Lily pond apartments nearly complete

For about two years, folks in Arcadia Lakes have watched apartments rise around a beloved lily pond that many said was a scenic gateway to their community on North Trenholm Road.

Now, the apartment project is all but complete, and developers are holding a community event today to showcase the complex – despite lingering complaints from neighbors who are pressing ahead with a legal challenge to the project.

To build the complex, developers drained Roper Pond, which was covered with brilliant green and white lilies, and cleared much of a small urban forest that surrounded it. The project caused an outcry from people who say it disrupted the community and hurt water quality in Roper Pond and downstream lakes. With so many cars traveling along Trenholm Road, the 1.3-acre lake was one of the most visible lily ponds in Richland County.

But spokespeople for developer Bob Mundy and his associates said they’re hoping to show people this morning that the project will be good for Arcadia Lakes and the environment.

Known as Arcadia’s Edge, the apartment project has been certified by the National Association of Homebuilders for meeting green building standards, organizers of today’s 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting event said. Some wetlands have been protected and the pond has been refilled with water, they say.

The project, which was to feature more than 200 apartment units when completed, has a saltwater pool and a clubhouse. People are beginning to move in now.

“This type of project adds at least $7 million in local income and approximately $700,000 in taxes and other revenue to help spur local economic development,” said Matt Mundy, a development associate for the project. “But more important, it is the quality of life Arcadia’s Edge brings by supporting the well-being of the environment, the community and our residents.”

Arcadia Lakes resident Linda Jackson said it’s difficult to find the environmental benefits. She has seen muddy runoff leave the site and wildlife diminish, Jackson said, also noting that future traffic congestion remains a concern.

“It just makes me sad,” said Jackson, an Arcadia Lakes Town Council member. “It was beautiful before, with birds flying over, ducks in the pond and fish jumping, just a perfect ecological environment. There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that this has changed our whole community, and not for the better.”

The S.C. Court of Appeals will hear Jackson’s group’s challenge to the complex next month, said Amy Armstrong, an attorney representing the residents. It’s unclear what legal remedy opponents have now that the project is virtually complete. But a court could order the developers to make costly changes if it is determined state regulators improperly approved the work, which involved dredging to convert the pond to a stormwater basin.

Project opponents say the state Department of Health and Environmental Control illegally permitted the apartments and did not adequately protect water quality.

Development plans called for the pond to be dredged so it could be used as a stormwater basin. Opponents have long said the apartments will pollute the pond and adjoining lakes downstream – a contention project developers have denied.

“To our whole community, it has been horrible,” Jackson said.

This story was originally published April 18, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Lily pond apartments nearly complete."