Hometown Happenings

The Buffalo River Conundrum and Diamond City's RV Park Riddle: Getting to the Heart of Local Issues

• Angela Ballard & Aundrea Rogers • Season 1 • Episode 3

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Ever pondered the difference between a national river, park, and preserve? Ever wondered about the possible effect on local landowners when a river is turned into a national preserve? In this episode, we tackle these questions and more as we dig into the proposal to turn Buffalo River into a national preserve. An issue that has drawn the attention of over a thousand locals at a meeting and even more via Zoom and Facebook Live. We lay bare the potential implications of this proposal for you, especially if you're a landowner in the area - we're all about empowering you with knowledge to make informed decisions.

Switching locales, we find ourselves in Diamond City, and the city has a conundrum on its hands - RV parks. With an influx of tourists washing over the city hoping to experience the lake life, the local economy and property values have become a hot topic of discussion. We dive into the current regulations around RV parks and investigate the potential fallout if these regulations are dialed back. We also hear directly from a city council member who stresses the need for community participation in the decision-making process. Stay tuned and get clued in on some of the most pressing community issues today.

The Home Team
Angela Ballard & Drea Rogers
870-577-6754 | 870-577-0276
Weichert Market Edge

https://aundrea-rogers.weichertmarketedge.com
www.angelaballardrealtor.com

Speaker 1:

Can you believe it? We've made it to episode three.

Speaker 2:

No, I can't. I can't believe people actually want to hear us talk.

Speaker 1:

I know right, I heard we're pretty funny.

Speaker 2:

I don't think so, but I guess people have their own opinions.

Speaker 1:

Well, we'll see so.

Speaker 2:

Angela is kidnapped me another day. We're here at. What's the address of this place?

Speaker 1:

It's 3400 South Kaila Lane. It's currently listed on the market In Harrison In Harrison, Arkansas. Yes, it's a beautiful house.

Speaker 2:

The intention here was to record something fun real estate themed by our seller, that kind of thing and we'll get there, yes, but in light of what we've seen on social media, we decided to change.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we decided to change up our thought process just because the last 24 hours we saw some things and then we just kind of personally know about some stuff. That's going on kind of on both ends of our listening viewing area, and so we want this podcast to be informational for people, right. Not just fun, and so we're going to get a little serious today and I hope we can keep your attention Right. But we've done a little research and we're going to try to share what we know Without sharing too much opinion.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, keep it fact-based. So if you are on social media this morning, more than likely you've seen posts about what occurred last night in Jasper.

Speaker 1:

So I saw something and kind of just glanced over it didn't go too far in detail. Then when I started talking to you this morning, you kind of started enlightening me and I was like well, I saw that, but I didn't go too much.

Speaker 2:

My take on it was that it must be a huge thing for as many people that turned out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so that post that I was reading said 1158 people were actually in attendance at the meeting in Jasper. I think it was at the library or the school, something like that in Jasper. I didn't even know they had something that could hold that many people. No, but the photo that was on Facebook it was like standing room only and some people said they left just because there wasn't any room so it potentially could have even had more people. And then they had a Zoom that somebody was putting together and it had 500 people on it and then they had done a Facebook live and it had over 1400 people on the Facebook live. That's awesome. Yes, so that is an area coming together for a cause.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and then they had a discussion for whether they were for what's going on or they're against what's going on.

Speaker 1:

That is making a statement. Right that you're actively that we have an opinion.

Speaker 2:

Right. So what we have gathered, what the discussion is, is that certain parties are wanting to make the Buffalo River a national park.

Speaker 1:

Yes, a national preserve what's?

Speaker 2:

the difference.

Speaker 1:

So the river is already a. It's a national river, okay, and so a national river preserves free flowing streams and prohibits dams and the alteration of the waterway.

Speaker 2:

Okay, and we are pulling that, our sources, the National Park Services, where we're pulling that information? Yeah, and again, show notes, show notes, show notes. And then we're going to tag all of our resources in those show notes so that you can do your own research.

Speaker 1:

And seeing kind of where we're getting our information and then maybe do some more beyond that, right? So then, if it was to become a national park which was kind of some of the talk is that they're wanting to make it a national park that would restrict hunting, mining, fishing and oil extraction.

Speaker 1:

Maybe not to applicable here, but I mean in other areas that maybe more. But then the more I was reading about stuff, I read that it's more that they want to make the Buffalo National River a national preserve, and a national preserve means that it will allow for hunting, fishing and extraction of minerals and fuels from that land. Okay, so the restrictions on a national preserve are not near as strict as a national park. Okay, and so currently it's a national park.

Speaker 2:

It isn't Okay.

Speaker 1:

Because that you can't.

