The Pine Bluff City Council will meet for its regular meeting Monday at 5:30 p.m. The agenda for the upcoming meeting includes several items, ranging from a rezoning ordinance to a key appointment and committee reports.
A significant item on the agenda is an ordinance that provides for the rezoning of certain property in the city, specifically the 5900 Block of Dollarway Road and the 2000 Block of Lane Street. This ordinance is up for its second reading. The current zoning for these areas is B-1 (Neighborhood Commercial) and R-4 (Residential). The proposed change is to rezone them to B-3 (Highway Commercial).
The City of Pine Bluff Planning Commission held a public hearing on April 29, 2025, concerning the rezoning request. The intent behind the rezoning is to amend the Zoning Ordinance to allow for commercial development compatible with a highway commercial designation in these areas. The specific properties affected are Lots 1-4 and Lots 13-16 of Block 27 of College Heights Addition to the City of Pine Bluff. This change could impact the types of businesses and developments permitted in these blocks, potentially leading to a greater emphasis on highway-oriented commercial activities.
Other proposed resolutions include:
Resolution No. 2: Authorizing the purchase of a GMC Sierra Crew Cab Pickup Truck from Smart Chevrolet Buick, Inc. The purchase price is $39,700, which is already appropriated in the department’s 2025 budget. The resolution, if passed, would authorize the mayor and department director to execute the necessary purchase documents.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Resolution No. 3: Declaring certain houses, buildings and/or structures as nuisances and ordering their abatement.
Resolution No. 4: Providing for the placement of the costs of correcting certain nuisances on tax books as delinquent taxes. This resolution follows up on the city’s efforts to abate nuisances and recover associated costs. It references A.C.A. § 14-54-903 and City Ordinances #4669 and #4968, which empower the City to correct nuisances after proper notice and assess the costs to the property owners. The resolution states that proper notice was given to the listed property owners, and the City subsequently corrected the nuisances. Section 1 of the resolution mandates that these assessed costs be certified to the County Clerk and Tax Collector of Jefferson County. Once certified, these amounts will be placed on the tax books as delinquent taxes and collected in the same manner as other delinquent taxes. The City will receive the collected amount, minus a three percent (3%) fee for the County Tax Collector.
Properties with assessed nuisance abatement costs include:
* 1620 S. Poplar St., owned by A22 Group Inc. ($9,291.27);
* 1220 Myrtle St., owned by Rufus & Josephine Avery ($5,111.27);
* 622 E. 6th Ave., owned by David Coats ($9,286.87);
* 3204 W. 17th Ave., owned by Jeff Findley Jr. & WF ($5,551.27);
* 1721 S. Beech, owned by Anthony L. Noel ($8,301.27); and
* 1803 W. 28th Ave., owned by Andrew L. & Gwenda Faye Simmons ($6,183.77).
Resolution No. 5: Appointing Kristopher Givens to the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library Board of Trustees. This resolution addresses a vacancy on the Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library Board of Trustees, which falls under one of the city’s designated positions. The mayor has chosen to appoint Kristopher Givens to fill this vacancy, subject to the City Council’s confirmation.
If confirmed, Givens will serve a term expiring on June 1, 2030. The application submitted by Givens highlights his qualifications and goals. He possesses a Master of Science in criminal justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a Bachelor of Arts in criminal justice from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. His professional experience includes serving as Pine Bluff’s IT Director since January 2023, an adult education and computer science instructor at Southeast Arkansas College, and a Criminal Justice Instructor at Jefferson Area Technical Career Center. He also has experience in law enforcement communications and emergency room registration.
Givens’ stated goals for serving on the board include leveraging his strategic planning skills, technological expertise, and commitment to equity to support the library. He aims to expand access to technology and digital literacy, promote health literacy, and strengthen governance and financial oversight, emphasizing transparency and regulatory compliance. He also notes a personal investment in the library due to his children’s use of its resources and his past mentorship of young people who rely on it as a safe space.