Word comes from the great neighborhood reporters at the Preston Hollow Advocate that Transwestern has decided to slim down the scale of its proposed apartment development at Preston Road and Northwest Highway from eight stories to six, shrinking the complex’s size from 296 to 225 units.
For neighbors and members of the Preston Hollow East Homeowners Association, that’s a good start. Still, neighbors feel the complex, planned for the northeast corner of the intersection just across the street from Ebby’s Little White House, will add an unbearable amount of traffic to an already congested area.
According to the story from the Advocate, the property’s current zoning allows for just 130 units. Right now there are 24 apartments and 12 condos on the site of the proposed development. So the re-zoning proposal would still add more than six times the existing units. That could mean a lot more traffic in the area, something to which neighbors are vigorously opposed.
“Traffic is the big concern,” PHEHA president Ashley Parks said in the Advocate story. The PHEHA petition has almost 1,050 signatures as of this morning (almost double the amount since our last report), and residents are planning a rally on Saturday at 2:22 p.m. at Preston Hollow Park.
So, do you think Transwestern’s revised re-zoning plan goes far enough to protect the neighborhood from excess traffic? Or are nearby residents blowing the whole thing out of proportion?
I think the residents are blowing things way out of proportion. Both Northwest highway and Preston RD. have a lot of traffic already. How much difference would 200 additional cars make.
Remember talk of a tunnel thru Highland Park under Mockingbird back in 2000? Maybe they should tunnel under NW Hwy from Northpark over to Midway to help easy the traffic around Preston and NW Hwy.
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Hang on. 225 proposed units compared to an existing 36 units… that's an additional 189 units. At 2 cars per unit, that's an additional 378 cars. Presume 2 in-and-outs per day, per car. That's another 1,152 car trips per day – on top of what's already there. Then add in the staff required to run a place of this scale: management, cleaning, maintenance, delivery, etc. Then add in caregivers, visitors, etc. Then think about emergency service vehicles: fire trucks and ambulances. Where are they going to go while the MOVING TRUCKS are lined up to shuffle the tenants in and out? Think about it. If a tenant moves in/out once every couple of years, that's 112 moves per year, or 9.375 moves per months. Wait a minute – one tenant moves out, and another moves in. So double that – 18.75 moves per month. That's a moving van out in front – somewhere, in a place that no one seems to be able to specify – more than once every other day of the month. When your neighbor on Bandera or Averill Way is experiencing a fire or a medical emergency, how is that ambulance or fire truck going to get around that Atlas Van Lines moving van? Say your prayers….
I beg someone to show me the logic in this or any other rezoning proposal, regardless of its size. I beg someone to show me a petition of over 1,000 names, such as the affected neighborhood has already presented, in support of any project contemplating any increase in height or density above that currently allowed under the existing MF1 zoning. I beg our elected and appointed representatives on the City Council and the City Plan Commission to listen to their constituents. Listen to the people who elected and appointed you, and do the right thing: tell this developer – and any other party contemplating a higher-density use – to take their business elsewhere.
Every time a Great Development comes along in Dallas, all the Boo Birds & NIMBYS come out if the woodworks. I SAY BUILD IT 12 STORIES TALL & LET'S HAVE SOME TAX BASE & PROGRESS!!
It's STILL too BIG! Also, the RENTAL aspect is troubling.
Rob Wheelock, on the comments here, has an idea Ive wondered about for years.
We NEED a reliever route for east-west traffic and a tunnel, with train/subway, is the best solution.
It would of course be toll fee, to off-set costs.
Having a train under east Highland Park sure hasn’t hurt them!
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