Date: Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: The Ridgewood-Belcher Recreation Center, 6818 Fisher Road at Trammel Drive

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Tuesday, August 24th
6:30 p.m.
Frontiers of Flight Museum
6911 Lemmon Ave.

To review the City Manager’s proposed budget, visit www.dallascityhall.com.

Although I typically don’t like to vote on matters that are briefed the same day, it became clear that another week would not bring greater insight or agreement.

This vote concluded months of discourse on an issue affecting the future of one of Dallas’ largest assets.  As the Wright Amendment is lifted and the city begins to invest more than $1 billion in a new terminal and other airport improvements, it is critical that we make the most of Love Field’s transformation.  That means planning for a terminal that provides the best airport experience for passengers, with a wide range of shops and quality restaurants.  Attracting the best mix of retailers and food and beverage vendors requires an open, transparent, and competitive bid process, and the council accomplished that on Wednesday. 

Is this resolution perfect?  No.  There are some who would argue that there should be no “right of first refusal” option for current concessionaires.  Others would say the current concessionaires deserve a contract extension for space in the new terminal.  But the council’s decision balanced what I believe to be the two most important considerations:  ensuring a great customer experience in the new terminal when it opens as well as in the old terminal during construction. 

Without some incentives to the current concessionaires, the airport might be hard-pressed to find vendors willing to stay in the old terminal space during the construction period, when there will be fewer passengers/customers and a challenging airport configuration.  On the other hand, guaranteeing new terminal space to current concessionaires could reduce the breadth of competitive bidding, a process that provides the greatest likelihood of getting the best vendors for Love Field.

The plan approved yesterday strikes the right balance.  For this reason, I moved to approve this proposal.  It passed with a vote of 11-4.

Thursday, August 12
St. Thomas Aquinas
6306 Kenwood

The proposed budget can be found at www.dallascityhall.com.

Here are some FAQs about the proposal:

What is being proposed for Lower Greenville?
There is an imbalance of businesses on Lower Greenville: too few restaurants, neighborhood pubs, and retailers that are open during the day and evening and too many bars that are open only late at night. While this might not be a problem in a more commercial area, the strip of businesses on Lower Greenville is surrounded by neighborhoods. Nearby residents bear the brunt of the crime, noise, traffic, littering, and other problems that this over-saturation of bars brings to their neighborhood. Moreover, significant taxpayer dollars and city resources are expended to keep the area safe and under control late at night.

The legal processes the city has at its disposal to address this imbalance of businesses is not enough to fix the problem. When the city is successful in auditing a bar and persuading a court to close it down, another bar just takes its place. This piecemeal approach to enforcement is never going to fix Lowest Greenville.

To comprehensively address this problem, Councilmembers Angela Hunt and Pauline Medrano are proposing that Lower Greenville businesses that want to stay open past midnight be required to get a special permit from the city. This “specific use permit” or “SUP” would be required for any business operating after midnight, regardless of the type of business – it would apply equally to bars, restaurants, shoe shops, drycleaners and any other businesses.

The permit can be granted for several years for known businesses that haven’t caused problems, or it can be granted on an annual basis for those businesses that are new, unknown quantities. Or it can be denied for businesses that cause problems weekend after weekend. And even those bad operators won’t have to shut down entirely; they’ll just have to close their doors at midnight. We believe this will bring some balance back to Lowest Greenville and encourage a better quality and mix of businesses.

Are you trying to shut down Lower Greenville at midnight and close all the bars?
No! The goal is simply to bring some balance back to Lower Greenville and reduce the impact of businesses that operate late at night, not close down all bars or eliminate all nightlife.

There are a number of businesses – The Libertine, Winedale Tavern, and Taco Cabana to name a few – that are open past midnight that don’t pose any problem at all and have proven themselves to be good neighbors. These businesses are assets to the surrounding neighborhoods and they won’t have any problems obtaining long-term permits to operate after midnight.

Unfortunately there are other businesses that overburden the surrounding neighborhood by bringing crime, noise, traffic and other problems to our residents. Such businesses may be granted a permit only for a short duration or denied a permit to operate after midnight. But it is important to remember that even if bad operators are denied permits to operate after midnight, they aren’t being closed down – they can still operate until midnight without any special permit.

Why is midnight the cut-off?
The Dallas Police Department has confirmed that most of the problems on Lower Greenville – particularly violent crime, alcohol-related offenses, assaults, crowd control – primarily occur after midnight. While some community leaders suggested an earlier cut-off time, midnight seemed like a good compromise.

