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Todd Bensman 1
Todd Bensman 2
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06/01/06 Cypress Waters
is a Money Loser for Dallas Taxpayers.
No one enjoys saying "told you so" more than me.
So, I'm reminding you that you read it here first on DallasArena.com.
See
Greedy? Or, Evil?
Billingsley's wage war on area communities.;
Billingsley's have
their nerve, but Coppell has it right!;
Goliaths vs Little Guys
- Coppell ain't Dallas or Ft. Worth;
Common Sense
is needed, but Nonsense prevails in Dallas.
It's actually better for Dallas taxpayers if the City
of Coppell and Coppell ISD prevail against Lucy and Henry Billingsley.
It's going to cost us millions more than any tax revenue we might see
from the development. We will
have to build a fire station over there and possibly a police substation
because there's nothing in the area close enough to get to all those
apartments in a hurry.
from
Billingsley's have
their nerve, but Coppell has it right! (03/27/06) |
Am I prophetic, or what?
Oh, you may not have watched CBS-11 tonight, and don't have a clue what I'm
crowing about. Here's Jack Fink's fabulous expos? Read it and weep.
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Coppell And Dallas At Odds Over New Development
Jack Fink reporting
May 31, 2006 |
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(CBS 11 News) Controversy over a
proposed north Texas development is heating up again. Dallas officials say
the development would be good for the city, but City of Coppell officials
say it would hurt their residents and schools.
Five lawsuits have already been filed
on the proposed residential, commercial, and retail development and a sixth
suit could be on the way.
At the center of it,
an internal City of Dallas report that says Dallas
would lose money on the proposed development.
For months, the proposed Cypress
Waters Development, at Beltline Road and Northlake, has been at the center
of a nasty legal fight between Coppell ISD, and the cities of Coppell and
Dallas.
Now, a report
from last December by Dallas' own economic development team, obtained by
Coppell through an open records request, could be used as a weapon against
Dallas.
?We have contemplated, and are
contemplating very strongly, filing some legal action,? said Jim Witt,
Coppell City Manager.
The report
found that if the nearly 10,500 residential units are built as proposed by
developers, the City of Dallas would lose between $62 and nearly $88 million
dollars over 20 years.
The report says
most of the losses would come from the city having to
build and staff a combined police and fire station.
The city would have to do that
because, while the development site was annexed by Dallas long ago it's
still four miles away from city limits.
The cities of Irving and Coppell
surround the annexed land. Officials with the City of Coppell are worried
that the potential 30,000 new residents, over a 20 year period, will cause
nightmares for area roads and schools.
?Before you create this impact on us,
is it a positive cash flow for you like you?re
asserting at the planning commission meeting and the city council meeting?
That?s a question they have to answer and I think the report answers that,?
Witt said.
Dallas City Councilman Ron Natinsky
says he hadn't seen the report until CBS 11 News showed it to him. He calls
it a work product; just a scenario the city was considering.
?There?s no way, that I can imagine,
the city?s going to sign off on a development agreement that puts the city
in arrears," he said.
Natinsky says if approved by
Dallas, the proposed development would be a windfall to the City of Coppell
and Coppell schools. The Coppell City Manager says that isn?t the case,
since most of the proposed retail stores are in Irving.
A spokeswoman for the developer, Lucy
Billingsley, declined comment.
Before any building can start, the
developer and city must agree on a development plan. |
Can you believe it?
Without seeing the city's own audit and before ace reporter Jack Fink's report,
DallasArena.com said Cypress Waters would be a drain on Dallas taxpayers because
at the least we would have to build a fire station over there since it was too
far from any existing DFD facility to protect the area. Now we know, even
the city knew we will have to build a new joint police substation/fire station
over there.
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City offering opinions on others' land
By ERIC AASEN / The
Dallas Morning News
Monday, January 2, 2006 |
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... Dallas gave the company the go-ahead to
request denser zoning so that it could generate enough
tax revenue to provide Cypress Waters with utility and public safety
services. ... |
Our city council relied on city
staff recommendations and Billingsley projections to buy into the idea that
Cypress Waters would generate enough tax revenue to pay for the infrastructure
and city services it would necessitate the City of Dallas furnish. You
certainly can't blame the City of Coppell and the Coppell ISD from saying
"Thanks, but No Thanks" in a very litigious way.
