In 2019, a group attended a quorum court meeting to complain about a proposed quarry on Rockhouse Road. The usual suspects complained about traffic, disruption to wildlife, dust in the air, and threats to groundwater. After they vented, the justices of the peace explained that Carroll County has no zoning laws, and the quorum court would have no way to respond. In a nod to reality, the JPs also pointed out that a quarry had operated safely for decades, within a mile of Mercy Hospital in Berryville.
Some of those same naysayers might have joined the crowd at the March 21 quorum court meeting. A proposed wind turbine farm south of Green Forest would threaten traffic, wildlife, and groundwater. Some considered the tall towers unsightly. In the cramped quarters of the courtroom in Berryville, loud applause followed each complaint, as if sheer volume would endorse their position.
The JPs listened patiently, then explained that Carroll County has no restrictions on land use. That tradition dates back to the days of statehood: no county zoning. Tradition has it that County Judge Arthur Carter mentioned something about county zoning at a quorum court meeting in the 1970s, and a voice from the gallery said, “Get the rope!”
After the floods of 2008, floodees came to the quorum court to beg the county to join the federal flood insurance program, which would have allowed them to find cheaper insurance. That program would have set limits on what a property owner could build in a flood plain, and the JPs said no.
They said no again to the complaints about the wind turbines, to the surprise of no one. Those who showed up to protest the turbines had a chance to share their hurt feelings, but they didn’t think it through. Despite the county’s history, suppose the quorum court had decided to indulge their whims. Maybe they could have cobbled together an ordinance setting a 100-foot height limit on wind towers, for example. But the company would have a slam-dunk lawsuit because the county targeted them with legislation.
In other words, if you think the county should have zoning laws, you can work to establish them now, and they will affect future quarries, wind farms, or poultry houses. If we already had laws on the books before the wind turbine folks got to Green Forest, we could point to chapter and verse in blocking the project.
This reminds me of a situation in Eureka Springs city government. Back in 2007, the Planning Commission approved a development for the Crescent Hotel. The city council considered overturning the approval, and city codes would have allowed that. Before they could take that ill-advised step, one of the most knowledgeable attorneys on the subject of municipal law asked aldermen if they routinely reviewed Planning decisions. No, nobody could remember the last time that had happened, but city codes said they could. The attorney explained that the city would certainly face a losing lawsuit.
That same fate would befall the county if our elected representatives tried to pass targeted legislation. And regardless of the complaints heard in quorum court, lots of people in the affected area like the idea of locally generated electricity and the economic benefits that come with it.
Mike Ellis