Possible Annexation in Cherokee Village

Hi Chuck,

I very much agree that our relationship with the surrounding communities needs watching and proper respect shown. We also all need to get beyond the sense of the Village as an illegitimate "interloper" rather than as a vital economic engine in the area. Respect needs to float both ways. Some of the areas best citizen's and community givers are CV residents. Whatever the merits or lack of merit to annexation, it needs to be remembered that not just CV does this. Hardy has also. We need to be fair in all of this to one another.

See regarding Hardy: ftp://ftp2.census.gov/geo/www/bas12/st05_ar/incplace/p0529920_hardy/BAS12P10500029920_004.pdf

I went to the P&Z meeting today. It was ran very well. Professional and organized. The issue of annexation was taken off the table and dropped from discussion.
I really think we have to re-evaluate the relationship the villagers have with surrounding communities.

3 Letters to The Editor on this issue (All from The Villager Journal):











Here is the text of Hefley's LTTE:

Villager Journal 03/21/2012

The following is an open letter from Lloyd Hefley, the Mayor Of Cherokee Village, Arkansas:

Dear Editor,

I would like to take a moment of your time to explain the position of the city regarding the recent concerns raised by the city’s attempt to plan for its future.

The city of Cherokee Village is attempting to look to the future and envision what this area will look like in ten, fifteen, twenty years or more. To that end, the Planning and Zoning Commission of the city began a process of determining where the boundaries of the city would be, or might be at that time. The City Council has not considered or decided on any course of action. This was, and remains at this time, merely a planning process as part of the city’s ongoing long-range planning. Currently, the city has limited access to Highway 62/412, with only what is called the South Entrance actually being within the city limits of the City of Cherokee Village. All other road access from the highway passes through other jurisdictions before reaching the City of Cherokee Village. The most used access roads to Cherokee Village are all off Highway 62/412: in Hardy at the North Entrance, which then passes through the County before reaching the city: Pontiac Drive in Highland; the South Entrance, which is in Cherokee Village; off Kenner Road; and the junction of Highway 289 and Highway 175, which is a distance from 62/412.

Years ago, this did not matter because there was little development along the highway or between the highway and the limits of Cherokee Village. Over time, the situation has changed; Cherokee Village became a city, and Highland became a city. Both Hardy and Ash Flat have expanded their city limits through the annexation process. The growth of these cities has hemmed in Cherokee Village, reducing its presence on the highway to a small strip of land on one side of the highway. Cherokee Village lacks a commercial tax base to generate sales tax revenue that is the lifeblood of most cities. Certain parts of Cherokee Village were designated as commercial in the original development by John Cooper, but these areas have not attracted any development because they do not have sufficient traffic driving by them to support a business. There is a reason new businesses in this area want to be on the highway. The only way Cherokee Village can participate in the sales tax revenue generated by such businesses is to be on the highway. This is not a selfish approach by the city, but rather a realistic evaluation of what is going to happen in the future. All these cities will continue to grow with the general increase in the population of Arkansas and with the pull of the attractions that brought most of us to this area. To refuse to examine the effects of the future expansion of the neighboring cities would be to sentence Cherokee Village to a lesser role than granted the other cities. We currently have good cooperation among all our cities and the county governments. We work together on issues such as hospital/emergency room, and natural gas.

I now think it is time to get together to initiate a process by which the four cities Ash Flat, Hardy, Highland and Cherokee Village and the surrounding areas that are affected by the cities, can address their common problems of how best to provide services to the citizens and how best to promote this area. Any business in order to survive must continuously focus on its cost center and it revenue streams. Through that lens, it is time to look government redundancy straight in the eye. We need to focus on those public services that are at the top of the cost chain and must be delivered consistently as governed by local, county, state laws (no freelancing); have no brand requirement when they are needed (ego-centric identity), and are common services across jurisdictions where the investment and cost can be measured and shared (slash able bureaucracy that will not be missed).

Thank you for your time,

Lloyd Hefley, Mayor of Cherokee Village

Here's update info on the annexation.

http://www.areawidenews.com/story/1818810.html

http://www.areawidenews.com/story/1828181.html

Paul, I'm with you. I really don't know what it's about but people I talk to say it's a silly idea.

Hi Mike,

I'm a little confused by the efforts at annexation. Cherokee Acres made good sense because of the services being provided. What would be the benefit in this case?

It's about some property located out near 289. It's going nowhere from what I've been told. Don't know much more than that at this point.

http://www2.census.gov/geo/www/bas12/st05_ar/incplace/p0513450_cherokee_village/

any news on this? there is talk around town about possible annexation of
something currently? does anybody know?