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Dallas suits say Coppell
attempting 'land grab';
Officials say suburb is seeking acreage to stop
North Lake project
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
By EMILY RAMSHAW and ERIC AASEN / The
Dallas Morning News |
... Dallas officials say Coppell is attempting an
unlawful "land grab" that would damage Dallas' tax base.
Ms. Billingsley has estimated that the city will
receive nearly $33 million in tax revenues in the first 10 years
after the Cypress Waters project is completed, according to the lawsuits.
"Autonomous and sovereign cities have
a right to develop their city as they see appropriate," Dallas Assistant
City Manager Ryan Evans said. "We never have,
nor do we now, intend to hurt our relationships with our suburban cities.
But it's still Dallas. And it's our right to develop it."
... |
Lying Ryan Evans certainly
saw the city audit saying Cypress Waters would cost Dallas taxpayers up to
$88 million over 20 years, because he's the Assistant City Manager who heads
up Economic Development. It was his department that came up with the
audit report that Jack Fink has exposed. How can it be appropriate to
allow a development that is going to cost Dallas taxpayers $88 million.
Even if Lucy Billingsley's promised $33 million in tax revenue from her too
dense project over 10 years is accurate (and you know that it will not be),
Joe Taxpayer is out $55 million so a Park Cities federal felon and his wife
can add to their very large holdings.
I'm sick of seeing the stuff regular people in Dallas need and use neglected
because all of our tax dollars are being spent on projects to enrich or
entertain Park Cities residents.
That $55 million our council wants to spend subsidizing Lucy and her federal
felon husband could be better spent at Fair Park, or our other parks, or our
recreation centers -- or better still at our Zoo. |
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06/02/06
Cliff Reed:
I don't know if
you were watching the actions of the city council many years ago when
Trammel's front man
went
to the council about the city selling the old Ty Cobb stadium at Oak
Lawn and Stemmons,
but I was.
I will never forget the pitch
--
something like this:
We want to buy this land to create a great
complex. It will consist of high rise
apartments
(not
condos),
restaurants, shopping.
AND,
we
are
in negation with (forgot the name,
but highly recognizable in New York theater world) to build a first
class theater for Broadway shows, legit theater, etc."
At the time,
I was very excited to think such a venue would come to Dallas.
Well, guess what. After the City handed Crow the land, he built
his
Glass Pile of crap. So much for the Crow family and their credibility. |
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Don't forget Ryan Evans was part of the team that delivered $6.2 million in
tax abatements to that Son of a Bigamist Ray Hunt!
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I am gleeful that I instinctively knew Cypress Waters would necessitate at
least a new fire station, but I am furious that our city council supported
this project in the first place. They either didn't know about the
city's own audit of the cost of the project, or they disregarded the
information. From Jack Fink's interview with Councilman Ron Natinsky,
it appeared the councilman was not aware of the audit report. Even
with the information from Asst. City Manager Evans' own departmental audit,
Councilman Natinsky was defensive and stubbornly supportive of Cypress
Waters. |
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06/01/06 Chip
Northrup:
Good call. Cesspool Waters
Report's conclusions makes sense,
since the fire station and police station would have to be built and
staffed up front - in anticipation of increased tax revenue.
Otherwise every thief, burglar
and arsonist in Cesspool Waters would have a 4+ mile head start on DPD
and DFD.
If the absorption rate of the
apartments stalls, the new fire/police
station would be Fort Apache out there. |
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If I had been in his shoes, I would have been mad at Evans for allowing the
council to be blindsided. If the audit report was not shared with the
council or the Plan Commission before their respective votes on the Cypress
Waters zoning case, Lying Evans should be fired. It is more troubling
if the P&Z and the council members were privy to the audit report before
they voted on the project. If they knew of the $88 million potential
cost to Dallas taxpayers and approved it anyway, they are not looking out
for our interests.
Nobody but Lucy and Henry Billingsley will benefit from Cypress Waters.
If developed as planned, it will hurt the City of Irving, the City of
Coppell, the Coppell ISD and Dallas taxpayers worse of all.
How does this play with City Hall's so-called Southern Sector agenda?
Taking $55 million out of the city budget over 20 years ($3 million a year)
is a big hunk of money that could be better spent INSIDE our city limits.
Cypress Gardens is a soaker that is going to drain our municipal resources.
sb
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