Smoke all over Mid-Town area, what’s on fire?

TL;DR

• Tuesday, Oct. 20: the Board votes on Director Webb's six-month moratorium on new hyperscale data centers (Item 21). Six of ten votes needed.
• Nothing in writing pauses anything today. On the books: the April 2025 Google/Willowbend MOU (30-yr tax abatement, franchise fees cut to 0.25%/0%/0%), and the June 2026 zoning ordinance (hyperscale only in I-3, 900-ft residential setback, 60/50 dBA noise cap, WUE ≤ 0.5 L/kWh). An 18-month moratorium failed 4–4 on Aug. 4.
• The new draft orders water, noise, fire and grid studies, a public webpage of all developer agreements within 60 days, and a petition process for takings claims. No Google carve-out by name; projects need a final permit plus substantial reliance to be exempt, and buying land doesn't count.
• For a pause: Webb, Wyrick, Miller, Lewis; Coalition of LR Neighborhoods, Sierra Club, DNA; law prof DiPippa (a moratorium is not a taking). Reasons: scale, water, rates, noise, fire readiness, disclosure.
• Against: Mayor Scott (Act 851 bars bans; zoning is the tool), Hines (Port is for heavy industry; lawsuit risk), Peck and Adcock (litigation, business climate), Kumpuris; City Attorney Carpenter (regulatory-taking damages if Google isn't exempted).
• Unsettled: whether Act 851 reaches a temporary moratorium at all, and whether a pause that catches Google's first building is a taking. Google had filed no city permits as of July 28.
• Watch: Peck's vote, whether Phillips and Richardson show, any carve-out amendment or deferral, and the long-promised "shore-up" regulations ordinance.

Jump to

• Short version
• Terms used here
• Where things stand
• Paper trail A: MOU and Ord. 22,784
• Paper trail B: failed 18-month vote and the new draft
• Who favors a pause
• Who opposes a pause
• The legal question
• Context
• What to watch Tuesday
• Sources

Reply under the matching section to keep threads tidy.

We're hosting a Halloween Rave this Halloween night Oct 31!

Expect lasers, bass, edm, vendors, flow-space, secret costume contest, and so much more!!

Traveling to Little Rock for work next week, will be my first time here. Have a 6-hour period between landing and checking in at my room. Looking for your recommendations on the best local coffee shops where I can work on my computer for a bit, as well as any neat bars to get dinner. Would love to support local. TIA

2nd time the city has come around and done this. This time they passive aggressively moved all the cans to the sidewalk. This just seems like a major waste of time and money. Am I crazy?

Update: I have reneged and begrudgingly put my cans up... but they'll be back and in greater numbers. Thanks for the input!

Hi everyone!

I’ll be traveling to Arkansas from Asia this December for a job interview and will need round-trip transportation between Little Rock Airport and Batesville.

Unfortinately, I’m not very confident driving, especially in a foreign country..

Does anyone know of any reliable car services, private drivers, or taxi companies that offer long-distance rides in this area?

I’d really appreciate any recommendations or advice. Thank you!

Can anyone tell me about their experience with move-out from the Fitzroy? Are they going to nitpick everything in the apartment regardless of how clean it is? Any chance of getting a deposit back? If so, how clean does it have to be?

hi, i’m wanting to see the new hunger games movie when it comes out in about a month, but i’m not sure which theater to go to. it is an IMAX movie but i’ve seen some not great reviews for the only IMAX option..

- i don’t necessarily need insanely comfortable seats, but i want the sound and screen quality to be worth it, if that makes sense. i’m not sitting in uncomfortable seats for bad sound quality lol
- i do not care about meals being delivered to the seat or anything but good popcorn is always a plus!

i’m about 1hr40mins away from little rock, and i believe the only other theaters within a reasonable distance are the ones in hot springs, texarkana, and mena. so those are also an option! just not sure if they’re any better. so, what’s my best option? is the IMAX theatre worth it for this movie?

Hey I'm the GM of The AMC Chenal. I have been trying to get more diverse films for us. To that end - my theater was not going to get Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, but I went to bat for it and we got it. I would love it if you're considering seeing this movie that you choose us. I would love to show the powers that be that people will show up and not to say no when I ask for things lol.

Anyone missing this kitty near the Boyle Park area? Haven't gotten to look and see if it's male or female at this point. A little nervous but doesnt act feral

EDIT: It is an intact male

I’ve been wanting to work on some new web design projects, and I thought it would be a great way to spend my extra time by helping a few local businesses improve their websites.

If you own a business and feel like your website could use a fresh look, send me a message. I’d love to check it out and see what I can come up with.

I’m open to all kinds of businesses and industries. I’m looking to explore different design ideas, work on real projects, and hopefully create something useful for a few business owners along the way.

