NWA LETTERS

County officials no help

on disruptive land use

My family has lived on Washington County Road 235 for the past 27 years. For years, people who own some of the property on this road have hosted a campground during Bike, Blues & BBQ. At first, it seemed to be mainly tent camping, but over the years it has grown to include RVs, live bands, food trucks and the sale of alcohol. Last year the property sold, and we were told there would not be any camping this year; however, on Sept. 27, signs appeared pointing to camping at the Rockin S Campground.

We have contacted the county judge’s office, with no response to any phone calls; the Alcoholic Beverage Control in Little Rock; and the local justice of the peace, Butch Pond, who told us to purchase some chicken litter and spread it around the property, hope for rain, and let the smell drive the campers out. We have also contacted other justices of the peace, the local sheriff’s office and the planning commission.

The people who previously owned the land and the current owners do not live on the property. In fact, no one appears to live on it until the weekend of BBB when the property is crawling with people. The live music is so loud we can hear it in our houses at night, sometimes going as late 2 or 3 in the morning.

County Road 235 is not built for the RV traffic, food trucks, potty trucks and the others. We have repeatedly contacted the county road office to get them to fix the road after it has been damaged by these vehicles, to no avail.

When we contacted the sheriff’s office about the noise, we were told all this was one of the trade-offs of living in the county — there is no noise ordinance, so there is nothing they can do. We contend that even campgrounds, national, state, or private, have quiet hours — usually from 10 p.m. until somewhere between 6 and 8 a.m. If the county is going to allow a campground to exist on a temporary basis, it should at least follow some of the same regulations that are expected of a campground that exists on a permanent basis.

We were told it is a weekend and only once a year; however, several people who live near the campground area work on the weekends, so Friday and Saturday nights are part of their work week.

We don’t like but don’t mind the tent camping once a year, but the big rigs, loud noise and the lack of respect for the people who live on this road permanently does not lead to a good relationship with the property owners, who just show up once a year, take the money from the bikers, and leave.

Since we receive so little cooperation from the elected officials and their staff who seem just to look the other way, we wanted to let people know about our dilemma. We hope a solution might be worked out before BBB next year.

JO-RUTH STRANGE

Fayetteville

Obituary, for first time,

provides some laughs

This was a first: I laughed out loud when I read an obit.

It appeared in your paper Wednesday, Sept. 25, for Kenneth Lavelle Cobbs of Rogers. Whoever wrote it should be on your staff.

To begin with, the obit starts out with “Needing more sarcasm in Heaven, he was called home by the Lord.” And, by the way, he was born on April Fool’s Day. He broke his nose three times in “circumstances that were never fully explained.”

Stories of his childhood and careers, dislike of travel and politics, a stint in the Air Force and duty served in Korea and eight other areas around the world, his marriage to his blind-date gal and raising two sons, while keeping active in his church and family activities in the community covered his life. All of this with “a preference to sit on his porch and drink coffee.”

Sounds like a perfect life after all.

GLORIA HOWELL

Rogers

[email protected]

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