Open Space Policy
The Little Rock Open Space Policy was developed by a mayor's advisory committee headed by local businessperson [[John Riggs]. It is currently under review by Department of Parks and Recreation director Truman Tolefree and assistant director Mark Webre.
Many of the ideas for Little Rock's open space policy came from Winrock Group developers Baker Kurrus and Ronald Tyne. Kurrus and Tyne are responsible for the layout of the 250-home Woodlands Edge subdivision, which set aside forty percent of the neighborhood for wild lands and free flowing streams, and included extensive walking trails and boardwalks. Individual homes are arranged on top of natural ridges, with a lake (Hidden Pond) and retention pool camouflaged by native vegetation.
Another prominent open space project involves Swaggerty Park, where $750,000 was used to remove a concrete channel built in 1974 that constrained the natural flow of Swaggerty Creek. Local residents requested the removal of the artificial channel.
Said Webre of such projcts in 2007, "We need to stop mowing our parks over every inch. We need to let parts go native. ... But the public does not understand that. That's looked on as not maintaining the parks."
References
- Leslie Newell Peacock, "Do We Pave Paradise? Or Put Up a Park and Rethink Development, City Parks Asks," Arkansas Times, April 5, 2007.
