Kid: “But Mom! That’s not fair!”
Mom: “Sorry honey, but life isn’t always fair.”
Guess who got a big dose of that lesson yesterday? Just a warning, this blog will likely be more of a vent than anything else. I’m still so upset about my experience with local government yesterday, that I need to get some feelings out before I lose my mind (or my job).
Blake and I purchased our home in an area of town that has a lot going for it. There is an active neighborhood association, a monthly crime watch meeting, a few local restaurants and bars, its a half mile from downtown Dallas, and is full of amazing neighbors. It’s an actual community, as opposed to a subdivision where people hardly know who lives across the street. People around here make an effort to get to know you and watch out for you - something I never experienced in any other place I have lived. Unfortunately it is also a bit disorganized regarding development. There are pockets of housing here and there, some warehouses, commercial and industrial across the street from residential. It’s just sort of a mish mash of things. This concerned us, but then we learned of the Cedars Area Development Plan that the City passed in 2002. It basically rezoned parts of the Cedars to make a more cohesive strategy for future development. This plan effectively zoned out several businesses that were across the street from our new home. The businesses has until 2013 to leave, and were given notice of this in 2002. So knowing the City had a plan for our neighborhood’s development and growth, we purchased our home and moved in July of 2007.
Then one of the industrial businesses applied for a Special Use Permit that would rezone their land according to their needs. Because we are within 500 ft of the applicant, we are supposed to receive notice from the City and the opportunity to vote for or against the matter. Except that the City used last year’s tax information, which still showed our builder as the owner of the land. According to our builder, he notified the City of the mistake and threw away the notifications. But the City did not have to resend notification, and we still had no idea what was going on.
It wasn’t until after 2 hearings had already been conducted did someone in our area find out about the situation. He notified the rest of the neighbors. And so began my first foray into city politics and government. Our HOA decided to go on record against the rezoning request and we began knocking on doors asking for support. In the end, we submitted 59 affidavits against the request, 49 homeowners signed a petition against the request (they were outside the 500 ft radius and could not submit affidavits) and 110 non-property owners with interest in the area also signed a petition against the rezoning. Only 11 affidavits were submitted in favor of the rezoning, 9 of those 11 being from other companies who are non-compliant with the new zoning passed in 2002.
We also contacted our City Council representative. We requested meetings and were denied because she was “too busy”. We were also told that she was “too busy” to respond to our emails and phone calls. The vote was delayed twice during City Council meetings. First on September 24th, then again on October 22nd. I felt completely ignored. I understand that being on Council in such a large city is very demanding, but she is my elected councilperson and she should make the time for me. She chose not to.
When Monday rolled around, we gathered as many supporters as we could that were able to take time off work and made our way into the City Council meeting room. We sat in the first 3 rows. We prepared our speakers. We were ready to make our case known. Then we learned that City Council had a large agenda that day, and our usual 15 minute time was reduced to 10 for each side. We adjusted our speaking plan. The Council asked the speakers against the rezoning to go first. We did. Two attorneys spoke as well as a landowner and three homeowners. I was one of the speakers. I felt I made an impression on the Council and when I looked up, maybe half of them were actually paying attention. The Mayor wasn’t even in his seat. This is how it goes at these meetings, but we pushed forward anyway. We talked about how we bought our homes based on the promises made in 2002 about rezoning. We talked about how our neighborhood was ready for the progress and development it needs. We discussed how our neighborhood is like none other in regards to community and uniqueness. We asked the City Council to demonstrate its commitment to our neighborhood by sticking with the rezoning plan and denying the request of this industrial company. Then we ran out of time. The speakers we couldn’t get to were allowed to enter their names on the record and there were an additional 5-8 of those.
Then the speakers in favor of the request were allowed to speak. The company’s owner spoke, as well as his attorney. They discussed all of the awards the company has won and what a good company they are - something that none of us have ever disputed. They also had an employee speak. She required a translator because she did not speak much English and their time was adjusted accordingly. When they concluded, our Councilperson began. I won’t go into too much detail because I knew we lost the minute she began speaking. She incorrectly referred to us as Cedars West homeowners. Cedars West is an entirely different part of the area. She stated she had just come to her decision that morning, which I really doubt. If she was still searching for answers she might have returned an email or a phone call, or arranged a meeting with us. We did discover she had plenty of time to meet with the company owner, but again, not with the rest of us.
She asked for clarification on some details of the zoning request, which someone I assume works for City of Dallas answered for her. Then she asked the business owner to answer some questions. In doing so, he was given an extra 3-4 minutes of talking time to make his case. Even though the questions could have been answered with a simple yes or no, he was allowed to continue on uninterrupted. Then the best part - our Councilperson asked if he were granted the request, would he work with the community to address any concerns? Well what the hell is he going to say, no? Of course he said yes! He also stated that he had an open door policy and made every effort to be sure they were good neighbors and contribute to the community. Well, he’s never knocked on my door asking if I had any concerns. Nor has he attended a crime watch meeting so he could be aware of issues in the neighborhood. He only once attended a Neighborhood Association meeting, and that was to plead his case to stay in the neighborhood.
After he was done speaking (again) our Councilperson recommended a 10 year request be allowed, instead of 15 years and the Council passed it without any hesitation. So now this industrial business is allowed to remain until 2018, directly across the street from my home.
Many people have said that new residents of the neighborhood should not be allowed to push out existing businesses. That is not what we are trying to do. We purchased our homes 5 years after the City decided that those businesses should no longer be in this area. We only purchased because of that promise and we were asking City Council to keep that promise. Essentially City Council changed their mind. What concerns me most is that will they change their mind again when the other 12 businesses apply for their own requests? Will they continue to allow the Cedars Area Development Plan to unravel?
Only time will tell for sure. Yesterday was a devastating loss and has severely undermined my confidence in the City Council’s commitment to our neighborhood. I’m also quite sure that our Councilperson will not be receiving my vote for her re-election in the spring. Not because of her decision to approve the request, but because she couldn’t make the time to address my concerns by phone or email during the last 2 months.
admin | 
19 November 2008 | 
