Item 6B, 6C and 6D 6,6 I b
From: "Sue Johnson"
Date: Mar 3, 2014 9:44 PM
Subject: Remington Estates
To: "mayor @ci.southlake.tx.us" <mayor @ci.southlake.tx.us>
Cc:
Dear Mr. Terrell,
I am writing to urge you to vote AGAINST the proposed rezoning from Low Density Residential to Medium
Density as proposed in agenda items 6 B, C and D (below) of the Southlake City Council agenda for March 4, 2014
meeting.
My husband and I decided to become residents of the Shady Lane neighborhood because it is a low density
neighborhood with a variety of home types and not a standard planned development. We looked at the current land
use plan as well as the Southlake 2030 plan prior to making the decision to purchase our home to verify that the
neighborhood character would not be changed by over development. We are very concerned that allowing a change
to the type of density proposed by the developer for Remington Estates will have a negative impact on the Shady
Lane neighborhood -- and will set a precedence that will allow similar changes to other large lots in the
neighborhood.
Before you vote on this issue, I ask that you take the time to drive down Shady Lane and through the neighborhood
to understand the unique character of the neighborhood. I believe this will give you a better understanding of why a
planned development with the density being requested is so incongruous with the existing neighborhood.
I would also like to address a few statements that the developer made when presenting the Remington Estates plan at
the P &Z meetings. The developer stated that his plan solved the `access problem' for these parcels of land. While
this is true, I fail to understand why it is necessary to increase the density in order to solve the access
problems. Surely, the access could work just as well with 1 acre lots as the current use plan dictates. In addition,
the developer stated that this development will have a minimal impact on traffic on Shady Lane because the new
neighborhood would be accessed almost exclusively from the 114 access road onto Shady Lane. He said that when
coming from the west the residents would go down the 114 access road to 1709 and circle back onto the westbound
114 access road. As the vast majority of the residents of the Shady Lane neighborhood will tell you, this is most
decidedly NOT how the neighborhood is accessed when coming from the west. The predominant traffic pattern is to
turn north onto Kimball Avenue and then to travel back down Shady Lane. While the distance may be nearly the
same, there is no turn- around lane at the 1709 intersection and the traffic backs up significantly requiring waiting
through multiple light cycles.
The residents of the Shady Lane neighborhood counted on the land use plan and the Southlake 2030 plan when
deciding where to live. In my opinion, increasing the profits of a developer is not a good enough reason for the city
to break faith with the existing residents of the Shady Lane neighborhood.
Thank you for considering our opinions on this matter.
Susan S. Johnson
839 Simmons Court
Southlake, TX 76092