What area would be covered by this proposal?
The commercial properties on Lower Greenville between Belmont and Bryan.

What’s the process for creating this new permit requirement?
To require a special permit for businesses open past midnight on Lower Greenville, the city must create a new zoning district for the area – a “Planned Development District” or “PD.” Creating a new Planned Development District requires a hearing in front of the city plan commission where the public can weigh in on the proposal. The plan commission makes a recommendation to the city council, which holds another public hearing and votes on the matter. Once the matter is voted on by the city council, it becomes law.

What is the application process for a specific use permit?
Businesses wanting to operate after midnight would fill out an SUP application and pay a permit fee to the city. Each application is considered on an individual basis by the city plan commission (which holds a public hearing) then a final determination is made by the city council, which holds another public hearing. The permit can be granted for one year or several years, depending on the business and its history.

What criteria is considered in granting or denying a specific use permit?
The city evaluates each SUP application for its probable effect on the adjacent property and the community welfare. Dallas City Code provides the following criteria to analyze requests for specific use permits:

51A-4.219 (3) The city council shall not grant an SUP for a use except upon a finding that the use will:
(A) complement or be compatible with the surrounding uses and community facilities;
(B) contribute to, enhance, or promote the welfare of the area of request and adjacent properties;
(C) not be detrimental to the public health, safety, or general welfare; and
(D) conform in all other respects to all zoning regulations and standards.
(4) The granting of an SUP has no effect on the uses permitted as of right and does not waive the regulations of the underlying zoning district.

What other changes are envisioned for Lower Greenville?
If this permit requirement is implemented, the city councilmembers for the area, Angela Hunt and Pauline Medrano, are committed to helping clean up and beautify Lower Greenville using funds from the city’s next bond program. The effort could include significant streetscape improvements such as street resurfacing; narrowing the street (to match the width north of Belmont); creating wider sidewalks; planting street trees; installing antique lighting with matching trash bins and benches; and improved pedestrian crosswalks.

I’m back! I have returned from maternity leave and attended my first City Council meeting last week. We’ve got a lot coming up on the agenda, not the least of which is a very challenging city budget and the Love Field concessions contract.  More on these and other issues in the coming weeks.

BABY
Audrey Belle is doing great, though sleep has been hard to come by. THANK YOU to everyone who has sent us so many well-wishes!

BIKE PLAN
The city is updating its quarter-century old bike plan, and Councilmember Sheffie Kadane and I are co-chairing the committee overseeing the revamp. We held our first public meeting about the plan last week, and the turnout was amazing. The council chambers were overflowing as the bike plan consultant presented dozens of options for bicycle infrastructure.

I had met the lead consultant, Peter Lagerwey of Toole Design Group, last year when he was getting close to retiring as the bicycle program director for Seattle, where he oversaw the successful planning and implementation of their bike plan.

What impressed me most about Peter’s presentation last week was that he didn’t come to the first public meeting with an almost-finished bike plan for Dallas – one that the masses would be permitted to slightly tweak around the edges, allowing him to claim public input in a process rigged from the start. I’ve seen that type of Kabuki theater play out too often in government-sponsored projects where public input is supposedly invited but in reality given short shrift.

And apparently Peter has, too, since by way of contrast, he asked the audience if they’d ever been to meetings where they felt like the plan had already been written ahead of time ( lots of hands went up, including mine). Peter explained he wasn’t there to offer a plan at this point, but to show different infrastructure types that could be considered for our bike plan, and then get feedback from the public.  He was very clear that this bike plan will be built from the ground up, with a focus on providing Dallasites with an infrastructure that meets our needs.

If you couldn’t be at the meeting last week, you’re in luck: Patrick Kennedy from Pegasus News was there and did an excellent summary. As he points out, the biggest challenge is whether the city will actually change our car-centered culture or just talk a good game. It’s fine to laud the concept of complete streets, but what happens when that means reducing car lanes to expand bicycle paths and the pedestrian realm? Do policy-makers and city staff have the courage to follow through?

Patrick hits the nail on the head when he warns self-congratulatory city leaders, “[L]et’s not count our chickens before the[y're] hatched. Will [policymakers] stand up to transpo or DOT when they shrilly scream, ‘OMG, we won’t hit level of service A if you remove that lane of traffic! We have arbitrary formulas that prove it!!!!’”

