Clarksville Council Approves Special Permits For 3 RV Parks
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT COVERAGE – CLARKSVILLE CITY COUNCIL
by Janice Penix
The Clarksville City Council approved special permit requests from three property owners on Monday, July 13, for RV parks in the city.
Council members authorized permits for the parks at 1304 South Rogers Street, on property owned by Dean and Karen Hammons; at 1431 South Rogers Street, on property owned by the University of the Ozarks; and at the corner of Palmer Road and Poplar Street, on property owned by Horn and Son Construction.
All of the properties are zoned C-3, or highway commercial. The special permits, which are good for five years, allow for RV parks that comply with the city’s zoning code regulations for operation and use of a recreational vehicle or travel trailer park.
In addition, the ordinances granting the special permits state the RV parks must meet additional criteria. All RVs or travel trailers located at the property must be and remain registered and licensed, in good and operable condition and capable of immediate transportation.
The RV park use is limited to parking RVs and ancillary vehicles only and is not allowed to be used as a manufactured home park or mobile home subdivision. No permanent structures, additions, decks, porches, fences, storage buildings or skirting is permitted to be attached to any RV, unless approved by the city building inspector.
The ordinance also requires the property owner to maintain a landscaped buffer of at least 20 feet between the RV park and residentially zoned property.
The special permit can be revoked if one or more of the conditions are violated, if the use of the property creates a nuisance or public hazard, or if the property owner fails to maintain compliance with regulations.
All of the special permit requests were approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission. At the end of the five-year permit period, each will be reviewed to determine if it remains in compliance and whether the special use will be renewed.
Travis Horn of Horn and Son Construction told the Council his RV park would be temporary and is intended to provide workers at the Serverfarm data center project during the construction process. Once construction is complete, he said his intent is to remove the RV park facilities, including any hard surface such as asphalt that has been poured on the site.
The RV park permits drew opposition from several audience members, including Philip Killane, who said he has lived in Johnson County for 48 years.
“I like Travis Horn, but Travis Horn is a house builder,” Killane said. “He’s good for our community. We’ve got an incredible need for it. But he knows you can’t build houses by the data center because no one wants that. All these years, we’ve never had an RV park in town. Now the data center is there, and we’re jumping through hoops to help them. Who do you care more about, the 10,000 people who live in this town, or the 3,000 people who are working at the data center?”
Killane said the RV park at Palmer Road and Poplar Street will also increase traffic flow in an already congested area.
“It already bottlenecks at Palmer Road,” he said. “I’ve never seen an RV park that actually looks good. They usually get junked up.”
Jeanne Strackbein, who owns property east of Horn’s proposed RV park, said she agreed with Killane, but was also concerned about the environmental effects. She said excess water from the area will drain into nearby Greenbrier Creek, which flows into Cline Park and also is the water source for livestock in the area.
“Has the drainage been addressed? What is the environmental impact on it? I don’t think it’s been very well thought out,” Strackbein said.
City Engineer Morgan Barrett said the special permit approval was the first step in the process. Next, all the property owners will be required to submit site plans for their RV parks and then more detailed building plans. At that point, Barrett said, city officials will begin to review drainage requirements and other related issues. He added property owners will be required to obtain permits from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the Arkansas Department of Health.
Katie Howard, chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said the final site plans for each facility must be reviewed and approved by the Commission prior to the permit being issued.
Horn’s special permit request was approved on a 5-1 vote, with Christel Thompson voting no.
The UofO’s RV park site is located south of the intersection of Market and Rogers streets in a currently undeveloped area, while the Hammons’ site will be located behind South Park restaurant. Both requests were approved unanimously by the Council.
The Planning and Zoning Commission is set to hold a public hearing on a fourth special permit request for an RV park at 1543 South Rogers Street at its July 23 meeting.
Other Matters
–A resolution was approved authorizing the sole source procurement of services for the restoration of the slides at the aquatic center. Barrett said the expenditure had been approved by the Council in December 2024 but the resolution was needed for audit purposes.
–The Council approved a $363,400 adjustment to the 2025 street budget for the purchase of two vehicles last year that were not included in the end-of-year budget adjustments.
–Members voted to adjust the community projects budget by $4,622.16 for contributions to the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System for a part-time animal control officer.
–The purchase of a Kubota tractor for the street department was approved at a cost of $61,093.57 from River Valley Tractor of Russellville.
–Funds were allocated for the purchase of insurance from the Arkansas Municipal League for the new baseball complex at a cost of $16,861.07 for the 10-month period ending April 10.
–The Council set a public hearing on the abandonment of Harris Road for 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, in the city hall conference room.
(Editor’s note: Additional coverage of Monday’s Council meeting appeared in the July 15 issue of The Graphic.)
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Published In This Week’s Edition
This story appears in the July 22, 2026, edition of The Graphic, available online and at businesses throughout Johnson and Franklin counties.
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