Speaker 2:

Oh, and the federal government is the one that's maintaining it right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

National Park Service, those guys that are the bosses down there, right Federal Right.

Speaker 1:

And the national preserve. It said that you have more local control of things is what. I read there, but I know that in some of my research they're talking about the tertiary bodies of water that flow into the buffalo.

Speaker 2:

For people who are not real estate minded individuals, what is a tertiary body?

Speaker 1:

Well, they're talking like the creeks, and anything that flow into the buffalo is what they are wanting. So, like anything that affects the watershed, so anything that affects the water in the buffalo.

Speaker 2:

That's gotta be huge.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that like means we're talking all the way over to mountain home area, Baxter County and all the things that flow into the river from over there, all the way down through Newton and you know parts of Marion.

Speaker 2:

Uh huh, cause that all rolls down.

Speaker 1:

And then we're talking all the way into Carroll County, over to Kingston and Compton, anything that flows into it. They're wanting to basically put that into the preserve.

Speaker 2:

So we're talking a whole lot bigger than Jasper's little spot on the map and so they are.

Speaker 1:

All a lot of what I read said that they're not trying to acquire more land, but I feel like how could you not acquire? But I don't know, we don't know. So this isn't like my opinion. It's more of a question how could you not acquire more land if you are wanting to have control over the water that runs into it?

Speaker 2:

Right cause. That seems like an expansion.

Speaker 1:

Right. Could be wrong, but that sure seems like an expansion, and so that's something that people that this directly affects should research and verify, like what this mean they could take over parts of your land. I don't know.

Speaker 2:

But the other thing that I found interesting was that people were pulled right. We read that they had pulled people but the people that I thought would be more. I don't know directly involved weren't the people that were pulled.

Speaker 1:

So this group did a phone call survey is what I read. It was paid for by the runway group LLC, which was who put on the meeting. Who put on the meeting that was done yesterday in the Jasper area? So basically it was to people who were registered to vote. So maybe there are a lot of people in Newton County not registered to vote. I don't really know, because 412 people voted on the survey Okay, all together and 47% of those people came from Baxter County.

Speaker 2:

So that's the part I thought was odd.

Speaker 1:

Now I'm not saying they don't have a say so in it but the majority of the river and what this is affecting is not in Baxter County.

Speaker 2:

Right, that would be Newton. Yes so from Newton County were pulled.

Speaker 1:

So the number in Newton County was only 7% of that 412. 7%, 7%.

Speaker 2:

That seems a little lacking in my opinion. There you go, my opinion.

Speaker 1:

So only 7% of 29 people that that comes out to be 29 people from Newton County were surveyed.

Speaker 2:

Okay, we're. Of all these 412 people, the majority were they for this turning into a national.

Speaker 1:

So yes, so the data did show that there were more, that 64% of the people were wanting it, Okay, Also, one of the questions that they asked was how important is the Buffalo River to you and your family's everyday life? Very important, fairly important, somewhat or not important and this goes back to Baxter. County had more votes than anybody has the least amount of the Buffalo River. But they had more responses than anybody and they basically said 54 people said it's just somewhat important and 45 people said it's very important.

Speaker 2:

So it's just barely a step up to not important at all. Yeah, that's kind of sad folks.

Speaker 1:

So I feel like to really have accurate data from this survey. You really need to be getting people where there's more.

Speaker 2:

Right, we need to hit up more individuals to get them more rounded out.

Speaker 1:

But more people where more of the river is. We need to be in the portions of Carroll County that like the Ponca Kingston, that's kind of that. Newton, newton, carroll County.

Speaker 2:

But so then my other thought I haven't had a chance to listen to the meeting that occurred in Jasper, last night I just listened to pieces. So we will tag what we can find.

Speaker 1:

In the show notes show notes, show notes, your favorite.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, my favorite part, so that people can do their own research and figure out what was said and what the consensus was of that meeting, because those people are there on the forefront of the Buffalo River.

Speaker 1:

So the proposal is to redesignate to make it a National Park Preserve and they keep saying no land expansion, to kind of summarize. And the meeting was basically for people to share their concerns about the proposal and to get the community's view. And I don't know what the community's view was. Nothing in what I saw stated how people felt about it.

Speaker 2:

I did see a lot of people upset that our governor did not show up at this meeting, even though she had the notification and the time to do so. People were upset with her for that Don't know. I have not, like I said, not investigated enough to know her opinion of this one way or the other, but I do feel like the people turned out and they expected her to turn out as well.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I did hear that Johnny Morris may be involved in this.

Speaker 2:

Like I said, If you live under a rock. Johnny Morris is the owner of Bass Bro and also the Walton family as well.

