CTroyMathis
12-28-2002, 02:43 PM
Lewisville: Neighbors find Old Town project obtrusive
Officials say sacrifices necessary for medical plaza, future additions
12/27/2002
By LESLEY TÉLLEZ / The Dallas Morning News
Residents on Lewisville's Richland Street say they'd like to see Old Town revitalized – as long as it doesn't intrude on their neighborhood.
They say that's their biggest problem with a $16 million, five-story medical office plaza to be constructed on Main Street. Accompanying it is a proposed two-level parking garage on Richland.
City officials are sympathetic but say neighborhood encroachment could happen again. Old Town is gearing up for a massive makeover in coming years, they say. And a little intrusion is the price to pay.
"There are people who are concerned about the impact that it's going to have on them," said Scott Ingalls, the city's Old Town planner. "It's just one of those things, that in order to rebuild this area and to bring more business and people over there, there are going to be some neighborhoods that are going to be impacted. And there is some potential for some neighborhoods to completely disappear."
Officials recently changed the zoning on the south side of Richland Street from single-family residential to Old Town Corridor. The medical plaza will be the first project on Old Town Corridor zoning, city officials said. The zoning designation was created last year, and no other Old Town Corridor projects are currently scheduled.
Mr. Ingalls said a five-story building would probably be the exception and not the rule in Old Town's redevelopment.
But Richland Street resident John Alcoze, who will live right behind the proposed medical building, said the plaza will effectively cut his street in half.
He said it's a close-knit neighborhood in which the residents are either grandparents or parents of small children.
Additionally, he said, the medical building will be 25 feet behind his property line.
"You're really breaking up a really strong family neighborhood with what's about to happen," Mr. Alcoze, 59, said at a recent council meeting,
City officials said they decided to cut the zoning down the center of the street because it provided more of a buffer to residents on the north side. Residents on the south side who didn't sell their homes to the developer, such as Mr. Alcoze, could move at some point, said Gene Lewis, the city's planning and community services manager.
"Ultimately, we're not looking for what's gong to happen in the next 12 months. We're looking for what's going to happen in the next 25 years," Mr. Lewis said. Eventually, he added, "Someone on the north side [of Richland Street] who looks out on the south side won't see houses across the street from them."
The plaza, expected to be completed in spring 2004, is related to the continued expansion of the Medical Center of Lewisville, on the south side of Main Street. The new building would be the largest revitalization project to hit Old Town since the hospital was built more than 20 years ago.
About a month ago, city staff proposed the creation of two new Old Town zoning districts: mixed-use one, which would allow residential structures, and mixed-use two, which would permit commercial and residential buildings.
Both would cut through neighborhoods in some areas.
That's what concerns Frank Vaughan, who says he lives a few blocks from Richland Street.
"If it's going to happen here," he said, "it'll happen on our street."
Lewisville council member Greg Tierney – who's also president of the Old Town Preservation Society, which aims to preserve the city's historic areas – says he thinks the redevelopment is a great idea, despite it cutting a stable neighborhood in half.
He urged people to think more long-term.
"The only way Old Town is going to be revitalized is with significant reinvestment," Mr. Tierney said. "The city is not going to be able to do it themselves. The private sector is going to have to make significant investments into Old Town."
Mr. Lewis said city officials realize that changing the city's oldest neighborhood will be tough.
"It's not an easy thing, and it's impacting people's lives. It's impacting people's neighborhoods," he said. "They want improvement in Old Town. They want investment in Old Town. And you can't have those things without having change."
Officials say sacrifices necessary for medical plaza, future additions
12/27/2002
By LESLEY TÉLLEZ / The Dallas Morning News
Residents on Lewisville's Richland Street say they'd like to see Old Town revitalized – as long as it doesn't intrude on their neighborhood.
They say that's their biggest problem with a $16 million, five-story medical office plaza to be constructed on Main Street. Accompanying it is a proposed two-level parking garage on Richland.
City officials are sympathetic but say neighborhood encroachment could happen again. Old Town is gearing up for a massive makeover in coming years, they say. And a little intrusion is the price to pay.
"There are people who are concerned about the impact that it's going to have on them," said Scott Ingalls, the city's Old Town planner. "It's just one of those things, that in order to rebuild this area and to bring more business and people over there, there are going to be some neighborhoods that are going to be impacted. And there is some potential for some neighborhoods to completely disappear."
Officials recently changed the zoning on the south side of Richland Street from single-family residential to Old Town Corridor. The medical plaza will be the first project on Old Town Corridor zoning, city officials said. The zoning designation was created last year, and no other Old Town Corridor projects are currently scheduled.
Mr. Ingalls said a five-story building would probably be the exception and not the rule in Old Town's redevelopment.
But Richland Street resident John Alcoze, who will live right behind the proposed medical building, said the plaza will effectively cut his street in half.
He said it's a close-knit neighborhood in which the residents are either grandparents or parents of small children.
Additionally, he said, the medical building will be 25 feet behind his property line.
"You're really breaking up a really strong family neighborhood with what's about to happen," Mr. Alcoze, 59, said at a recent council meeting,
City officials said they decided to cut the zoning down the center of the street because it provided more of a buffer to residents on the north side. Residents on the south side who didn't sell their homes to the developer, such as Mr. Alcoze, could move at some point, said Gene Lewis, the city's planning and community services manager.
"Ultimately, we're not looking for what's gong to happen in the next 12 months. We're looking for what's going to happen in the next 25 years," Mr. Lewis said. Eventually, he added, "Someone on the north side [of Richland Street] who looks out on the south side won't see houses across the street from them."
The plaza, expected to be completed in spring 2004, is related to the continued expansion of the Medical Center of Lewisville, on the south side of Main Street. The new building would be the largest revitalization project to hit Old Town since the hospital was built more than 20 years ago.
About a month ago, city staff proposed the creation of two new Old Town zoning districts: mixed-use one, which would allow residential structures, and mixed-use two, which would permit commercial and residential buildings.
Both would cut through neighborhoods in some areas.
That's what concerns Frank Vaughan, who says he lives a few blocks from Richland Street.
"If it's going to happen here," he said, "it'll happen on our street."
Lewisville council member Greg Tierney – who's also president of the Old Town Preservation Society, which aims to preserve the city's historic areas – says he thinks the redevelopment is a great idea, despite it cutting a stable neighborhood in half.
He urged people to think more long-term.
"The only way Old Town is going to be revitalized is with significant reinvestment," Mr. Tierney said. "The city is not going to be able to do it themselves. The private sector is going to have to make significant investments into Old Town."
Mr. Lewis said city officials realize that changing the city's oldest neighborhood will be tough.
"It's not an easy thing, and it's impacting people's lives. It's impacting people's neighborhoods," he said. "They want improvement in Old Town. They want investment in Old Town. And you can't have those things without having change."