Policymakers and city staff will only be persuaded to create real complete streets with real bicycle infrastructure in Dallas (and not a failed, faux version) if they (1) learn how other cities have successfully made the transition from car-centric streets to ones that are bike- and ped-friendly, (2) understand how important complete streets are to our city’s future economic development (attacting the “creative class” and thus the companies that want to hire them), and (3) hear the public express a real interest in redefining our city to make it more liveable.   On the last point, if a progressive bike plan and complete streets are important to you, please attend the next public meeting and make your voice heard (when we have a date, I’ll post it).

In the meantime, you can give your input via the Dallas Bike Plan website, which includes an interactive map and questionnaire (Peter’s presentation will be posted soon).  And check out another great meeting recap by Daniel Rodrigue over at Unfair Park.

AWARDS
I was humbled to have received two awards right before I went on leave.  First, Dallas Voice readers selected me as Dallas’ “Best City Council Person” for the third year in a row.  Second, the League of Women Voters of Dallas honored me with the Virginia Macdonald Leadership Award, which is “given to a League member who has exhibited courage in working for change and who inspired leadership in others.” 

Thank you so much to both Dallas Voice readers and Dallas’ League of Women Voters!  I am deeply honored to have received these awards and will do my very best to continue to earn your support.

Just saw this info on the Advocate’s Lakewood/East Dallas Blog that the “Big D Marathon” will take place this Sunday, April 11 from 8am – 3pm.  Most of the course is in East Dallas, so it’ll affect our streets.  You can see a map of the course on the “Big D Texas Marathon” website.

Well, no, actually the park debate (by which I assume the DMN means the referendum to remove the toll road from the floodway) did not slow, even by a day, improvements to our levee system or lack thereof.  But let’s set that aside for a bit.

Perhaps the more important question is:  Is the fact that critical levee improvements have been hijacked by the Trinity Toll Road actually news to anyone who’s been following this issue?

Let me take you back over a year ago, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers informed the city that our levees were rated “unacceptable” under the new federal standards.   The day after that announcement, the council voted to fund a study to determine the extent of the failures and plan for remediation.  It was crystal clear then (and frankly, before then) that the city’s insistence on intertwining the levee improvements with the toll road had slowed flood control improvements for years.  Take a look at the council meeting beginning at 01:59 where I point out that the mayor and council’s fixation on placing the toll road within the floodway has hopelessly intertwined the toll road with the levee improvements, thus grinding critical flood control measures to a halt.  That were it not for the toll road’s interminable delays, we could move forward on much-needed levee improvements.

That’s not news over a year later.  What’s news is that the mayor, city council, and city manager still refuse to acknowledge this reality and sever the two projects.  We can move forward on our levee improvements if we have the political will to put the safety of our residents ahead of this toll road.

In his article, Lindenberger states without attribution or explanation, “[I]n 2007, council member Angela Hunt led a referendum aimed at preventing a toll road from being built within the levees, citing worries about costs and impact on the parks. Things came to a halt again.”

Absolutely not true.  Take a look at 02:27.  No one at the city, NTTA or Corps ever stated that the referendum was slowing down their ”progress” (or lack thereof) on flood control matters.  To the contrary; city staff was adamant that the project was proceeding full-speed ahead, despite the referendum.

So I challenge Michael Lindenberger to back up his statement that the referendum delayed much-needed levee improvements by even one day.  What particular aspect of the levee project “came to a halt”?  At what point did flood control plans halt due to the referendum and later resume and who made those decisions?  What evidence exists to support this unsubstantiated claim?

Aside from this clearly erroneous assertion, there is no news in this article.  The city has known for decades that our levees are in critical condition.  The mayor, council, and city manager have known for years that by interlocking the toll road with levee improvements we are irresponsibly and interminably delaying flood control safety.

Recently, city staff estimated that bringing our levees up to federal standards will cost somewhere in the range of $50 to $150 million.  Right now, $46 million remains of the 1998 bond funds allocated to the toll road.

What will be news is when the mayor and council decide to actually put flood control safety first and not just talk about it – when the city finally decides to cut its losses on the failed, unfunded, and unapproved toll road and shift that $46 million to critically-needed levee improvements.  That will be news.

This is a joint effort of Deputy Police Chiefs Vincent Golbeck, Julian Bernal and Tom Lawrence, neighborhood residents, special events office, code enforcement, sanitation, parking enforcement, event sponsors, myself, and others. Note that these events are privately sponsored and are not endorsed by the City of Dallas. Check for updated info at www.dallascityhall.com.

Here is a link to a flyer that has all this info as well as a map of the Lower Greenville parking restrictions.

