Bruce Wilke has lived in Dallas’ Hillcrest Forest neighborhood for 38 years and says he’s not opposed to new development in the LBJ/Preston Hollow area.
The president of the neighborhood association said he does, however, have a problem with noise, cut-through traffic, incompatibility, and the precedent that would be set by the construction of seven-story apartment complexes adjacent to single-family homes along the LBJ Corridor.
Wilke was one of about 70 residents who attended a meeting on the topic Monday night. The gathering at King of Glory Lutheran Church was shut down after about 20 minutes of discussion because tornado sirens were activated. Residents are asked to return to King of Glory, 6411 LBJ Freeway, Dallas, at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, to resume discussions.
At the first public meeting last week, the room booked by the consultants, was too small to accommodate all residents who showed up — and about 30 people were turned away.
Wilke said Monday night. “Tonight, there were over 70 people there — I counted — and the tornado siren goes off. This was the second time that our Hillcrest Forest residents have tried to participate and left frustrated.”
During the short time that residents were permitted to ask questions, most wanted to know how a team of planning consultants is being funded. The answer given repeatedly by Evelyn Mayo of Rayo Planning was that her firm was tapped by Dallas City Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz and is being funded by members of a steering committee to study development in the corridor. It’s unclear who is paying how much, but residents are convinced that developers with the RD Investment Properties (Related Group) are footing the $115,000 bill for the LBJ corridor study, slated for completion this summer.
For a little background and context, check out Candy Evans’ research on this topic, published after last week’s meeting. She lives in nearby Hillcrest Estates.
Neighborhood Position
The site being considered for apartments – currently occupied by three two-story office buildings – is surrounded by about 1,800 homes, including those $1 million-plus abodes in Hillcrest Forest, The Downs, and Hillcrest Villas.
“It’s a big area, and our neighborhoods are either very close or adjacent [to the property],” Wilke said. “Our board is concerned about the single-family homes that back up to the offices. They’re literally 15 feet away from our homes.”
It’s a little premature to gauge whether the neighbors’ input is being seriously considered by the Dallas City Council and planning commission, as a rezoning proposal is not currently on the table. The point of the study, say the consultants, is to pre-empt future zoning with a plan of what types of properties residents desire.
“We’re not engaged with the city, but with urban planning consultants in a corridor study,” Wilke said. “When that’s finished, the proposal will then go to the planning commission and city council. It’s only then that we’ll engage with the city council.”
The Sticking Points
If Related Group’s proposal is approved, that could mean buildings 110 feet tall with a seven-story parking garage. The high-density proposal shows up to 57 apartments per acre on the 7.5-acre site, for a total of more than 400 apartment units.
The site’s current “neighborhood office” zoning designation has a 30-foot height limit, as do single-family homes, Wilke explained Monday.
“Neighborhood offices are considered to be a relatively low-impact office use,” he said. “If five-to-seven-story apartments were built there, a lot of people would consider that to be incompatible.”
Another issue is cut-through traffic. Apartment dwellers likely will use the neighborhood as a shortcut to retail and restaurants in the area.
“Naturally they’re going to want to take the shortest route rather than go a mile out of their way,” Wilke said. “We looked at closing Hughes Lane but that’s a major entrance and exit to our neighborhood.”
Then there’s the threat of additional noise and activity, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, rather than just during office hours.
And there’s more. Should a proposal for apartments be approved, it sets a precedent for other future development in the area.
“Once the first developer gets to build apartments, the next developer can come in and say they want the same zoning rights,” Wilke explained. “It could open a Pandora’s box of rezoning requests along the south side of LBJ.”
In fact, if the entire south side of LBJ is rezoned, it could translate to more than 3,000 apartment units, Wilke said.
“This really is just about quality of life,” Wilke said. “We want a strong, stable neighborhood. We don’t want to negatively affect the quality of life in our neighborhood.”
