Little Forest Hills Conservation District vote

[MDE]

Homeowners are divided on a proposal that aims to make this community into one of the largest conservation districts in the city.

The area we are talking about is just east of White Rock Lake and bounded by Garland Road.

The battle signs are on every block at the Little Forest Hills neighborhood.

Both sides have been going at it for more than three years and now City Hall is getting ready to settle this fight with a vote on Wednesday.

...some homeowners are putting up a fight.

For Andrew Melsheimer, more building restrictions will drive down property values.

"As I understand, conservation districts are to preserve architectural and cultural things that are significant to the City of Dallas and I'm not sure how funkiness fits into that," he said.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/011109dnmetlittleforest.111663b3.html

I'll be honest with you...I've never been that impressed by Little Forest Hills. Its strengths appear to be proximity to the lake and relatively affordable home prices.

[RobertB]

Excellent timing -- I was just in the neighborhood, which I didn't even know existed until yesterday! I took advantage of a warm winter day to ride my bike from Mesquite to White Rock, and completely by accident found myself in Little Forest Hills, surrounded by signs saying "Keep Little Forest Hills Funky".

It was the sort of neighborhood I'd expect in Austin, not in Dallas. Each house unique, mostly small and friendly. Average lot sizes with small houses, so there is a feeling of space without opulence and pretension. In short, "Funkiness".

But also, vulnerability. The relatively small homes are ideal for the sort of slash-and-burn architecture that has been the hallmark of Dallas real estate. I'm sure you could buy two or three adjacent properties for little-to-nothing in comparison with anything in the Park Cities area, and build the castle that God intended for you to build -- or whatever justification people use for building those ugly cookie-cutter McMansions in the middle of established neighborhoods.

The property owner quoted above, watching his property value plummet and likely kicking himself for not selling six months ago, is full of crap. "Funkiness" is worth preserving, even if it doesn't have a line item on the sales contract.

Oh, and something that the DMN somehow missed: the ratio of signs I saw during my ride was roughly 25 for the district, and 2 against. That doesn't assure victory at the Horseshoe, but it does tell something about how the people who live in the neighborhood actually feel.

[vman]

But also, vulnerability. The relatively small homes are ideal for the sort of slash-and-burn architecture that has been the hallmark of Dallas real estate. I'm sure you could buy two or three adjacent properties for little-to-nothing in comparison with anything in the Park Cities area, and build the castle that God intended for you to build -- or whatever justification people use for building those ugly cookie-cutter McMansions in the middle of established neighborhoods.


Your're so right. Everytime I visit a friend in that area, I've been amazed it has been spared a McMansion invasion. This area needs to be spared the fate of Lower Greenville.