'Absolutely against this' | Rural Arkansans push back against construction of controversial billboards

'Absolutely against this' | Rural Arkansans push back against construction of controversial billboards

In some areas just outside Little Rock’s city limits, billboards are going up thanks to a new state law —  angering some residents.

The billboards are going up in areas that, prior to this month, were known as extra-territorial jurisdictions, or ETJs.

These are areas a few miles outside a city’s limits that the city still has control over when it comes to building and zoning.

But on August 5, a new state law went into effect that got rid of ETJs and turned them into what one resident called ‘the wild wild west.’

Friday, we asked Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde why the state legislature would pass a law like this.

“Not a clue,” Hyde replied.

It’s safe to say that Judge Hyde isn’t a fan of Act 314 —  the law that ended the ETJ system.

“I wanted to know who would do this,” Hyde said. "Why would someone do this?”

But there are some counter arguments for the new law.

On Friday, the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Justin Gonzales (R-Okolona) told THV11 that he created it for the people who live in these rural areas outside larger cities.

In the past, when they wanted to build something, they had to go through a city like Little Rock that they didn’t even live in.

“We have fought widening of the roads and shoulders, and each time we had to go to Little Rock … where we have no representation, we have no vote,” Teri Drennan, a resident of Ferndale, said. “We just had to go in as a community and basically beg them to not destroy the character of our community.”

It was for those reasons that Act 314 passed —  giving rural communities the chance to make their own decisions without approval from a city that they’re not a part of.

But there have been some unintended consequences.

“The city planning authority was repealed, but, at least in Pulaski County, no equivalent county protection was in place,” State Sen Mark Johnson (R-Little Rock) said. “Unfortunately, one developer was obviously paying attention, and has taken advantage of this transition to litter our area with billboards.”

The area Sen. Johnson refers to is the previously mentioned Ferndale —  a small, unincorporated community about 30 minutes west of downtown Little Rock.

According to residents in the area, construction crews began working on billboards as soon as the law went into effect.

“We've got these [billboards] popping up,” Phillip Prater of Ferndale said, “Which, you know, are just posts right now, but they're going to be a lot worse soon.”

“The next thing I know, my phone's blowing up,” Drennan said of that morning. “There's big poles going in ... there’s billboards.”

The billboards, which are all on the property of Little Rock developer Tracey Tisdale, don’t have to be approved by the City of Little Rock anymore since ETJs no longer exist.

And Ferndale isn’t the only place they’re being built.

There’s also some by the Costco on Chenal Parkway, mere feet outside Little Rock city limits.

“We are all very passionate about protecting the character of this community,” Drennan said. “We're the country. We’re not Little Rock.”

“I would say there's probably 98% of our community that is absolutely against this going in,” Prater added.

On August 13 —  eight days after Act 314 went into effect — the Pulaski County Quorum Court signaled their agreement, approving a sixth month moratorium where property in the former Little Rock ETJ can’t see any new unapproved development.

It stopped some of the billboards in their tracks, but those that were already started will be allowed to continue.

“They've got a big drive-in movie screen staring at them,” Hyde said. “No, they don't ... they have about a dozen drive-in movie screens staring at them as they drive down the road to their house.”

According to Sen. Johnson, there is a chance that some of the billboards could come down.

“I have been told by Pulaski County officials that while some of the recently constructed billboard posts cannot be forced to be removed, some of them are or were in violation of the new ordinance or other regulations,” Johnson said, “And that the Pulaski County Planning officials are issuing citations and will work with code enforcement personnel to get them removed. I hope this is the case.”

Tisdale, the developer placing the billboards, told THV11 Friday that he has no plans of removing them due to community pushback, as he’s only building them on his own property, and in his view, they’re not hurting anybody.

Prater and Drennan said Ferndale residents, along with Sen. Johnson, plan to meet next Thursday at the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church at 6:00 p.m. to discuss the situation.