A proposed ordinance to change the zoning code failed to receive a majority vote after an extensive debate during a Pine Bluff City Council meeting on Monday. The measure aimed to regulate the location of "small box" retail stores within the city.
Retailers such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree are considered small box stores. They are described in the ordinance as a business that conducts retail sales of convenience goods or retail sales of consumer shopping goods and that offers for sale a combination and variety of food or beverages for off-premises consumption, household products, personal grooming and health products with less than 15 percent of shelf space allocated to fresh products and fresh frozen produce and a floor area less than 12,000 square feet.
Council Member Lloyd Holcomb Jr. chaired the meeting in the absence of Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington. Also absent was Council Member Bruce Lockett.
During the discussion part of the meeting Council Member Glen Brown Sr. said Pine Bluff could not afford to govern businesses that want to come to Pine Bluff.
"Every store pays taxes to the city of Pine Bluff," he said. "Stores are for the people."
He argued the council should avoid forbidding the establishment of stores within city limits.
Council Member Latisha Brunson, who has been actively pursuing bringing in a grocery store to Ward 1 after Super 1 Foods closed on East Harding Avenue due to staffing problems, said stores like Dollar Tree and Family Dollar are saturating the community.
Sponsoring the legislation, she clarified that it does not ban the stores.
"They thrive in communities like ours," said Brunson, who said there are more Dollar Tree stores in the U.S. than McDonald's and Starbucks. "You don't see them in other communities that are thriving because, guess what, they are not welcome in those communities."
According to Brunson, "small box" stores target low-income communities and those of color.
The ordinance was proposed to the Pine Bluff Planning Commission on Jan. 30. The recommendation suggested while they did not completely oppose the idea, more discussion should be had on the subject.
The recommendation read that the proliferation of small box stores creates "food deserts."
According to the ordinance, buildings that house small box discount stores may negatively impact the plans of a conventional grocery store which offers a full complement of food choices to locate within a community. It also said residents of the community desire a greater diversity of retail activity and purchasing options including the location of conventional grocery stores.
To promote the health, safety and general welfare of the residents of the city, the ordinance states it is necessary and advisable to adopt regulations concerning the location of small box discount stores in the city.
"Those stores serve as a convenience and do not detour small businesses," said Brown Sr.
In her explanation, Council Member Lanette Frazier noted that the proposed legislation aims to regulate the number of small box stores permitted within a specified radius of each other.
"We don't need two or three of the same stores on the same block," she said. "We are trying to get a grocery store in the area where we need it."
Family Dollar stores are closing due to oversaturation in the area, Frazier said.
"Think about the livelihood and the quality of life," she said. "Citizens need groceries and more options are in a full grocery store."
In a reply, Brown Sr. said the city needs to use what it has.
"Thank God for the dollar store," he said. "It has nothing to do with groceries."
Council Member Steven Mays Sr. said he was also against the ordinance and Pine Bluff should be more business-friendly.
"People from the outside are trying to control city government," he said. "People should have the option to go where they want to go."
Glen Brown Jr., who received applause from the audience, expressed his dissent towards the ordinance, advocating businesses should be permitted to establish themselves in Pine Bluff.
In response to Holcomb's argument that dollar stores were already closing, Brown Sr. suggested allowing them to close naturally rather than implementing legislation to regulate them.
"I'm not going to settle for crumbs just because that's what we can get," said Brunson. "We are more than just what we can get."
The ordinance failed to pass, receiving votes in favor from Frazier, Brunson, Holcomb and Steven Shaner but ultimately falling short of the required five votes for a majority.
On another matter, the council unanimously passed an ordinance that alters the process for installing speed humps. Council members said they felt the present approval process was needlessly complex.
Frazier mentioned that the current requirement to install speed humps in a block is the signatures of 70% of the residents. However, it is challenging to meet this requirement because many properties that account for that percentage are abandoned.
The amended ordinance will now require 51%.
Brown Jr. emphasized that the approval would undergo further evaluation by the Traffic & Aviation Committee and then require endorsement by the City Council.