Arkansas firm’s development on Clark Lane raises concerns

Amid concerns about threats to local water quality, the Fayetteville, Ark., real estate development company Lindsey Management Co., is building a 768-unit apartment complex on East Clark Lane, near the I-70/Highway 63 Interchange.

The complex, called The Links of Columbia is part of a larger wave of development taking place in response to the anticipated eastward extension of Highway 740, from Highway 63 to Interstate 70.

Complaints have been lodged as dirt from the development has washed into nearby Hominy Branch Creek.

To help prevent erosion, the development was surrounded by a silt fence, a temporary sediment barrier made of woven, synthetic filtration fabric supported by posts—designed to prevent sediment from leaving a work site and entering natural drainage ways or storm drainage systems.

“The concern I had expressed was that the silt fences were not doing their job,” said Ken Midkiff, conservation chair of the local branch of the Sierra Club. “I was told that the silt fences were down and had been run over.”

Midkiff visited the site after a Sierra Club member alerted him to the potential problem. “I was there a little over a month ago, and it was clear that the silt fences had been run over,” Midkiff said.

David Nichols, the City of Columbia’s manager of engineering and inspections, said his inspectors are working closely with Lindsey Management’s team to see ensure compliance with Columbia’s site-erosion regulations.

“We seem to have gotten their attention by holding their certificate of occupancy until problems are erased,” Nichols said.

The city withheld a certificate of occupancy on three apartment units because of site erosion concerns.

“It’s just a complicated site,” Nichols said. “There are 118 acres of disturbed land, with rolling hills and a creek running through the middle. That’s a lot to manage.”

Jeff Barrow, a member of Columbia’s Planning & Zoning Commission, remembered Lindsey Management’s original application for a building permit.

“I was concerned at the time about them being from out of state,” Barrow said. “I didn’t get the sense that there was any commitment to our community or any concern on their part other than making money.”

According to Lindsey Management’s Web site, the 768-unit site includes a 10,000-square-foot, two-story clubhouse, a “resort-style swimming pool and sundeck” and unlimited access to the neighboring nine-hole golf course.

Lindsey Management officials declined to comment for this story. The company manages 100 apartment communities and 33 golf courses in seven states, according to its Web site.