;-)
Posted on 01/26/2007 8:23:45 PM PST by Entrepreneur
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A group of boy scouts attended the Thursday Flower Mound Town Council meeting. The scouts attended the meeting for a merit badge, but what they got was an education in politics.
During the heated meeting, Mayor Jody Smith cautioned the audience to maintain decorum. Much of the audience in attendance was there to protest the Shops at Market Street Project.
The Council voted 4-1 to deny an amendment to the Master Plan redefining the Master Plan...
(Excerpt) Read more at planostar.com ...
Market Street, which was slated to come into Flower Mound is the ideal development. It is a unique type of grocery store (more of a experiential gourmet market than a Safeway) and ranked as one of the state's top employers. Everyone I know was excited to get Market Street.
Turns out that Market Street threated the "urban forest," whatever that is. This is prairie. The "cross timbers" oaks are scrubby, cruddy little trees that are hardly worth note (i.e., big weedy trees with acorns). The "urban forest" site of Market Street was a vacant lot with some scrubby trees, trash from high school kids' discarded beer cans, etc. It's an eyesore. It's got a convenience store to the left, strip center to the right, and department store across the street (all built before the envirocommies got control). This is 10 miles north of one of DFW Airport's runways. It is not Yosemite.
Info about the project is below...
http://www.worldtalkradio.com/show/382/resource/JCBUnlimited6x21_0119(2).pdf
Info about Market Street is below...
http://www.unitedtexas.com/our_stores/video/ColleyvilleTour.wmv
The impact of this is beyond what the idiots on the council imagine. For example, though I live in Flower Mound, my company is located one town over. It's a rapidly growing, job generating, taxpaying internet company that any community would want. Yet, my own town does not. So, the jobs and taxes will move the next town.
What applies at the local level, also applies in the world community. If we let the luddite commie wackos oppose economic growth under the guise of phony tree preservation or phony carbon reduction efforts, the growth will move to locales where it's welcomed.
Companies like mine will relocate to Aruba or the Cook Islands or somewhere with fewer taxes, less prairie, more beaches, and no Sarbanes Oxley.
Neohippies SUCK!
;-)
30+" diameter trees? Mere toothpicks. Bulldoze and pave it all. Concrete is beautiful.
/s/
Shhhh, you didn't hear it from me, but a copper nail discretely hammered into the root will take care of those trees for ya....
Doesn't sound like a very accurate description of a 31" diameter tree.
"Companies like mine will relocate to Aruba or the Cook Islands or somewhere with fewer taxes, less prairie, more beaches, and no Sarbanes Oxley."
This sounds like the exact opposite of where you want to relocate. You would be happier in a place with block after block of concrete buildings and parking lots.
What's wrong with that?
texping
Couple of matches ought to help that urban forest.
Our town is like that too. The next town over has welcomed a movie theater, restaurants, condos and nice new businesses. They are thriving, great tax base, good schools.
Our community here puts up a stink even if a drive-through bagel shop wants to come in, hollered loudly (and spent $300K on a lawyer to fight) a nicely designed school in the foothills because it was 'Little Mouse' habitat (our cat loves the little mice) and a wildlife corridor. The school decided to put in HOMES on the hillside instead, hahah. Now they are trying to fight that. Still no tax revenue to pay all the lawyers they are hiring and fighting. I call it 'The Town that Time Forgot.'
We also belong to the local big city unified school district, much to our detriment. But no tax base to have our own schools. It is just disgusting.
Didn't about 70% of the "Peoples Republic of Flower Mound" vote for President Bush in the last election?
Flower Mound is overwhelmingly conservative and Republican. But...
A few years ago the development outpaced infrastructure. In nearby Plano, TX for example, the roads precede the houses. In Flower Mound, there was no preparation so the congestion was awful. In just one example, the water contacts were about to be insufficient for the town's needs. The town was facing some significant tax hikes to pay to catch up the infrastructure with the population.
For many, the worst aspect was the town's P&Z routinely rubber stamped any development that came along. A nice neighborhood of upper income homes finds apartments going in next door. Nothing against apartments, but they weren't supposed to be there and the property values of the neighborhood next to the apartments gets affected.
So... this strange coalition of anti-tax types and tree-huggers voted out the town council, replacing them with their picks, stopped handing out building permits until a new master plan could be developed (about a year delay), and generally did a reasonable job running the town. The anti-tax types stopped paying attention and went back to living their lives. When there was a minor scandal, all but one of the council were swept out of office.