BULKY TRASH
In response to my request to ensure as much bulky trash as possible is picked up before the Lower Greenville festivities, I received this response from Mary Nix, Director of Sanitation at the City:

Although our brush/bulk crews are straining to get back on their regular schedule – as the snow storm debris collection is a massive undertaking – we recognize the need to address the Greeneville neighborhood’s immediate need.

We’ve sent several rotoboom trucks to collect storm debris (starting earlier this week) – and are making sure they’ll cover the area for several blocks to both the east and west of Greenville from Ross Avenue to Southwestern.  They’ll go additional blocks as time allows.  We’ll do our best not to inadvertently collect the temporary “No Parking” signs as we go!

PARADE
Time: 11:00 a.m.— 2:30 p.m., from Blackwell to Yale.

Police: 150 police for traffic and crowd control plus 15 Supervisors (All police paid by sponsors).
Traffic: Southbound Greenville Ave. closes at 9:00 a.m.; other streets close at 10:00 a.m. Streets will reopen when police decide it’s safe. Officers will direct traffic at Greenville at Mockingbird, and on both sides of Central service road from Blackwell to Mockingbird.

Trash: The parade sponsor has hired additional clean-up crews. The parade route must be cleaned up by 4:00 p.m. If not, Code Enforcement will issue tickets. There will be 100 portalets.

SPECIAL EVENT PARTY
Time: 10:00 a.m.—6:00 p.m. on Greenville Ave. between Vanderbilt and Vickery. Streets close 9:00 a.m.—7:00 p.m. Street sales of alcohol end at 5:30 p.m. or earlier if Deputy Chief Golbeck deems necessary.

Police: 9:00 a.m.– 7:00 p.m.—48 officers at event site and 36 officers conducting neighborhood patrols. 7:00 p.m.-3:00 a.m.—24 officers along Greenville north of Belmont and 18 officers patrolling the neighborhood (all paid by sponsor). Additional on-duty patrol throughout the day and evening.
Shuttles: Shuttle from Mockingbird Station to Lee Elementary. No alcohol or coolers allowed on shuttles. Two DART officers will be at Station to monitor.

Alcohol: No alcohol may be brought into event. Police DWI squad will patrol and arrest for DWI. This will be a ―No Refusal‖ weekend where blood will be drawn. Large ―Don’t Drink and Drive‖ signs will be posted. Taxi stands will be on Greenville.

Other: Party is 21+ only—IDs will be strictly enforced. City Fire Inspectors will monitor max. crowd size in event and buildings. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission will also patrol. ―Respect Our Neighborhood‖ signs will be posted. More trashcans. Code officers will patrol 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. to cite violators for parking in yards, noise, etc.

Parking: Please refer to www.cepatrolcrimewatch.org for a map of the parking restrictions. Temporary ―No Parking ― areas have been expanded. On streets with Resident Parking Only (RPO), those with the appropriate RPO placards will be allowed to park any time. Five tow trucks will be queued to tow according to the following priority: blocked intersections, blocked driveways, no parking zones. Parking enforcement officers will be towing/writing tickets from 9:00 a.m.—2:00 a.m.

AFTER THE PARTY
After the St. Patrick’s Day party, party-goers usually go to the bars on Lower Greenville. Officers and other city personnel will be in this area to protect the neighborhood.

Police: There will be 36 on duty officers south of Belmont from 7:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.

Parking: Temporary ―No parking‖ signs will be installed in neighborhoods. On streets with Resident Parking Only (RPO), those with the appropriate RPO placards will be allowed to park any time.Parking Enforcement until 2:00 a.m.

Other: Code Enforcement will be patrolling until 2:00 a.m.

TO REPORT VIOLATIONS/PROBLEMS
Call 911 for police, parking, code, etc. problems. From 9:00 a.m.-2:00 a.m., police dispatchers will be instructed to forward all calls related to St. Patrick’s Day in Lower Greenville to the police command post at Lee Elementary. If you do not get a response or need additional help, call me on my cell phone at (214) 907-4600.  Along with other city personnel, I will be working and available all day and night to limit the impact on our neighborhoods.

The worst area on Lemmon is between the toll road and Inwood, which has tons of terrible potholes, one after another, which have been exacerbated by recent weather. (It’s not that it’s smooth as silk elsewhere; it’s just particularly bad on this section.)

Crews are working on filling literally hundreds of potholes on Lemmon, and they anticipate it’ll take a week or longer to finish. I’ll be monitoring.