Roper Pond, LLC, owns a 15-acre tract on Trenholm Road in Richland County, bordering on the Town of Arcadia Lakes. Roper Pond proposes a high density apartment complex on the tract. The tract includes a nice shallow pond full of lily pads; the pond is part of the Gills Creek watershed that runs through Arcadia Lakes. The development would excavate the pond to convert it to a stormwater detention pond. DHEC issued a storm water permit to the developer and we appealed.
The key issue is whether the developer can excavate the pond to convert it to a storm water detention pond. State storm water regulations require developers to obtain all needed wetlands permits prior to issuance of a storm water permit. The developer has obtained approval from the Corps of Engineers to fill 0.07 acres of wetlands adjacent to the pond under a Nationwide Permit, conditioned upon a DHEC approval. DHEC has not issued such an approval. DHEC’s witnesses have testified that no one at the agency has approved excavation of the pond, but Roper Pond claims that the Corps Nationwide Permit allows the excavation. Our expert, Professor Seth Reice of UNC, says that the pond is a very healthy ecosystem that will be destroyed if the excavation occurs.
We had a trial in September, 2009, before Administrative Law Judge John McLeod, and he upheld the permit in January, 2010. We filed a motion to reconsider, which was also denied.