Lowest Greenville Zoning Ordinance Meeting - Tonight

Tonight at 7PM there will be a public meeting regarding the proposed Lowest Greenville zoning ordinance. This ordinance, in a nutshell, will require most all businesses to get approval for a Specific Use Permit from the City Plan Commission (of which I am Vice Chair) and City Council to stay open after midnight.

The meeting will take place at Vickery Towers - this is the mid-rise building at Belmont at Greenville across from the Post Office and the Shell Station (map).

I encourage you to come out and listen to what is being proposed. I support any neighborhood that is trying to get a handle or certain issues, but I am taking a wait-and-see approach with respect to this one. Keep in mind that most of the commissioners haven't received the actual language of the proposed ordinance directly from city staff.

Question on Wet-Dry

While I haven't made up my mind regarding the wet-dry election. I do have a question.

The whole time during the signature-gathering petition phase and now, we have been told of the insatiable demand for alcohol by Dallas residents and how it's a pain to drive to other neighborhoods for liquor when your neighborhood is dry.

To the right is a picture of the former Majestic Liquor store located just north of Greenville and Walnut Hill. This store sits 2 blocks south of the wet/dry line.

The store was renovated (and proudly displayed on Majestic's website) in 2006 to the tune of about $800,000.  A month ago, Majestic's parent company (which includes the Red Coleman's chain of stores) filed for bankruptcy and this store was closed in the past couple of weeks.

Here's the question: if there is so much uncaptured revenue with respect to liquor sales in Dallas, with supposed reports of affluent city residents having to drive miles to buy liquor, why was this store closed? If they're picking and choosing which ones stay open, wouldn't you keep the one open that's right near the wet/dry line and surrounded by affluent neighborhoods?

More Questionable Decisions from Head of Dallas Housing Authority

UPDATE:  Apparently my comments are being e-mailed with a header that says I am calling "to remove DHA leadership." I am not calling for anyone's firing. My post speaks for itself.

I woke up to this headline on DMN's Oak Cliff blog:

"Housing authority delays decision on West Dallas water sports project"

This headline refers to the Dallas Watersports Complex planned for Fish Trap Lake in West Dallas (which is owned by the Dallas Housing Authority). It would have created over 200 jobs and other opportunities for youth from lower-income households in the community. It would also take a forgotten lake in a struggling part of Dallas and helped to transform the area.  Wakeboarding is just catching on here but is huge in other parts of the country and around the world.

To me, this delay is both disappointing and baffling.

This group has spent over $800,000, and from what I understand ordered millions of dollars in equipment. They did all the right things, engaged the community, and got unanimous approval at both the City Plan Commission and City Council level. They had major national events lined up for this site. And now, she wants to wait until winter of 2010 or spring 2011 JUST to make a decision.

I truly think the competency of the head of the DHA has to be questioned at this point. These are the kind of decisions that make people not want to invest in our City, because certain officials don't know when to push well-planned, well-funded projects and get out of the way and yet hold up the ones with issues that need to be worked out.  On the other hand, the complete botching of the community relations surrounding the supportive housing plan in North Oak Cliff was pushed at all costs by the same entity. Ponder that for a moment.

I would also love to find out who this "coalition of West Dallas non-profits" is that is trying to derail the project.  They had zero reservations as this project took months to move through City Plan Commission and City Council. Also, the lake was stagnant for decades.  When the only push back is "the neighborhood doesn't want it," such an argument doesn't hold water because the lake is a city asset (not the asset of a given neighborhood) and we are not talking about an onerous use.

These type of decisions are the ones that keep West Dallas stagnant and stuck in another decade, despite the hard work of City officials, volunteers, and determined community members.