Planned housing meets obstacles
Paradise Valley in water dispute
Already the subject of a lawsuit filed by a group of nearby homeowners, Paradise Valley, a proposed 76-home subdivision near Pinnacle Mountain, has run into further obstacles.
On Jan. 18, the subdivision’s developer, Rick Ferguson, received a notice from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stating that it had “received reports that ground disturbing activities within the Paradise Valley Subdivision … had resumed without a Department of the Army permit,” a violation of the Clean Water Act.
The Corps ordered Ferguson to “cease and desist from further work below the plane of the ordinary high water mark within Waters of the United States associated with the proposed Paradise Valley Subdivision.”
Just over two months later, on March 21, the Pinnacle Mountain Community Coalition, a nonprofit group of property owners in west and northwestern Pulaski County, filed their second lawsuit over the project.
Then, on March 29, Charles Moulton, an administrative law judge for the state Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, recommended the permit for the subdivision’s wastewater treatment plant be partially remanded back to state environmental regulators for review on the potential for the plant to contaminate Maumelle Water Corp.’s public drinking water Well No. 1.
Moulton’s recommendation came after a hearing in November on an appeal by the rural water utility and the Pinnacle Mountain Community Coalition of the state Department of Energy and Environment’s Division of Environmental Quality to grant the permit.
“Maumelle Water Corporation has proven, by a preponderance of the evidence, that there is a demonstrable risk that Well No. 1 could be negatively impacted by the … wastewater treatment plant,” Moulton said in his recommended decision.
Moulton will present his recommendation to the commission for review at its next scheduled meeting, on April 26, Environmental Quality Division spokesperson Carol Booth said.
Although near Lake Maumelle, the source of drinking water for about 400,000 households in Central Arkansas, the subdivision treatment plant is not in the lake’s watershed.
In a statement sent by email via an attorney, the nonprofit’s board described Paradise Valley as a “leap-frog” development and said the homeowners are “against a wastewater treatment plant in this loca
tion in a no flow and low flow stream near homes, wetlands, a community drinking water well and a culturally significant burial site.”
In its earlier lawsuit, the coalition warned that the proposed discharge from the facility would put Mill Bayou at risk for contamination and stated that wells at the bayou are used by Maumelle Water to serve 1,200 households around Roland.
“PMCC supports responsible development including, but not limited to: 1) larger lots with septic; 2) lots consistent with the existing community rural character to preserve the area’s recreational amenities; 3) lots planned in terms of traffic patterns and congestion (this area plays host to major bike races and the addition of hundreds of homes tightly packed together will create traffic and safety concerns for bikers and Roland residents); and 4) lots that are compatible with existing infrastructure,” the coalition’s board said in its statement.
Ferguson, in a phone interview on Tuesday, said he wants to increase the supply of affordable housing in the area, and he contended that state environmental regulators will ensure that the treatment plant doesn’t jeopardize the quality of drinking water.
Referring to the property owners, he asked that the “small coalition stop discriminating against other people who want to live in this beautiful area.”
The coalition, he said, should “respect other people’s property rights and treat others the way they want to be treated.”
“We want to be able to proceed to build this new neighborhood full of new affordable homes and help people who want to move there to start and raise families — people like policemen, teachers, nurses, doctors, fireman, military and others — who want to buy a home but can’t find an affordable one in today’s market,” Ferguson said.
In its latest, 14-page lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court, the coalition is appealing the county Planning Board’s decision to take no action in response to complaints by the coalition that the preliminary plat for the development violated subdivision codes and that its Dec. 21, 2021, certification by the Planning Board director had expired.
Citing the the Corps of Engineers’ Jan. 18 notice, the suit also claims Ferguson had failed to obtain the necessary permit to allow the development to discharge dredged or fill material into the waters of the United States.
The Corps said in the notice that it would have to evaluate all phases of the proposed construction before Ferguson is able to resume work in the area.
That would require the Corps to, at minimum, conduct a detailed alternatives analysis, cultural resources survey and a cumulative impact assessment of the project, the Corps said in the notice.
The violation was referred to the federal Environmental Protection Agency for a decision on whether to pursue the penalties.
The Corps of Engineers referred calls from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette seeking comment to the EPA.
An EPA spokesperson didn’t return a call and email seeking comment.
Ferguson said Tuesday he had asked for a meeting with the EPA about the matter.
“We started the subdivision under rules that were in place at the time, and there have been changes under the Biden administration and recent court cases,” Ferguson said. “So we have asked for an onsite meeting with the EPA for clarity. We have also appealed the Corps of Engineers letter.”
He denied that he had broken any subdivision codes.
“If we had any code violations, the county planning commission would not have approved us,” Ferguson said.
In addition to raising concerns about Mill Bayou and connected waterways, the coalition, along with other residents of the area, said in the earlier lawsuit that early construction on the subdivision had caused uncontrolled stormwater to flood many of their properties.
The suit, filed in September 2022, asked a judge to overturn the Planning Board’s approval of the project, alleging that “vital information” such as provisions for sewage disposal, drainage and flood control, and letters of approval from fire departments and utilities were left out of the preliminary plat’s application package.
Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Herbert Wright transferred the case to County Court, where County Judge Barry Hyde, the county’s chief executive, is the judge, in September, saying matters relating to, “county roads, internal improvements, and local concerns,” are under the County Court’s jurisdiction.
The plaintiffs appealed Wright’s order to the Arkansas Court of Appeals. The appeal was still pending as of last week.