A small lily pond is causing big debate in the town of Arcadia Lakes. The pond has stood this way off Trenholm Road for generations, but a plan for a new apartment complex could change all that.
Developers plan to build the Roper Pond Apartments in the area and drain, deepen, then refill the pond. Storm drainage from the apartments will flow into the water.
That angers residents like Linda Jackson. The Columbia attorney helped organize a petition to stop the development. She says developers Joseph Walker and Bob Mundy originally told residents they would build luxury condominiums on the land, but later, changed their minds. She says the proposed development will destroy the lily pond.
Joseph Walker of Estates Management Company disagrees. In a statement he says. "We're not taking a pond and converting it into a storm water basin. Were improving the pond and making it a deeper, more balanced pond that will be an amenity to the community and property."
DHEC has approved the development's storm water permits, but that approval is going to court next month. Residents have hired an environmental lawyer and plan to fight the development.
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