Lynch at Large

This came under the door today and is an insightful look into what will happen once the Bass Pro Shop is built in Dark Hollow. Did I meniton that the children of the North Little Rock Public Schools will pay for this because of TIF district? Ah, well. Here is something to consider.

Pat-

As a member of the Sierra Club and Ozark Society, I have to object to the construction ok given to build Bass Pro Shop in Dark Hollow.

Now before you write me off as a Tree Huggin' Wacko, I also have a Degree in Civil Engineering and deal with handling construction and water run off in my job every day.

The temporary approval for construction of the Bass Pro Shop and other stores in the Dark Hollow section of North Little Rock is going to have future consequences, and you've heard it here first.

The intersection of I-40 and I-30, better known as Dark Hollow has been there for almost 40 years now. If one looks at the lay out, 40 hugs the bottom of Park Hill and 30 is against an established neighborhood.

Why, because Dark Hollow is a SWAMP, a WET LAND.

Note that there are no homes, no buildings and no roads in this area.

We are about to commit the same mistake that was done in Louisiana, by building in a Vital Wet Land for this part of North Little Rock.

D rk Hollow takes all the water from this part of North Little Rock and slows it down so it can drain off to the river without flash flooding the areas to the south of Dark Hollow: Rose City, East Broadway, etc.

This wet land by the way is drained by a wooden, not concrete, a wooden box culvert running through the neighborhood south of dark Hollow and east of I-30.

You pave a large portion of this area and run off becomes 3 times quicker than what it is now.

With out Major improvements to the entire drainage system from Dark Hollow to the River, flooding will take place. Who knows what condition the wooden box is in, as it has been there for nearly a Century. Can it Handle this load? Who knows.

I hope the Engineering people are shooting straight with the data and have checked all the angles in their proposal. From what I've seen, more infrastructure will be needed than just around the shopping area. That's your nickel, North Little Rock!

This is all about Exposure. Bass Pro could have located years ago in a much better location, building wise, with minimal impact to the drainage system.

But NO, we've just GOT to be here at 40 and 30 so we can boast where we sit!

And don't get me started about access to this place. AHTD has already said there will be no additions or changes to the interstates in Dark Hollow, that means cars will have to use North Hills and 15th Street to access this area.

Are the local residents ready for that traffic? (p.s. I don't live in the area)

This thing smells all the way around: Building in a Wet Land and bad access. All to put a fancy address on your Catalog!

Let's hope that the appeal judge has better sense.