LH Press Library
Neighborhood Groups Urging Court to Set Rules for Complex
Lake Highlands: Apartments resisting intervention in lawsuit
The Dallas Morning News, by Wendy Hundley
October 8, 2005
Two Lake Highlands advocacy groups don't want to sit back and watch a City of Dallas lawsuit against an apartment complex with a long list of code violations.
They want to take an active role in the case.
"We want to make sure the problems are fixed on a long-term basis," said Stephen Wakefield, president of the Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association. "A lot of the neighbors are pretty fed up."
The improvement group, along with the Highland Meadows Neighborhood Association, last month filed a "plea to intervene" in the city's lawsuit against Newport Landing Apartments, in the 10000 block of Walnut Hill Lane.
The associations maintain in court documents that the 185-unit apartment complex is a private and public nuisance, an eyesore, a source of crime and a contributor to reduced property values in the area.
Dallas attorney Arthur Selander, who represents Cornerstone Newport Apartments Limited Partnership, could not be reached for comment.
He has filed a motion to prevent the groups from intervening in the case. The motion states that the groups are not proper parties to the lawsuit and that their intervention would complicate the issues and delay the Oct. 25 trial date.
In the motion to intervene, the Lake Highlands groups are asking the court to require identification of the apartment complex owners, implement a curfew for tenants and adopt rules that require eviction for noise, drug use, loitering, littering and other illegal or disruptive activities.
"These are just ideas that I think the court could do," said Mr. Wakefield, an attorney.
Judge Charles Stokes of the 68th District Court has not ruled on the intervention issue.
Dallas Assistant City Attorney Jennifer Richie declined to discuss the litigation but said individuals sometimes intervene in municipal lawsuits.
"I cannot recall a neighborhood group intervening," Ms. Richie said. "Neighbors feel strongly about code issues and may intervene in lawsuits to protect their interests."
The city's lawsuit states that Newport Landing has failed to correct numerous violations dating to January 2004. The citations include:
- Having an open sewage line.
- Failure to maintain heating equipment to have a minimum temperature of 68 degrees in all apartments during winter months.
- Failure to maintain balcony railings.
- Failure to keep areas free from insects, rodents and garbage.
- Failure to provide and maintain fire alarms in all units.
While the advocacy groups' requests are designed to make the complex a better Lake Highlands neighbor, Mr. Wakefield said they also could improve the lives of tenants.
"We want to create an internal crime committee so residents can voice their concerns and patrol inside the complex," he said.
Mr. Wakefield called the groups' actions "an experiment" to try to find a way to make apartments more accountable to the community.
"As a neighborhood organization, it's going to be important for us to hold some of these property owners responsible," he said. "We're hopeful that we can achieve some sort of resolution that will result in long-term, sustained improvement in the physical appearance and management."
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