The Arkansas Supreme Court agreed May 24 to hear the appeal of a Little Rock landowner whose 2.9 acres were seized by the city for use in the 27.7-acre Clinton Presidential Library site. Calling Eugene Pfeifer III’s case a “significant public interest,” the court said it would take over the appeal, which was originally filed with the state appellate court.
Pfeifer agrees that the $400,000 the city offered for his land was fair, but has argued that the public should have been allowed to vote on whether to use city funds in the deal, according to a May 25 Associated Press report. The question hinges on whether the library fits the definition of a public park.
Little Rock attorneys have argued that the land acquisition serves a public purpose and that Pfeifer failed to prove otherwise.
Posted May 28, 2001.