IDK, while I like the notion of this piece of improvised art and the other dinosaur too, I'd have a problem if it was located right next to my property.
Something so big that is just haphazardly constructed should be temporary and disassembled after a reasonable period of time.
To leave it up permanently, exposed to the weather, with no plan for its maintenance or any plan that assures its structural integrity is inviting disaster. It's not inconceivable that a big storm could blow pieces (imagine 2x4s with rusty nails) of this this off, endangering people, drivers and so forth.
It's reasonable that local officials would want some kind of assurance that the thing is not going to be a hazard to the public. Imagine the liability that guy would incur if on a windy day a board flew off and hit a child and handicapped him permanently.
While it may seem burdensome to you, KY, to have to get the necessary permits to do whatever construction you want to do, let me give you an example of why it's necessary-
Here in the NE, most towns and villages have occupied their locations for many, many generations. In the 19th century most homes were lit by gaslight-the gas having been manufactured at a local plant by burning coal and coke to produce the gas then piped to people's homes. The MGPs (manufactured gas plants) left huge deposits of coal tar- extremely poisonous and volatile-shallowly buried adjacent to their factories. This stuff sinks and migrates all over the place and into the water table.
If you were to start digging out say, an in-ground pool on your property, which might be located near one of these deposits of coal tar, you could easily and inadvertently expose yourself and all your neighbors to a highly toxic soup of and flammable and gaseous materials and would be liable for the cleanup and the damage to everyone's health and property. The permit fees you must pay cover the cost of determining the safety and viability of such a project.
To me, it's reasonable to expect such due diligence from local governing agencies. It's a lot more expensive to fix a problem after the fact.