Several residents in Tahitian Village and Pine Forest subdivisions told the Bastrop Economic Development Corporation Monday night they have concerns when it comes to future growth in the southern portion of the business park.

The residents spoke to the board during a regular meeting Monday night and emphasized that they are not against growth in the Industrial Park.

But Ruth Jansa, a resident on Keanahalululu Lane, told the BEDC board that any new buildings, parking lots and roads along the southern portion of the Industrial Park could increase the chance of flooding of their area.

Some residents of Mauna Loa Lane in Pine Forest, a street that also borders the industrial park, expressed similar concerns.

“The residents of Keanahalululu have already experienced flooding of their lots due to a creek on BEDC property,” Jansa said. As part of the future build-out of BEDC properties, she said some residents are also concerned about potential noise and fall-off from lighting.

Because the discussion of the situation was listed as a “citizens comment” portion of the BEDC meeting, board members said they could only listen and could not discuss the topic in detail.

However, Steve Mills, chair of the BEDC board said the board would “keep comments in mind” made by the residents and added that the area under discussion is still in the midst of engineering discussions.

On Tuesday, BEDC president Joe Newman acknowledged that a dry creek that runs through part of the business spark continues into Tahitian Village.

Areas around the creek are in the 500 and 100-year flood plains, Newman said.

Newman and some board members pointed out after the meeting that residents of the two lanes had made the choice to live along an area that is both hilly and subject to water runoff, even without further building in the business park.

“We are not the cause of their flooding; they built in an area subject to flooding,” Newman said.

However, Newman said a portion of a planned road inside the park and near the two lanes bordering the park would not go forward, at least for the near-term.

Board members agreed they would keep in mind the residents’ concerns during any future plans for the southern portion of the park.