[Owlhorn]

Might this open the flood gates for something developers have wanted forever?

Mid-rise at White Rock Lake OK’d
Revised plan calls for 7-story senior living center and $5 million art center

March 4, 2005
By J.D. Sparks/Lake Highlands People

Citing urban renewal trends and conservation concerns, city planning commissioners last week voted to approve amended development plans for a senior citizen independent-living and art center at the site of CC. Young Memorial Home on West Lawther Drive.

“Developers have only two ways to go — up and down,” commissioner Bill “Bulldog’ Cunningham said. “Everybody is moving back in, closer to work. People can still enjoy the lake, even if it’s surrounded by skyscrapers.”

“This plan ... is a wonderful proposal for our community. It benefits our neighborhood in so many ways” said Ken Durand, president of C.C. Young.

The commission’s 14-0 decision dealt a blow to neighborhood activists who said the issue would be picked up again in the upcoming City Council elections.

“I and my neighbors value neighborhoods with houses and parks, whereas Commissioner Cunningham values highways and freeways,” said James Costello, a member of the Peninsula Neighborhood Association.

Representatives from the Cloisters, Peninsula, and Lakewood neighborhood associations vehemently opposed the development, saying that it would obstruct the skyline around White Rock Lake and the surrounding park.

Mr. Costello said high-rise buildings are eyesores that bring more people, and there fore more traffic congestion, to the area.

Original plans for the pro posed development at 4829 West Lawther Drive called for an eight-story building with a maximum of 240 units.

While city staff supported the developer’s request to add a new independent living center to the site, including a $5.5 million arts center and a park, planners opposed zoning changes that would allow the developer to build an eight-story structure.

According to a staff report, the zoning changes “were not compatible” with the surrounding development - and land use and “would set a precedent that could open the area to the visual intrusion of high-rise buildings.”

But Mr. Cunningham said urban renewal projects that include building mid- and high-rise buildings closer to city centers and on water fronts is a way to make cities viable while conserving time, energy, and natural resources.

After vocal protest from neighborhood associations, the developer amended the plans to seven stories and stair-stepped buildings in order to afford greater privacy to surrounding residences.

Mr. Durand said the new mid-rise building would have about 100 to 110 units and would not increase the number of people living there.

“We did the best we could to meet the needs and concerns of neighbors:’ he said. “I can see no good reason why this plan wouldn’t be approved by the City Council.”

But opponents say the fight isn’t over yet.

“Frankly, I think this will be an issue in the upcoming City Council election:’ he said.
Councilman Gary Griffith, who appoints the commissioner in his district, is up for re-election in May.

A date for the City Council hearing has not yet been set.