This report is a brief update on the DG Market, slated to be built inside the gates of the Village. According to Hot Springs Village Public Services Director Ken Unger, DG Market building plans are moving ahead. The director said that construction of the DG Market is supposed to begin in December.
- The Public Services Department has installed the requested fire hydrant and is prepared to install the utilities (water and sewer). According to Contracts and Development Supervisor Ginger George, the building permit has been issued.
- Traffic analysis was completed by the company to determine whether or not the proposed entrance spot was appropriately located.
- Construction material will comprise blocks on three sides, which should be more aesthetically pleasing than the DG location outside the east side of Hot Springs Village. (Previously, it was incorrectly published here that the building would be brick.)
- To address graceful water runoff from storms, the retailer will install a water containment basin.
- As much as possible, trees will be saved, and the walking trail will not be eliminated.
- The store is for the use of those customers legitimately inside the gates.
- On September 12, 2024, Public Services Committee Vice-chairman Rolland White expressed concerns about some social media comments:
- Will there be enough business to sustain the store if only Villagers are allowed to frequent the premises?
- If outsiders can use the store, then other stores will want to build inside the gates.
- On September 12, 2024, Public Services Committee Vice-chairman Rolland White expressed concerns about some social media comments:
- If DG registers outside shoppers as guests, then they must be allowed in. Unger said, “They can do exactly as we [HSV residents and property owners} can do. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
- The POA cannot prohibit the building of the DG Market on private commercial property without facing a possible lawsuit. According to governing documents, the POA oversees commercial property aesthetics but is not tasked with limiting most uses of commercial properties.
Location of HSV DG Market
The DG Market will be located approximately at the corner of Ponce de Leon Drive and DeSoto Boulevard, across the street from Faith Lutheran Church (around 9 or so miles from the east gate).
By Cheryl Dowden
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR HSV PUBLIC SERVICES DIRECTOR
Ken Unger
Director Public Services
Hot Springs Village
501-226-9609
Kunger@hsvpoa.org
Click here to contact the HSV Gazette.
Click here to join our private Hot Springs Village Property Owners Facebook group. Be sure to answer the entry questions.
Click here to visit the POA website – Explore the Village.
KEITH: WHAT CURRENT BUSINESSES INSIDE HSV WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO AWAY WITH TO MEET YOUR PERSONAL UTOPIA? AND WHAT WOULD THAT UTOPIA LOOK LIKE?
WHAT WAS YOUR PRIMARY WORKING PROFESSION? AND WHAT HSV POA VOLUNTEER COMMITEES HAVE YOU BEEN A MEMBER OF? THANKS
It’s unfortunate that the whole truth is never told. The fallacy of the DG Market situation is that there was never a requirement for a market at that or any other location. There’s no study, no research, nor emergency declaration of a “food desert” in the center-east Village which required developer-community partnership and the search for a willing vendor. Rather, this was a straight set of business transactions designed for maximum individual profit that began with Cooper and has now ended with DG. If you take the time to review public tax records, you’ll see the hands this property passed through and the not insignificant profit made with each transaction in a relatively short period of time. There was never any intent to develop the property in concert with community needs or wishes. It was a commodity to be sold at maximum reward with no concern for community needs or wishes. Residents have no voice in development. But the worst condition is how we continue to pay for other’s profit. Due to our antediluvian, developer-based founding documentation, creation and sustaining engineering of the supporting infrastructure is on us. Thus, we pay the stand-up bills but do not enjoy in the profits. It’s quite a system, and one that has been reinforced in the past four years or so. Further, Mr Unger’s somewhat blase’ attitude towards physical security is indicative of how the for-profit sphere of our pseudo-community thinks. We have never had an effective physical security posture and there’s no reason to believe we ever will because physical security can be detrimental to personal profit. Ladies and gentlemen, fellow residents, simply put, despite color glossy photographs, committee meetings, and nearly endless propaganda, our “community” is no more than a forest to be exploited by the few at the expense of the many. You are going to have a cinderblock DG, in direct contravention of Cooper Sr’s vision, whether you like it or not.