If you follow the Duggar family closely, then you’re probably aware that despite his frequent claims that he’s a humble man of God who seeks nothing more than to live a life of service, Jim Bob Duggar has quite a few worldly ambitions.
In fact, the 52-year-old’s incessant efforts toward obtaining greater wealth and power have reportedly alienated many his neighbors, friends, and even members of his famously close-knit family.
Those who know him best have complained about Jim Bob’s “high-class hoarding.”
His second eldest son, John David Duggar, has reportedly taken issue with Jim Bob’s greed and reckless spending.
Fans have complained that the Duggar patriarch’s unchecked ambition seems to fly in the face of the religious views that the reality star and aspiring real estate mogul claims to hold so dear.
And now, some of Jim Bob’s neighbors in the small community of Tontitown, Arkansas are hoping to take action that will bring a halt to one of his most ambitious projects to date.
According to KSFM News in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Jim Bob has applied to rezone 23 acres of land as the first step in transforming the property into an “upscale RV park.”
Neighbors have expressed concerns, with some declaring outright that they oppose the project and are fed up with Jim Bob’s constant side-stepping of local laws and ordinances.
Last week, a planning commission reportedly approved the rezoning, thus changing the land’s designation from Residential-Agriculture to Urban Thoroughfare, which makes it eligible for commercial development.
“I think that’s more important than swallowing it up with development that could be on the other side of the street for instance,” says local resident Renwick Hudson.
“Rezoning [the land]…” he added. “It’s tricky. We have to be really careful.”
Others, such as Fayetteville Planning Director Andrew Garner, believe that the development would be a net positive for the community:
“The addition that [the owners] are proposing, only to rezone the front part and kind of keep the back of it preserved, I think is in line with a lot of the city’s policies for tree preservation and environmental preservation,” Garner said.
Even if efforts to have Jim Bob’s provisional license revoked are not successful, the development still must be approved by planning officials.
“If they decide to build the RV park, they actually have to turn in construction plans and large-scale development plans,” Garner said.
“We have to look at all the development details, but the actual zoning decision has to be made to allow the RV park.”
And it seems the Duggars will continue to face opposition from the likes of Renwick Hudson:
“At this location, from my perspective, not ideal,” Hudson said. “It butts right up against some of the areas that are already vulnerable to future development.”
Watch Counting On online for more on reality TV’s most controversial family.
