Little Rock city directors decided Tuesday to postpone voting on proposed rules for feeding the homeless in city parks to allow time for a committee to look at best practices.

The Board of Directors was scheduled to take up a proposal from City Manager Bruce Moore that would have required a "large group feeding" permit to feed 25 or more people in a city park. The proposed rules -- which had been amended since they were first introduced last week -- would have required a $100 refundable security deposit and a nonrefundable $25 fee for any person or group to obtain a feeding permit.

City directors have said they were taken aback by the last-minute introduction of the proposed ordinance by Moore last week.

On Tuesday, City Director Dean Kumpuris and Vice Mayor Kathy Webb successfully motioned to postpone a vote on the ordinance for at least eight weeks to allow a committee of city staff members and residents to research the issue.

That committee would "present us with something that's more comprehensive than what we have now but would enable us to continue to take care of folks who need assistance" and also address concerns other people have raised," Webb said.

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She wants to create a committee headed by Assistant City Attorney James Jones that includes representatives from the Interfaith Alliance, the Arkansas Homeless Coalition, Parks and Recreation Department, Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Little Rock Downtown Partnership, Little Rock Police Department, Clinton Presidential Center, a River Market District business owner and at least two people who are homeless.

Kumpuris said the issue has been divisive and needs more study.

"On one side, there's a group of people who I understand want to make sure that we take care of the least of us. And there's another group of people that feel like their rights are being infringed upon and [are concerned about] the safety and vitality of the community," Kumpuris said. "Both are valid points, and universally what people have told me is they have a way of solving this issue."

The board voted 9-1 to postpone discussion of feeding the homeless in parks. City Director Ken Richardson voted against putting off the vote because he said he wanted an explanation from the city manager on why the proposed ordinance was put before city directors in the first place.

Moore had made some additions to the ordinance since he introduced it at the end of last week's meeting. Tuesday's version said the city would build a covered pavilion on the grounds of the Jericho Way Day Resource Center to provide "a safe and convenient" location to feed homeless groups. It said food could be provided at that location at any time, without a permit, as long as it was approved by the director of the center.

The city also increased the number of times any person or group would have been able to obtain a feeding permit at a particular park in a 12-month period. The new ordinance suggested setting the limit at six permits per person or group per park, per year. The original limit was to be two.

That would have meant an organization could use each of the city's 63 parks or recreational areas six times annually for a total of 378 feedings per year, per person or group.

Homeless advocacy groups said before Tuesday's meeting that they were still opposed to the amended ordinance. They organized a food distribution protest on the City Hall steps ahead of Tuesday's board meeting.

Webb said her goal was for the new committee to study the issues of housing and feeding the homeless and to come up with a better alternative "that would probably negate us from ever having to do this resolution hopefully ever."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas sent the mayor and board members a letter warning that passage of the proposed ordinance would have led to "extensive litigation against and exposure for the city and, more importantly, it would violate people's rights."

Holly Dickson, legal director of ACLU Arkansas, wrote that the ordinance "violates existing precedent concerning the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of assembly, association, and exercise of religion of people who provide or receive services."

Metro on 05/17/2017