Speaker 1:

So that's Walmart.

Speaker 2:

There, you go.

Speaker 1:

That they may be backing this in some fashion is what I've been told, Yet again no facts.

Speaker 2:

If they do this, if they do do this, if they does turn into they're able to make this change, it's going to bring a whole lot of tourism to our area and that may be something that the people there want Right, because that's going to boost their community, their town and make a lot of money potentially for that area.

Speaker 1:

That could be great for our state because that could boost, draw people in, but then it could be a negative for those people because it is a very rural community and that's family land that has been in people's families for years upon years upon years.

Speaker 2:

And I'm already here and we heard this summer. Now we're late people. I don't do the river often. And I did hear about how it's just overwhelmed with people coming in from outside the state. Yeah, that our local swimming holes are flooded with tourism.

Speaker 1:

Well, I know that from a real estate perspective. I have tons of people that go and visit there and then call and want to buy a house there, just because they love coming to the river. And there's so much more there than just the river, even just the views, and you can just enjoy being outside, have a few acres and just be away from everything, because so many people live in a big city.

Speaker 2:

Right, but to be negative Nellie over here, those exact things that draw people in would be the exact same things you would be killing if you flooded it with people Moving in Right. That peaceful rural retreat will now turn into what they've been avoiding.

Speaker 1:

Right, but yet again, we don't live in that area, so it's not in our control over what they want to do. We just want you guys to be informed and we applaud those people for stepping up and showing up in their own community to tell people how they feel. Exactly.

Speaker 2:

Good for you, guys. But so now I'm going to propose that people on the other side of our listening area, you have an issue in your backyards that I don't even know if people, I wasn't aware of it.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

But I feel like it has an effect on people in Diamond City, leadville, mostly Diamond City, but living that lake life, it's going to change some things yeah.

Speaker 1:

So we've alluded to it in a previous episode. But I am a city council member in Diamond City, so I've already pretty much said I'm not going to have an opinion here. I just want to state some facts. So what really caught my eye with what happened in Newton County and in Jasper is how many people showed up and was like you know, I'm not going to have an opinion, and were like I can't even have good English here. They were very happy and wanted to support what they believed in.

Speaker 2:

Whether it was one way or the other.

Speaker 1:

Correct, because, as I'm a member of the city council in Diamond City, how many?

Speaker 2:

community members have showed up to a Diamond City council meeting to voice their opinion on what we're gonna talk about.

Speaker 1:

Well, we had a workshop that primarily held a few people that it directly affected because they owned a business that it would affect. So, we're talking less than 10. Yeah, and then we had some planning and zoning committee meetings that had more people in them, but primarily were business owners as well. Not really community, not people outside of business, not just typical everyday residents of the city of Diamond City.

Speaker 2:

And if you're in Diamond City and you think, oh well, I don't own a business or I don't live right on the lake, this doesn't affect me, it does.

Speaker 1:

It does directly affect you.

Speaker 2:

Because it's gonna affect property values one way or the other.

Speaker 1:

And it's gonna overall affect the economic development of your town. So even if we wanna take property value out of it, it's going to affect where our city can go in the future.

Speaker 2:

So what is it?

Speaker 1:

So we are working on an ordinance to help put some regulations or in my opinion, it's more defining what an RV park is and what they can do with their RV park.

Speaker 2:

So are we talking like RV park, like when people show up to the marina and they camp out for a week at the summer.

Speaker 1:

So that is owned by the Corps of Engineers, so we have no control over what they do. But we're talking about people that own commercial C2 land in the city of Diamond City and they have developed, you know, a campground, or they have an Airbnb with some campsites on it, or they have, like, a motel with some campsites. We're putting, we're wanting to develop something and even if the city, even if the city of Diamond City, develops their own campground because we've discussed doing that and we would like to do that, so it will also be regulations for the city that would apply to you. If you, anyone in town, has land that is zoned appropriate to build an RV park and you wanna come in and you wanna build an RV park, there's currently nothing in place that tells you nothing at all.

Speaker 1:

It's very vague. It tells you about what you can do to develop an RV park, like as far as how far your campsites have to be. The state health department has some guidelines but if you don't go to them and get those guidelines then you don't really ever know. But it tells you, like how far apart those campsites need to be. If you have so many campsites, do you have to have a bathroom for the public, like the people camping there, to use, because some people don't have bathrooms at their places because RVs have bathrooms. So obviously you wouldn't want a tent camper there because they'd have nowhere to go. But do you need to stipulate that if you have so many campsites, you have to have an outdoor shower, have access to something Right?

Speaker 2:

Potentially it could talk about if they could build decks on their RVs because this is sounding a little more permanent than staying at the lake for a week.

