW Post 228 in Pine Bluff, said more than 7,000 veterans live in Jefferson County. Veterans struggled to keep the VFW post open for 10 years, she said. It was housed at 417 Main Street from 2001 to 2009, according to Conic, where it was known as the Manuel Leroy Carroll VFW Post 228. It then moved to a location on Rhinehart Road for two years, she said. It has been without a home until Cole opened the veterans center on South Olive four months ago.
The number of VFW members has dwindled from 300 in 2001 to 70 today, she said, adding that there are about 350 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan now in Pine Bluff.
“A lot of young vets said they need a place to be together for comradery,” Conic said. “It’s not a center for partying. We run into homeless vets quite often. Without the vets’ center, they wouldn’t have a place to go.”
Planning Commission Chairman Lou Taylor said an outreach center is “definitely needed.”
“We don’t have a problem with outreach,” he said. “It’s when you said you had events and parties for fundraising, that’s when Lakishia had to [rule against it]. Any event that you’re going to have large groups of people has to be done at a separate site.”
Cole responded that without the ability to hold events, “I think we’re going to lose the site.”
Larry Reynolds, executive director of the Southeast Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, told the veterans they had not specified in their application any other intended uses for the facility other than as an events center.
“There is only that one line about hosting events,” Reynolds said. “Based on the [city] ordinance [regarding event sites], planning staff has to [deny the application].”
Planning Commissioner Leon Crumblin asked if there was another solution.
“What can be done?” Crumblin said. “Because if they cannot raise funds, they cannot be viable.”
Reynolds said the commission needed to “apply all rules the same.” But he suggested the commission table the appeal for 30 days in order to try to figure out some “wiggle room,” because if the appeal was denied the only venue for further appeal was district court.
“Where is the wiggle room, Larry?” Hill asked.
“Off the top of my head, I can’t tell you,” Reynolds said.
Taylor said the only alternative he could see was hosting events at a separate site, such as the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas.
“If you’re talking about having a center to host events, it defeats the purpose to pay another place to host an event,” Cole said.
“They may donate it,” Taylor said.
Cole shook his head.
“We’re going to lose a great location,” he said.
Pierce McDonald, a 27-year-old Army veteran, told the commission the veterans center has been his “safe zone” since returning from Afghanistan. He said the veterans just wanted a place to hang out.
“We get shot at over there, now we’re getting shot down over here,” he said.
Taylor expressed sympathy, saying his nephew committed suicide in December after two deployments in Afghanistan.
“We’re not denying the use of that place for outreach,” he said. “It’s the events.”
The commission voted to table the appeal for 30 days.
After the meeting, the veterans expressed anger at the decision.
“We have been thrown under the bus,” Vietnam veteran Fred Woods said.
“There’s not a VFW in the whole United States that doesn’t have parties,” Cole said.
Conic suggested the veterans could move to a facility in White Hall.
“White Hall loves vets,” she said. “They have a parade. Pine Bluff doesn’t like vets. [Former Pine Bluff Mayor] Carl Redus had a parade in 2009, and two people showed up.”