LH Press Library
Lake Highlands will Act as Test Site for Comprehensive
Plan
Dallas Morning News, by Sarah Post
October 22, 2003
Lake Highlands will be the testing ground for efforts to create a comprehensive land use and economic development plan for the entire city of Dallas.
The Development Services Department, created recently by streamlining city services, will oversee the process, said assistant director Sherell Cockrell.
"We have fulfilled land use analysis requests and small area studies, but we have never looked at an entire district," Ms. Cockrell said.
City Council member Bill Blaydes pushed for the comprehensive zoning plan in his bid for the District 10 seat last spring. He has created a committee made up of civic leaders from Lake Highlands to provide input. The 18-member task force includes representatives from neighborhoods, Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the Dallas Citizens Council, as well as commercial architects, private developers and commercial property owners. Three city planners will lead the group.
"I've tried to get a broad spectrum of people from across the community," Mr. Blaydes said. "We need to look at zoning in District 10 from top to bottom...to determine what we as a community want to see our zoning look like in 10 years."
The task force and its goals were unveiled Monday night to residents by the Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association. The Dallas City Council will be briefed next month.
Residents said they have been impressed with the improvement association's results and are hopeful the new zoning task force will help improve the deteriorating shopping centers that plague Lake Highlands.
Lake Highlands resident Pat Turton said the association showed its strength with recent efforts to keep a sexually oriented business out of North Dallas, but she remains discouraged by the number of apartments and run-down retail centers.
"I have no idea if we can alter the direction our community is heading," she said. "We desperately need to improve the economic conditions here."
Mr. Blaydes said it has been more than 25 years since Dallas examined the zoning in Lake Highlands.
The improvement association, created two years ago to develop and promote an image for the area, has envisioned a master plan for economic development. It has taken an inventory of the area's retail establishments and restaurants and surveyed 650 residents about the types of businesses they want in Lake Highlands.
The survey concluded that despite good occupancy rates, the existing retail does not address the needs of most middle- and upper-income families.
"We are financially capable of supporting a more upscale retail environment," said resident Elizabeth Collins, who attended the meeting Monday.
She and other residents blame the proliferation of apartments for attracting an overabundance of service businesses, such as laundries, check cashers and nail salons.
Data from the 2000 census show that only about one-third of Lake Highlands residents are homeowners. Even so, Advocate magazine puts the average annual household income in the neighborhood at more than $100,000.
"Retailers come in, and they get the wrong impression of Lake Highlands," said Susan Morgan, a committee member with the improvement association who will serve on the task force.
Mr. Blaydes said the retail survey would be helpful to planners, but much more work is needed because of the multifaceted zoning categories. He said residents throughout the community will have several opportunities to participate in public hearings at a local town hall meeting or before the Plan Commission or City Council. Dates have not be set.
"My goal is to make this an example for every district in Dallas," Mr. Blaydes said. "There's not a district in Dallas, with the exception of maybe two [in Far North Dallas], that doesn't have just as much rebuilding to do as we do."
Mr. Albert said he'd continue to take steps to protect his business and his employees. He'll only make deliveries to certain apartment complexes during daylight hours. He'll sometimes offer discounts if customers come to pick up their orders. And he has one rule for his employees: "If you don't feel safe, you don't have to deliver it."
Reprinted with permission of The Dallas Morning News.
We're always looking for volunteers!
Find out how you can help out LHAIA!
