A wooden bridge

There are several examples that show how Cooper Communities Inc. (CCI) and the Bella Vista POA (BVPOA) treat nonPOA members better than their own members. But, perhaps this is another one that few have known about.

For over 20 years, there has been a footpath leading from the south end of Duvall Lane and goes through my yard and on through CCI common property to the north end of the dam on Lake Avalon. The path is the only way that the people in the neighborhood north of the dam have of getting to the lake on foot. BVPOA members have walked this trail for more than 20 years without incident.

A deep ravine cuts through the trail and one day in July 2003, I saw a mother pushing her baby in a baby buggy up the path on her return from the dam. How she made the trip was a mystery to me. It must have been arduous and dangerous. So, I got written permission from CCI to build, at my expense, a wooden bridge across the ravine.

In 2020, CCI had the bridge torn out and placed up two “No Trespassing” signs. This comes at a time when CCI and BVPOA are placing glossy ads in national publications and highway billboards locally inviting people around the world to come and walk our trails. These trails have cost millions of dollars and they serve people from Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and from who knows where.

It just seems odd to me that CCI and BVPOA would go to such lengths to open our doors to serve people from around the world who are not BVPOA members and close the doors to us who pay our monthly assessment fees and have declared Bella Vista our home.

Jim Parsons Bella Vista