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Stephannie Massi has owned and operated Noah鈥檚 Ark Baby Shop for more than a decade, but a proposed road extension could mean she鈥檒l need to find a new place to set up shop.

鈥淲e might have to move. That鈥檚 a worst case scenario,鈥� Massi said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how we鈥檙e going to do that, but I鈥檓 definitely going to lean on the community if that鈥檚 what we get stuck doing.鈥�

Listed as Project D on the RIDE IV project list is the Possum Trot Road extension which would extend the state road across Highway 17 and connect to Madison Drive. It鈥檚 expected to cost $23 million, according to estimates.

In between Possum Trot Road and where it鈥檚 proposed to connect to Madison Drive is Noah鈥檚 Ark, No No Nuts Ice Cream Shop and two single-family homes. It is likely the buildings would be purchased through eminent domain for right-of-way acquisition.

Massi, who rents the building, said she didn鈥檛 learn about the potential eminent domain issues her store could be facing until people started coming in and saying they were sorry.

鈥淚鈥檓 not gonna lie, I kind of laughed it off because it sounded so silly. Like, why would they do that? How is a road coming one block to Madison [Drive] going to help anybody? So I was a little unsure how this was going to relieve traffic,鈥� Massi said.

Many customers thought Noah鈥檚 Ark had already closed, she said.

The Possum Trot extension project is described as an intersection/interchange improvement on the RIDE IV website. Kevin Blayton, public works director for the city of North Myrtle Beach, said the project would increase pedestrian and vehicular safety.

鈥淭he purpose of the project from the City鈥檚 perspective is to provide safe vehicle, golf cart, and pedestrian access across Highway 17 between the park, including adjacent neighborhoods, and the beach,鈥� Blayton wrote in an email.

Massi said she thinks the project was pushed because it will allow those living in the newly opened Del Webb community an easier path to the beach via golf carts. Currently, those residents need to drive about 2.5 miles to the 6th Avenue beach access.

鈥淚t鈥檚 for golf carts,鈥� she said.

RIDE IV is a 25-year transportation tax which was approved by voters in November. It funds major road projects like a new Conway river crossing and the extension of S.C. Highway 22 to Surfside Beach which could cost $1.56 billion. The total cost of all the projects is expected to be more than $6.5 billion.

When Massi first started with Noah鈥檚 Ark, she was a new mom. She came into the shop to buy clothes for her son when while checking out at the register, the former owner offered her a job with a great selling point 鈥� she could bring her son with her to work. Massi started working at the shop in February 2013 and by May, she purchased it with help from her father.

鈥淸The former owner] told me she was selling the place because she wanted to move to Florida to take care of her mother,鈥� Massi recalled. 鈥淢y dad was a paramedic at the time and he was looking to retire. I went home and I said 鈥榙ad, she鈥檚 going to sell this place. This is a great opportunity.鈥� I never planned on getting married, my sisters both had massive weddings and I said you can invest in me and I came up with an idea of how fast I could pay him back鈥nd so my dad and I were in here every day for the first five years before I could hire anyone. It was him, I and my two boys in here every day.鈥�

Noah鈥檚 Ark is more than a baby clothes shop. The bargain bins allow parents ways to get clothes, toys, stuffed animals and many other essentials at affordable prices that are hard to come by, and the store accepts used clothing in exchange for 鈥淣oah鈥檚 dollars鈥� for store credit. She also allows moms the opportunity to work for 12 Noah dollars an hour whenever they are open.

鈥淎 lot of our local moms work as servers. They don鈥檛 make money year round,鈥� Massi said. 鈥淚 wanted to take really good care of our village here鈥� We also do $1 women鈥檚 clothes because most women change sizes when they鈥檙e pregnant. Our 25 cent bins with hats, toys, we鈥檝e got 25 cent starts for everything. We give stacks of Noah鈥檚 Cash to local churches in our community and to people all the time that need it. We have a 14-foot free bin behind our building.鈥�

Noah鈥檚 Ark is likely standing between Possum Trot Road and its eventual destination. The road extension鈥檚 funding was approved by voters in November as part of the RIDE IV referendum to approve a 25-year transportation tax to fund road improvements in the county using a penny sales tax. The referendum broke projects into different timeframes, and the Possum Trot Road extension was listed on the ballot as one of two projects that would commence in years 6-10 from when the tax is enacted in May.

Blayton said since the project is still years out, it鈥檚 unclear who would manage the project, so he couldn鈥檛 comment too much on specifics about eminent domain.

鈥淣o activity will occur on this project for at least five years,鈥� Blayton wrote in an email to Massi. 鈥淥nce preliminary design begins, the project will be developed to include evaluation of project alternatives such as alternate routes and/or 鈥渘o-build.鈥� Public input will be considered at that time. Project right-of-way acquisition will follow state and federal requirements.鈥�

Even if the building is no more, Noah鈥檚 Ark Baby Shop will live on, Massi said.

鈥淚 hope to be here for a lifetime even if I have to move,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not gonna like it, but I鈥檓 gonna save money until then. I鈥檓 gonna have to penny pinch for five years in hopes this doesn鈥檛 happen, but I don鈥檛 have a choice. My dad gave me this. I can鈥檛 let him down. He鈥檚 not here.鈥