Rezoning the Brookhollow Neighborhood

In case you haven’t heard, the City Council voted unanimously to allow smaller lot sizes in the Brookhollow area. Incidentally – I’ll bet the term “The Farmers Branch City Council voted unanimously” is the most-used phrase in city government. Makes you think of a monster with 6 bodies, 12 arms and legs,  12 eyes and (closed) ears, but just one mouth and one small, closed mind. But I digress.

Here’s the rezoning story according to the Farmers Branch Forum:

Subject: Brookhollow Neighborhood Rezoning
At the Farmers Branch City Council meeting held on Tuesday, November 17, the Council acted on a request to rezone part of the Brookhollow neighborhood.  Many neighbors made a very professional and reasoned argument against the request.  The council had plenty of reasons to vote against it too, but not one councilperson could find a reason to side with the neighbors.  They decided to show their complete disregard for the wishes of current taxpaying residents by voting unanimously to grant the rezoning.   

We believe this vote against the neighborhood sets a precedent not only for the Brookhollow neighborhood, but for the whole city.   With the Mayor and Council planning to cover the Albertson’s site with apartments, those of us who want to retain the small town character of residential Farmers Branch must fight back.

Brookhollow is the area southeast of Webb Chapel and Valley View that has the large lots and very country feel.  It was developed in the late 1940′s and didn’t get its current R-1 zoning until the 1960′s.  That zoning put in place the standards already in the neighborhood and designated lots to be 1 acre or more unless they were already in existence.   

The request was to divide a 1.4 acre lot into two .7 acre lots.  Although the minimum setbacks would match the current zoning, the backyards of these lots would be much smaller than those in the neighborhood, and the look would be more suburban.  One point that was missed was the fact that once the rezoning is in place, the rezoned property is much more valuable.  There are no guarantees that one lot won’t be sold off for even more profit- or that both lots won’t be sold to a developer of spec houses.  The financial benefit to goes to the owner of the rezoned property while the neighbors get a development that could degrade their property values.

Because 88% of the neighbors within 200 feet of the property objected to the rezoning, the Council needed a super majority of 4 votes to pass the rezoning.  Instead of listening to wishes of the residents who live there, the Council displayed their bias toward McMansions and “Frisco” style development and voted for the rezoning.  It appears “the will of the people” is only acted on when the Council finds it convenient.
Branch Forum, Sharon Shields, Treasurer, 12801 Epps Field Road, Farmers Branch, TX 75234

I am probably one of the very few Farmers Branch citizens who is relieved to see the dismantling of that area and I’ll tell you why:

……………. Lost Valley Lane.

Yep, that’s right. When I moved to Farmers Branch in the early ’80′s I loved to drive through the Brookhollow neighborhood. The homes reminded me of country estates – as close as I would ever get to living on Strait Lane (in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas). Oh - I fell in love with the area, but most of all with Lost Valley Lane. A home on a large private lot with this romantic-sounding address was my idea of being in paradise. Imagine living in a country setting tucked away in the middle of a sprawling metropolis: giant trees on gorgeous huge lots, tons of privacy, peaceful and isolated, but still close to city amenities. Pure-dee heaven on earth.

Every once in a while I would wander around the streets in the Brookhollow area and lust after these homes. Oh – how I would love to live there. But college, kids, layoffs, and reality interfered and I had to be content with only my dreams.

Now, thanks to the Farmers Branch City Council, I no longer envy the residents in that neighborhood. To the contrary – I pity them, and I am so glad that I didn’t succumb to Lost Valley Lane’s siren song. Just think – if I had sacrificed to purchase a country estate there I would now be faced with being smack dab in the middle of a proposed Frisco housing development. Then I could look up during my backyard pool party to see my neighbor’s kid’s peering into my yard from their second story playroom. I could have people living right next to me, with their McMansions hanging over my home.

• No more country estate.
• Goodbye privacy.
• Paradise Lost.

Not content with just trespassing on your property, Farmers Branch decides to use the tax payer’s money for something more “awesome”.

In fact, this latest rezoning decision has enabled the creation of lots that are comparable to where I am now, except we don’t have the McMansions – yet. So, the City Council has relieved me of years of wishing and hoping and dreaming about living on a country estate on Lost Valley Lane.

Way to go, guys. Thanks

Seriously – To the Country Squires now living in Brookhollow, and especially those on Lost Valley Lane - I am truly sorry.

Note: In response to Sue (in comments) I’ve edited this post to dispel any idea that I really am glad to see that beautiful neighborhood and the people living there treated with such disrespect. The Brookhollow area is one of the most delightful highlights of Farmers Branch and I hate to think that it could be on it’s way to being just another Frisco-type housing district. That’s not what most of us wanted when we bought in Farmer’s Branch and it makes me sad to think that our friendly little city will be just another display of rows upon rows of boring, sterile, generic McMansions.

