Clumping bamboo was selected as a solution to noise, dirt and fumes drifting into homes from a roundabout at Warm Springs Avenue and Morse Boulevard.
Residents of Continental Country Club complained earlier this month to Sumter County commissioners that the roundabout was built too high and that an eight-foot wall the country club erected to shield the homes is too low and ineffective.
Commissioners voted this past week to plant bamboo on the west side of the roundabout at a cost of $34,875. The clumping bamboo plants eventually are expected to grow tall enough to protect the homes. They will be planted five feet apart for 1,300 feet along the road.
The county will work with a landscape architect to select the best bamboo species and the plants are not expected to require much maintenance except watering for the young plants.
Mike Roberts, the country club’s general manager, said he is “very happy” with the solution, even though he realizes it will take a while for the bamboo to grow.
“We talked about it before they brought their solution forward,” he said after the meeting. “It didn’t give us everything.”
The eight-foot wall was built several years ago when the county announced plans to expand the road, then known as County Road 468, to four lanes. Residents asked the county to build the wall, but officials declined.
County officials said the roundabout was built higher than anticipated to accommodate gas, fiber optic, telephone and other transmission lines.
After hearing resident complaints, Chairman Garry Breeden asked County Administrator Bradley Arnold to provide options for addressing the problem.
Bob Finnecy, who lives near the wall, told commissioners earlier that the problem for him was intolerable.
“I can smell the dirt and I can see the speeding trucks,” he said.
