Kathy Wells forwarded to me the summary of written comments on developer John Burkhalter’s push to change rules in the Capitol Zoning District so he can build a five-story office building at Sixth and Woodlane across from the Capitol. Burkhalter, a political power and strong supporter of Gov. Mike Beebe (he’s now on the Highway Commission), stuffed the mailbox. (Sorry, I originally wrote the building would be six stories rather than five where the current rules limit construction there to three stories.)
The issue won’t be decided on mail count alone, of course. Politics will out. Seven of the nine Commission appointees are named by the governor, just for starters. The chair, Ron Maxwell, is an employee of the governor as Governor’s Mansion operations chief. One commissioner is appointed by the secretary of state. Mark Martin, overseer of the Capitol (and presumably interested in development that might detract from its appearance), has yet to be heard from on the issue.
Boyd Maher, director of the Commission, wrote the following: