![[Ed says Nay]](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4958/1794/320/dont_trust.jpg "Ed says Nay")
Michael Davis of Dallas Progress is crowing today that "WE WON!". The Dallas City Plan Commission denied a request for zoning changes to allow the construction of townhomes on South Marsalis Avenue. He says the planned $150,000 townhomes are overpriced and predicts they will not sell and will be turned into rental slum properties. Or not. Because he also condemns the planned development of townhomes as "possible gentrification." In other words, the proposed development is damned whether it fails or whether it succeeds. Instead, he says "this neighborhood is starving for affordable, single family housing."
Sadly, I wonder just what was won. Sure, the threat of townhomes is (temporarily) gone. But are the affordable, single family houses any closer? Or is this neighborhood of senior citizens, living in their aging $40-50,000 houses, just locking itself into a path of long, slow decay? Has Michael Davis just helped the neighborhood turn its back on the good because it isn't the perfect? And left the neighborhood with nothing?
2 comments:
Ed,
I welcome the review of this issue. I would beg to differ with your headline – I the community will not incur terrible losses by the defeat of this zoning change.
The neighborhood didn't want the townhomes. What they wanted was a planned development district, just like Dallasites have in other area. They were promised such a district by the developer. At the 11th hour the developer didn't want to pay the money to file the proper paperwork and instead re-filed with the City to do the original plan. The neighbors were livid.
This was all revealed in the Plan Commission hearing last week. If they won’t pay a grand or two in fees, what makes you think they won’t cut corners when they build the properties?
The developer never showed a blueprint or plans about what was being built. In addition, the developer only met with one neighborhood association instead of all three that are located in the area.
The neighbors of South Marsalis aren’t anti-development – they’re against builders who tell half truths and make verbal assurances but put nothing down on paper that can be enforced by the City. Residents in that area deserve to have everything in writing, just like residents in other areas.
The neighbors want smart, responsible development. Those neighbors have the right to live with their outcome of this decision, instead of it being forced on them by unscrupulous builders.
Michael Davis
Dallas Progress
Mr Davis, thanks for the reply. I defer to your deeper knowledge of the particulars in this case. If the developer is untrustworthy, then rejecting the development is probably prudent. But I still think that declaring victory (WE WON!) should be reserved for getting the kind of development that the community wants, not just turning down a development that the community doesn't want.
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