Author: Buckminster

We have been given permission by the following individuals to use their videos on this site — at least temporarily. Disclaimer: The information contained in the multimedia content (“Video Content”) posted represents the views and opinions of the original creators of such Video Content and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of North Oak Cliff Residents for Responsible Urban Development (“NOCRRUD”). But we REALLY REALLY like it!

Videos from 2015

The red markers in the map below shows the location of every VERIFIED letter of opposition to the proposed rezoning. It will continue to be updated as more opposition letters are received. The 10 BLUE markers are the developers properties.

Please zoom in and pay close attention to the amount of opposition by residents on North Boulevard Terrace and N Hampton Rd.

The traffic implications of this proposed multi-family development are many.  It doesn’t take a traffic engineer to know that Hampton Road suffers from over-use and congestion.  But just because Hampton has a low level of service due to it’s over-use doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be concerned about adding to or making the traffic worse.

Hampton Road is not the only road that will be impacted negatively by this project. North Boulevard Terrace, a dead-end street that runs parallel and to the west of Hampton will be connected to Plymouth Rd to the north as part of this project. In the 2017 Bond process, our current Council Member Chad West was the Chair of the Citizen Bond Task Force and was responsible for getting this connector road on the needs list. To make the $2.2M connector road possible, some privately owned land had to be seized through eminent domain.

Imagine how you would feel if your quiet cul-de-sac became a major cut-through for literally thousands of cars trying to avoid traffic on N Hampton Rd. — and all this to help a developer/city official make the money of a life time. And to add insult to unjury, private property was seized to do so. It is entirely disingenuous, when the developer says he did not want the bridge. In fact, in 2015 he said the only reason he had to put his ingress/egress onto Hampton Rd was because a bridge to Plymouth was cost-prohibitive and would make his project unprofitable. And other propaganda, that the City HAD to build the bridge to provide access for emergency vehicles is a false narrative. A turn-about at the end of the street would have been another viable and cheaper option.

The developer has expressed his belief that Hampton is “broken” and it’s traffic problem is a larger issue that needs to be addressed at the city wide regional level.  Despite his acknowledgement of the issues related to traffic on Hampton Road, he makes no apologies or excuses for adding more vehicles to the already congested Hampton Road by seeking to develop a high density multi-family development.  The developer’s “its-broken-so-who-cares” mentality is fundamentally wrong and irresponsible.

The image above graphically illustrates traffic counts along Hampton Road from I-30 to Davis.  The segment of Hampton directly in front of the proposed multi-family development has approximately 39,000 vehicles per day.  Its important to recognize that Hampton Rd can not be widened any more.  There is no higher capacity thoroughfare designation to which  Hampton can be promoted — it wall always be a six-lane divided thoroughfare. Since Hampton Road can not be widened, the 39,000 daily commuters, the nearby home owners and the community in general have a vested interest in maintaining the highest level of service on Hampton for as long as feasibly possible.  Thus, this proposed high density multi-family development is counter to and undermines the general public interest.

The picture below supports the position that Hampton Road presents real risk to health and safety. These risks DO NOT need to be increased by unnecessarily contributing to increased traffic in an already over-utilized thoroughfare.

Spot Zoning:  “A zoning ordinance or amendment, which singles out a relatively small tract owned by a single person, so as to restrict or relieve the small tract from zoning restrictions to which the rest of the area is subjected.”

In other words, spot zoning is allowing  a small parcel of land to be used in drastically different manner than that of nearby parcels. However,spot zoning can be considered  illegal because it is an arbitrary and capricious departure from a larger, more comprehensive plan. Let us not forget that the power to regulate land use comes from our state constitution — and the statute states that zoning should be accordance with a greater comprehensive plan (TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE §211.004).

Spot Zoning or special treatment is precisely what the developer is seeking in his rezoning request.   Lets take a close look at the color-coded map and in particular, lets look at  815 N. Hampton and the adjoining parcels.  This parcel of the proposed multi-family development is completely surrounded by single-family lots and clearly illustrates how the developer is seeking special treatment by having the parcel’s zoning changed to multi-family.

 

A buffer zone can be a natural or man-made barrier between Single-family and Multi-Family districts that provides a natural barrier to light, sound, and traffic. Kessler/Stevens Park area of Dallas is recognized, even celebrated for its thoughtful civic design. The existing land use pattern, utilizing Coomb’s Creek as a natural buffer zone between single-family and high density multi-family is not by coincidence.  In the satellite image below, the Coomb’s Creek buffer zone is easily recognized.  Again, the proposed multi-family development completely disregards this well-established buffer zone and encroaches on the adjoining single-family parcels.

 

The Developer has 2 zoning cases for the 10 single-family parcels in what is a transparent attempt to limit the notification zone and the trigger for a traffic study.

Z234-244: Plan is to have six single-family parcels on the west side of North Boulevard Terrace be rezoned to MF-2 so he can build a 100-unit apartment complex. Since this is not a request for a Planned Development District (PD), the notification zone is only 200 feet.

Z234-249: Plan is to have four single-family parcels on Hampton rezoned to a Planned Development District (PD) consisting of four 8-Plex apartment buildings and 13 homes that may, or may not be detached. Because this is a PD, the notification zone is 500 feet.

Bottom Line: Existing zoning on these single-family parcels allows for about 3-4 units per acre. He is asking for more than 10x the existing zoning for an average of 32 units per acre.