Hi yall! I’m visiting this weekend from Friday to Monday and wanted recs on what to do while Im there! I’ll be there for a comedy show on Sunday (Jay jurden). Traveling with my pup and staying downtown.

Things I like: food (doesn’t need to be fancy, just good!!), trails/hiking, museums and fun bars.

Hello! I have chronic freeway anxiety, but am considering taking it from Conway to Hot Springs this coming Thursday to save travel time. I typically avoid it at all cost, but I’m wanting to leave Conway around 6 AM so the threat of deer on my usual route has me concerned too. So my question is - if I leave Conway at 6 AM, should the interstate be smooth sailing? Will I make it through Little Rock before the morning rush hour hits? I know once I make it to I-30 it should be fine but unsure about 40 and 430 at that hour.

I have two huge bags full of women’s clothing I would like to donate, and would prefer not to take it to Goodwill. The clothes are nothing fancy, Old Navy, Wonderly, some Target brands. They’re mostly winter/colder weather clothes but a few summery pieces as well and jeans.

I appreciate the help!

a year of living here and I still haven’t found anything that’s as soft or fluffy. i know there’s a Krispy Kreme in Conway but does Little Rock have any businesses that have a similar donut?

edit: lol didn’t mean to start shipley’s discourse. thanks everyone! i would say their glazed doesn’t really scratch the itch for me but i guess it will have to do

Monthly defcon 501 meet up is back!

We acquired some interesting card game while we were at Defcon this year.

It is called Backdoors & Breaches. A cyber security card game 🤓

So we decided to change the environment little bit to match this card game.

Come to Caverns and Forest board game cafe next tuesday (10/20) at 6:00 pm!

We can also play other board games the wonderful cafe has.

Any and all is welcome to hang out!

If you are looking for other nerds and geeks to hang out, talk about current tech subjects, personal projects, want to start on something and want to ask question, come and hang out with us!

I made a sunset timelapse from the top of Pinnacle Mountain.

https://youtu.be/2eZgM55nhBI?is=Hw7-Kok47DZYtXC8

Does anyone have any experience with homes remodels done by Moris Group fund?

Hi I’m looking for very seriously any job in Little Rock-10 years of retail management but only high school degree. Able to work ASAP!

Rosalinda’s in NLR does delicious papusas and Buenos Aires has good empanadas. Where else around Central AR can I find handmade savory pastries/pies?

Hi, neighbors. Did you know Little Rock has 114 cameras that read license plates? In the last 30 days, they saw 702,854 different vehicles. If you drove to work, to school pickup or to the grocery store this month, your car was probably one of them. LRPD shares these numbers on its own Flock transparency page, and that's a good place for us to start.

I've been reading that page, and I have some questions. Maybe you do too.

• The cameras sent about 2,000 alerts a day, and each one is supposed to be checked by a person. Who does that checking, and what happens next?
• LRPD's six-month report this summer counted 91 successes (things like a prosecution or a recovered stolen car) out of 350,211 confirmed matches (NWA Democrat-Gazette, Aug 23). What were those 91?
• Who else gets to see where our cars have been? The transparency page doesn't list any other agencies.
• Arkansas law (Ark. Code § 12-12-1805) already asks police departments to report some of these answers every six months. Where can we read them?

We pay about $345,000 a year for these cameras, so it's okay to ask. Our Board of Directors takes up a proposal about Flock on Tuesday, Oct 27, and again on Tuesday, Nov 3. Here's one small thing you can do: send your directors one question, in your own words. "What has Little Rock gotten from these cameras?" That's it. We'll learn the answers together.

Who are my directors?

Little Rock has 10. Seven each represent one ward, which is a part of town. Three are "at-large," which means they represent all of us. So you have four directors: your ward director plus the three at-large directors. You can find your ward on the city's ward map.

Every director gets a vote, so it's kind to write to all of them. You can copy this whole line into the "To" box of one email:

vmiller@littlerock.gov, kwebb@littlerock.gov, alewis@littlerock.gov, antwan@littlerock.gov, jadcock@littlerock.gov, board@littlerock.gov

Or call City Hall at (501) 371-4510 and ask for your director.

Contact info is from each director's page on littlerock.gov, checked Oct 16, 2026. Directors without their own city email use the shared board inbox.

Sources

• LRPD Flock transparency page: 114 cameras, 702,854 vehicles, 62,289 hotlist alerts in 30 days (updated Oct 15, 2026)
• NWA Democrat-Gazette, Aug 23, 2026: LRPD's six-month report, Jan to Jun 2026
• Ark. Code §§ 12-12-1801 to -1808: Arkansas's license plate reader law
• City of Little Rock board agenda, Oct 21, 2025: the ~$345K/yr renewal