The coalition is now comprised of activist, connected tree huggers. The new council seems to fear them.
Flower Mound has a population of 60,000. Two thirds are eligible voters. A big election turnout is 2,500 voters. A small group of motivated tree huggers can control the town because the rest of us spend time with our jobs and kids. You've seen a similar result nationally when the left is motivated and the right doesn't vote. It's called "Madame Speaker."
The Market Street project is typical. This isn't like the time the town blocked a K-Mart, but accepted a Target. Market Street builds a couple of stores a year. People from Flower Mound drive 15 to 20 miles to visit the closest.
Okay, we keep shopping at Kroger. So what? Here's the flip side. At the same time the council is blocking attractive development, they're talking about the need for a property tax hike! We get the worst of all worlds, no growth and higher taxes.
To whomever talked about he 31" tree, I don't know where that is, unless they're talking about circumfrance. Fifteen trees are considered "specimen" trees. Of those, 13 were to be preserved.
I can take a picture of the vacant lot if anyone cares. Again, this is not Yosemite. It's not Muir Woods. It's not even the Piney Woods. It's a vacant lot with some trees, located between other developments along a busy road.
Read the pdf link in the original and you'll get the other side. You'll be shocked shocked to learn that the tree huggers misstate and exaggerate.
Okay, if you wonder what the relevance is, think about the property owner. There's another parcel of land, in another part of town, that friends of mine own. A developer wanted to buy it for some purpose and the town blocked it because of this urban forest, that no one knew existed before this year. Heck, this is North Texas prairie. We don't have ANY "forests."
Anyway, my friends cannot sell their property. They can't develop it themselves. They'll go to jail if they cut down or damage their trees on their property. Yet, it's taxable value has esclated 2.5 times in recent years because of development next door on a parcel with fewer trees.
Think this could never happen in your town? Flower Mound voted 70% for Bush!
This seems dangerously close to the unfair takings provision. Now, before you say, "sue 'em," think about how you would act if it was you? Would you be willing to fork out untold amounts to attorneys and embark upon litigation that would last years with the various appeals? Or, would you cut your losses and try to get out as fast as possible, by any means possible?
If you're a developer with a quality project, why bother with the expense and irritation of Flower Mound? Locate five or ten miles away where you'll be welcomed. You'll get the Flower Mound traffic anyway because we'll have no choice. We won't have options locally, so we'll hop in our Lexus, Acura, BMW, and Humvee SUVs and spit out some CO2 to help acclerate the growth of the urban forest we don't recognize, while we drive to neighboring communities.
When the taxes get bad enough, a few people might wake up long enough to bother to vote in a local election and we can get some sanity back.
"Anyway, my friends cannot sell their property. They can't develop it themselves. They'll go to jail if they cut down or damage their trees on their property."
Sounds like a "taking" to me. Your friends need to look at the exaction the city council is exerting on their property. Also check out any arbitrary or capricious demands.
Try looking up Tigard v Dolan where the USSC strictly outlines where, when and how property may be exacted. Personally, I think Dolan is a POS ruling, but it might provide the ammo your friends need to use their property. If nothing else, mentioning Dolan at a city council meeting might be sufficient to scare the eco-fascists to release control of the property to your friends. Be sure to mention - in public - the amount of punitive damages ( in the millions) taxpayers may face if the illegal confiscation of this property continues.
If that doesn't work try demanding your common law rights in your property. You need an attorney well-versed in property law to do this. The right questions must be asked in the correct court.
Type in Hage + property rights to get the scoop on this one. There are a number of Freepers familiar with Hage who can help out.
You might also want to contact the Institute for Justice.
If you need more info, freep-mail me.
I smell greenbacks in your rants. Just what is your financial stake in this project? Full disclosure, please.
You smell nothing. I have no stake other than a desire to keep taxes low. If I did, what would it matter? Right is right. Wrong is wrong.
Of course, this sounds like a tree-hugger response. Think of the global warming debate... "Your research is tainted because you accepted a grant from Exxon, while my money from Teresa Heinz Kerry is clean and pure."
Give me a break.
another "hoa gone bad" ... sigh!
Keeping out a store that will pay real estate taxes and collect sales taxes for the city will keep taxes low?
Please ignore my last post. I misunderstood your position on that issue.
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