SMITH BEGINS AGREED-UPON CLEANUP

By Erin France/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

In pursuit of an agreement reached in June, Gary Smith, owner of J.D. Smith Wrecking Yard, has started cleaning up his property, said Alderman George Stepps.

“Several hundred cars have been removed off that east side,” he said. “He’s already started erecting that fence.”

Smith said he still has some work left before the end of the October deadline, but he hopes to have the fence finished soon.

“Things are going on fine,” he said.

The compromise allowed Smith to officially keep the 4001 W. 9th Ave. location of the wrecking yard, if in turn he would remove cars and parts along the east side of U.S. 79 and enclose the property with a fence. The city, for its part, passed ordinances changing the area’s zoning use, a move that legalizes the boundaries of the yard.

The perimeters were disputed between Smith and the city after the area’s annexation. The debate has haunted Pine Bluff City Council members and the wrecking yard for more than two decades.

A resolution came, Stepps said, because members looked at the old problem in a new light.

“I feel very positive about it because this has been a long time coming,” he said.

Stepps sponsored the legislation that legalized the compromise.

Three of the eight aldermen voted against the deal. Those included Aldermen Janice L. Roberts, Charles Boyd, and Irene Holcomb.

Holcomb said she has noticed some improvement in the wrecking yard, but she’s more reserved than Stepps in her observations of Smith’s movements.

“It seems like there’s been a little bit of activity,” she said. “I don’t want to pre-judge based on past performances.”

Holcomb said the addition of a fence, following city ordinances, would help with appearance along the busy thoroughfare, but she would like even more organization.

Grouping parts together would make things more efficient and sightly, she said.

“It probably would cost a lot of money,” she added.

Although the City Council hasn’t addressed the cleanup formally, Stepps said he thought it was on the peripheral of other council members.

“I think some of them can see some positive things back there.”