The Arkansas Natural Resources Commission on Wednesday upheld a decision against Jacksonville in a property dispute between the shrinking city and its growing neighbor to the west.
Sherwood officials requested that the commission reassign about 2,600 acres in Sherwood from the Jacksonville water service area into the Sherwood water service area. The acreage has been a part of the Jacksonville service area before and after it was annexed into Sherwood in 2008. Sherwood officials made the request in June 2015 so that water service could be provided to the land without it having to get reannexed into Jacksonville.
Jacksonville's water service area includes the 2,600 acres that are so far undeveloped, but city officials told potential developers they would only provide water service to the area if it were reannexed into the city. Sherwood could not provide water service because the land lies in Jacksonville's service area.
Roger Fitzgibbon, an attorney for Sherwood, argued that Jacksonville's policy about not serving residents of other cities was a way of "strong-arming" people into becoming citizens of Jacksonville and increasing the city's tax base.
Jacksonville City Attorney Bob Bamburg said the policy had been in place for more than 20 years because of the need for population growth to keep the city sustainable.
"If you're eliminating service territory, you're eliminating income," Bamburg said.
Fitzgibbon argued that nothing material would change if the commission sided with Sherwood because everything that belongs to Jacksonville and contributes revenue to Jacksonville would remain with Jacksonville, including a water tower constructed in Sherwood.
He said that for Sherwood, Jacksonville's requirement that the land be reannexed into Jacksonville was the biggest issue and would essentially be a reversal of the 2008 vote for those 2,600 acres.
"That's problematic," he said.
In 2008, voters in Jacksonville and Sherwood voted to annex the 3,232-person unincorporated community of Gravel Ridge, which ultimately voted to join Sherwood. The acres in question Wednesday were a part of that annexation.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated 28,643 people lived in Jacksonville in 2015, down from 29,916 counted in the 2000 Census. The bureau estimated 30,517 people lived in Sherwood in 2015, up from 21,511 in 2000.
Central Arkansas Water has contracts with both cities and would have been the ultimate water provider in either scenario.
All nine commissioners voted to uphold the decision by retiring Commission Director Randy Young, who ruled in favor of Sherwood. Commissioner Fred Fowlkes of Vilonia said the agency was responsible for ensuring water can be provided and sided with Sherwood.
Bamburg did not return a phone message left Wednesday afternoon asking whether the city planned to appeal the decision to Circuit Court.
Metro on 07/21/2016