Small community a step closer to becoming a town

LITTLE ITALY -- A banner declaring, "It will take the village to make Little Italy a township" greets visitors to the unincorporated community on state Route 300, about 35 miles from Little Rock.

Italian settlers founded the community in 1915, many moving from Chicago and Michigan on the promise of cheap land. But 100 years into its existence, residents are hoping to stave off annexation through a petition effort to become a town.

"I think the best word to explain our reason for this is love. We love this place. We love our heritage and our families, and we want to preserve that," Kristy Eanes, a co-founder of the incorporation effort, said Friday while sitting in the home where she spent her childhood summers.

The community needed at least 200 signatures from the about 300 qualified voters who live in the 7-square-mile area to begin the incorporation process. A letter from the Pulaski County Clerk's office said 220 signatures were certified Thursday. A public hearing will be held in about 30 days, and an election for mayor, aldermen and county recorder will follow if no one launches any legal challenges.

Olga Dal Santo, the last first-generation resident living in Little Italy, delivered the petition earlier this week.

"It felt good. We wanted something up here, and I hope we get what we want," said Dal Santo, Eanes' 90-year-old great aunt.

Dal Santo's 95-year-old husband, John, added: "When it snows, we watch on TV and see all of the roads in Little Rock are clear, but we have ice and snow. We need guardrails too ... This way we can do it ourselves."

Officials at the Arkansas Municipal League, a group that lobbies for cities around the state, said unincorporated areas do make the push for town status, but not often. Municipal League Attorney David Schoen said smaller towns often have small tax bases and have to rely on counties to help with basic services, such as trash pickup.

"Sometimes there are just not enough people to serve as elected officials," Schoen said.

Earlier this year, incorporation efforts by the Independence County community of Southside were held up by a lawsuit filed by the neighboring city of Batesville. That lawsuit was dropped in February, clearing the way for Southside's August election.

Gilbert, a town about 100 miles north of Little Rock, was founded in 1902 and its population has dwindled to 28. A fourth of the residents are elected officials, the mayor is married to a city councilwoman and residents are divided between growing and leaving the enclave that abuts the Buffalo National River and survives on canoe and RV rentals.

To avoid similar disputes, Eanes and co-organizer Chris Dorer began Little Italy's incorporation effort early last year with five town hall meetings and direct mailers sent to every address in the community to increase buy-in.

"I think one of the things incorporation will offer is a local voice," Dorer said. "Right now, our nearest elected official on the quorum court is 15 or 20 miles away. This will give us a local way to have a voice, which is something I think most people want."

State Desk on 05/16/2015

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