Twitterpated Tuesday; Part 2

    

Here’s an interesting one:

My law firm handles injury cases. If you ever wonder about the govt’s ability to handle anything, call me for some Medicare horror stories.4:04 PM Jun 23rd from web

What makes this especially ironic is that:

1. The author “handles injury cases”, but doesn’t seem to know that there are many more Private Insurance Company horror stories than Medicare horror stories. As with most of his other statements he is quick to make far-reaching assertions based on little or no evidence. 
2. His statement about “the gov’t's ability to handle anything” is really humorous when you realize that

…… well

…. do you want to tell him, or should I?

Okay – here goes:

His role for the City of Farmers Branch is Governmental!

So yes indeed; his implication is right on target:  since he and his cronies have assumed office this little government is creating a lot of horror stories for a lot of citizens.

• Bully Tactics? Got It.
• Kowtowing to Special Interests? Got It.
• Ignorance of Facts? Got It.
• Plowing On Ahead With Pet Projects Irrespective of Citizen Objection? Got It.
• Absurd OverBlown Accusations? Got It.
• Fiscal Irresponsibility? Got It.
• Misrepresentation? Got It.
• Disregard Citizen’s Real Concerns? Got It.

“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action“

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Twitterpated Tuesday

Several people who have neither the time nor desire to follow Twitter but want to know if an interesting Tweet comes along have asked me to keep up the Twitter Quotes. I said it before and I will repeat: I am not a big fan of Twitter, or Facebook, or any of those social networking sites. That said, I do realize that there is much entertainment to be found on these sites, so I will peek every once in a while to find something interesting to talk about. There are a couple of sites that I can depend upon to provide fodder, so I will monitor and comment.

While considering a name for this series of posts I remembered a term one of my daughters uses for people who blurt out nonsensical statements based on erroneous input. These folks are so sure that they are right, and everyone else is wrong, that they make assertions in a manner that is best described as flustered to the point of giddiness. They don’t let the facts get in the way when they are Twitterpated! So, every week I will post another entry in a new series of posts which I will call “Twitterpated Tuesday“.

Enjoy.

Here’s my first example:

I am against a government takeover of healthcare and love seeing people stand up to have their voices heard.10:43 PM Aug 8th from mobile web

Ah – I’m not going to tell you where I got this gem, and that’s kind of unfair to those who are not “in the know” here in The City in the Park. Suffice to say that this author is the primary reason that the Community Surveillance folks are out in full force - ever ProActive and Innovative in their quest to root out and destroy evil citizens who are Violating The Code.

What is particularly amusing about this post is that the author and his cronies are definitely not amused by people who stand up to have their voices heard - if those voices are raised in disagreement. But that does not make this statement false. In fact, it is true in that when you stand up to have your voice heard you are very visible. And when you are visible you are easy to target. So – is that a bad thing? Well, I’ll tell you about my experience, and you can make your own decision.

I have been vocal about the oppressive Community Surveillance and Code Enforcement in letters to a local enews service and through this blog. My original intention was to offer assistance in correcting what I found to be a very frustrating and hard to decipher City Code. Oh, but  that was not well-received, and the defenses quickly went up. However, I was not ignored: I was rewarded!

By pointing out errors, misrepresentations, inequalities, and capriciousness I was rewarded by being assigned my very own Surveillance Team member; and boy, is he ever ProActive and Innovative. He drives by at least two or three times a week and sometimes even walks the perimeter of my property in order to observe every little bitty thing I have out there.

        

•  
  • If a weed grows taller than 8.001 inches he is there to tell me about it.
  • If he is worried about the suitability of my outdoor furniture he’ll drop a note.
  • If he’s afraid I’ll exceed my quota of 5 pots in the front yard he’ll raise the flag.
  • On some days he will sit for a long time in front of my home: gazing, dreaming, taking pictures, whatever.
  • When I clean my garage he’ll helpfully document every step.
  • If a tree leaf crosses the curb he’ll sound the alarm.

Oh – it’s not all fun and games: sometimes I can tell that he doesn’t know The Code as thoroughly as I do, and I am obliged to remind him of various points; but that doesn’t matter – I’ll get an invitation to play Guess the Violation anyway.

I am truly blessed, and I feel so Safe and Healthy. But also guilty. I feel bad that I should be getting all this personal attention when I know that there are plenty of other citizens who also would like to feel Safe and Healthy in their own homes. And here I am hogging all the attention.

You too can be rewarded with your very own personal Enforcer. All you have to do is stand up to have your voice heard.