Little Rock planning commission approves The Gardens mental-health facility with 24-hour security condition

The Little Rock Planning Commission on Aug. 14 approved a conditional use permit allowing The Gardens to operate a 16-resident mental health and therapeutic community at 9621 Tall Timber Boulevard, subject to conditions including a provision that the permit be nontransferable and that 24-hour security services be provided on the premises.

The permit allows The Gardens to occupy an existing 11,918-square-foot building on a property of more than seven acres and to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week with up to eight staff or caregivers on site at any one time. The commission’s vote followed roughly an hour-and-a-half of public comment and a presentation by the applicant.

Staff had recommended approval, noting the site’s wooded buffer and the applicant’s limitations on occupancy, but dozens of neighbors and community leaders urged denial or stricter conditions, citing an existing nearby detox facility and repeated emergency calls.

Joe White, the onsite applicant, described the program’s intended population and operations. “We screen our residents. … We look for criminal backgrounds; we’re making sure that they don’t have recent violence,” White said. Ed Holman, listed as a Gardens representative, told the commission the program admits adults with serious mental illness or intellectual disabilities and that the group had invited neighbors to visit other Gardens facilities. “We don’t have anything to hide,” Holman said.

Neighbors described quality‑of‑life and safety problems they attribute to an existing detox center near the site and said adding another residential behavioral-health facility would increase density and calls for emergency services. David Wright, pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, said the neighborhood is not opposed to services but added, “Because of [the detox center], it's caused the neighborhood to say no.” Denise White, a Pecan Lake resident and mortgage loan officer, told the commission she feared property-value declines and said ambulances and people leaving the detox facility have been visible in the neighborhood at night.

Commissioner Cameron Russell, citing lot size and staffing ratios, pushed back on the density argument in general, saying the site of more than seven acres would yield roughly 19,000 square feet per resident. “When talking about density, not an issue,” Russell said, adding that the residents proposed for The Gardens were screened for violence and would receive services supportive of reentry to community life.

The applicant’s cofounder, Georgia Johnston, and program administrator Sean Brown described staff training and de‑escalation strategies the facility would use. “We are trained … to deescalate,” Johnston said, and Brown added that the organization monitors residents daily and coordinates with medical providers when a resident’s condition changes.

Commission discussion referenced legal limits as well: a planning staff attorney reminded the room that the commission could not deny the application solely because the proposed use serves a disabled population. Commissioners discussed possible conditions to address neighbors’ safety concerns; the approved motion included two explicit conditions recorded in the minutes: (1) the CUP is for The Gardens facility and operators only and will become null and void if The Gardens vacates the property, and (2) the applicant will provide 24‑hour security services on the premises.

The motion to approve carried on a roll‑call vote with a majority in favor and one commissioner recorded as opposing. After the vote, the chair urged continued communication between the operator and the neighborhood.

The commission’s action allows The Gardens to move forward subject to the stated conditions; further approvals and permitting for remodeling and operations will still be required before residents are admitted.

Local significance: the approval resolves a contested neighborhood decision where residents, some citing repeated 911 calls to the nearby detox center, urged denial; the commission balanced those concerns against zoning standards, staff recommendation and protections for people with disabilities.