I could open by saying this was a full house, but the room in question wasn’t large, seating approximately 30 people. So “full” would be misleading. Most of the attendees appeared to be owners hoping to sell their property to Lincoln for their Lincoln Katy Trail project on Carlisle and Hall Streets. There was some friction from neighbors opposed to the project.
That friction mostly boiled down to the traffic study supplied. It states delays from the project would not result in more than 35 additional trips and a second of added delay during peak traffic hour. After the meeting I chatted with Lincoln representative Angela Hunt about the traffic conclusions and why they make no sense to most people.
I told her what she appears to be saying is that is that going from 115 units to the now proposed 309 units will only result in 35 additional trips at rush hour … period. Of course that’s not true. Hundreds of apartments equals hundreds, perhaps a thousand trips per day in total. And traffic naturally ebbs and flows throughout the day and week, it’s not a steady stream.
I could, with complete truth, say that these hundreds of apartments will generate zero increased traffic … from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. on any Wednesday except the one before Thanksgiving. While true, it’s misleading. And saying that traffic will peak at 35 additional cars is disingenuous because that 35 will be surrounded by times where it’s 34 or 33 added cars. The real answer to the traffic question is to show the total increase to traffic throughout a day, highlighting the impact for an entire rush hour cycle. And of course that impact should be measured on all surrounding streets … Hall, Carlisle and Bowen. One street may act completely different. For example, Hall Street connects directly with Central Expressway with nary a left-turn lane, making it more of an issue than the comparatively less congested Carlisle.
I told her to show a chart that maps out a more complete picture. I’ve seen these kinds of charts before and told Hunt I’d email one to her, but it’s nearing midnight and I’ve not quickly laid my hands on one from my files. I’ll keep looking, but the tidal chart above gives the gist.
The other issue I had was with the shade study. New graphics were shown that do not show the impact on the street as the first ones did. Instead the new graphics are from the sky downwards (and very, very tiny). Think of a wire frame view of buildings out an airplane window. I commented that the format change was fishy. Hunt said some complained about the prior graphic. Fine. But in my experience when someone changes a format, it’s to obscure, not expose.
Hunt said she was surprised I’m not in support of this project. My reply was as I said in a prior column. I begin with the underlying zoning. In Toll Brothers’ case, it was MF-3, so height was always there. Here it’s MF-2 which limits to 36 feet in height. I added that like the rest of Dallas, the architecture was not going to win any awards either. I might have bent more for a stunning building.
The meeting did produce one real oddity. Oak Lawn Committee vice-president Leland Burk attended. To my knowledge he has no financial stake in this project and as an OLC officer his attendance seemed inappropriate given this project is still seeking OLC support. As I said, odd.
Lincoln will make their fourth presentation to the OLC at Tuesday’s 6:30p meeting at the Melrose Hotel which is open to the public.
Stay tuned for our coverage of the Tuesday Oak Lawn Committee meeting (posting Wednesday).
Remember: High-rises, HOAs and renovation are my beat. But I also appreciate modern and historical architecture balanced against the YIMBY movement. If you’re interested in hosting a Candysdirt.com Staff Meeting event, I’m your guy. In 2016 and 2017, the National Association of Real Estate Editors has recognized my writing with two Bronze (2016, 2017) and two Silver (2016, 2017) awards. Have a story to tell or a marriage proposal to make? Shoot me an email sharewithjon@daltxrealestate.com.