Speaker 1:

Well, there are some people that want to. Their business plan is to allow your round campers, so I mean living out of an RV, Right, and so that may be something that the citizens want, but we need to know what the people of Diamond City want.

Speaker 2:

Are they okay with that? Are you fooling your neighbor living out of an RV in your backyard? Because some of those properties? I personally showed a house. I went and looked at a house down in Diamond City and walked out on the back deck and was looking at the front of a permanent RV and he was coming in and out and we weren't a hundred feet apart Now, so if you are a homeowner, that may affect you. Do you want to come out and that be your view off your back deck?

Speaker 1:

We have had some people kind of where this whole thing originated from was some people were on their front porch and said that the people in the RV park across from them were staying in a cargo trailer and so like at night they would open their back door and drag their couch out of their and that's kind of their-.

Speaker 2:

That was their RV.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so it really wasn't an RV. So that is also kind of where this ordinance is stemming from, in that we need to define what an RV or travel trailer or motor home or what that is. There's also the thought that from a real estate perspective, we don't in Diamond City. They do not allow most of the lots there to even have manufactured homes. So there are only a few R2 zoned, residential, two zoned lots that are allowing for manufactured homes.

Speaker 1:

So for anybody who doesn't know what a manufactured home is, that's a home that has wheels underneath it, that you have pulled in and then you can leave it with the wheels underneath it and put like a skirting around it, or you can have the wheels taken off of it but you still put a skirting around it. But it is not built on site. So it is mobile. It is not an RV because it's not either driven or pulled with like a small truck. This thing is pulled with a semi truck to get to the site. So, anyways, some of our zoned lots allow for those but don't allow for RVs.

Speaker 2:

This seems really complicated.

Speaker 1:

So we don't allow RVs to be in all the lots in Diamond City, but we allow RVs in an RV park to be there year round.

Speaker 2:

Okay, so I can see the issue there.

Speaker 1:

So you know, that's just that's. It just needs to be lined out. These are just things that people talk about and questions and, like I said, I want to know what the citizens not just the business people who are profiting from this want to know. I think that it would be great as a council, because I don't represent my opinion. I represent the opinion of the people. I think it would be cool if the people could stand up show out.

Speaker 2:

So when's the next time that they have an opportunity to come out?

Speaker 1:

So our city council meetings are the fourth Tuesday of the month. So the next council meeting will fall on November, the 28th, at 6 pm at the city hall.

Speaker 2:

Okay, in Diamond City.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you also can go on the City of Diamond City website, which we can tag in the show notes. Yeah, because you guys Facebook live your, yeah, we do do Facebook live on our meetings, but if you go to the city website you can find out who your council member is and you can contact your individual council member.

Speaker 2:

Because that's what you're there for.

Speaker 1:

Right, and you know that's what I. I can't speak 100% to the other people on the council with me, but that is what I'm there for is I want to do what the people want done, and if that's not what I want, I support that because I represent my people, not me.

Speaker 2:

Correct, so show notes show notes, show notes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry, I got a, I got congestion.

Speaker 2:

I feel like so this week's going to be loaded with information in the show notes. Yes, that's where we're at, and guys, you can't. We can go and moan and groan on Facebook all we want, but you're not going to make a difference if you're not showing up at these meetings voicing your opinions to the right people. So griping isn't going to get you anywhere.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, facebook. We have a lot of people I know in Diamond City because we've had a bad history with City Council. It's not the fighting and the craziness that used to be. We keep it organized and we're pretty mellow, but the fighting on Facebook pretty much goes unnoticed because it has no application in the real world.

Speaker 2:

So get up and go, just like these people in Jasper did, yeah, and we give people the opportunity to speak at our meetings.

Speaker 1:

Not only can they fill out a card and get three minutes to speak, but when we had that ordinance and we briefly talked about it this last week we were asking the three or four people that were left there. They were giving their opinions on it. So we'll gladly, in a nice, organized, calm manner, listen to everyone's opinion.

Speaker 2:

Right, that's what local government's supposed to be about. Okay, so I think we've rambled and rambled.

Speaker 1:

We have.

Speaker 2:

Hopefully we've been informative. Sorry, we're not super fun today. We'll save it for next time. That's right Again if you're watching the video. We're in a fantastic kitchen.

Speaker 1:

And we'll tag the listing so you guys can check it out.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there's a video tour on there too, I think.

Speaker 1:

There is that, andrea Rogers.

Speaker 2:

Real.

Speaker 1:

Estate Photography may or may not have done.

Speaker 2:

But yeah, go check out the photos on the listing, tell me what you think. All right, well, have a great day, see ya.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Angela Ballard

Host
Contributor

Aundrea Rogers

Co-host