Who is "LANC"?

I received the following comment from a concerned Dallas resident (I assume),

"Anyone with a genuine interest inseeing the LANC area improve should question the intent of Mr. Allegro.He is at best a gadfly and at worstan accomplished purveyor of half truths and self serving inuendo.He would be comic if he were not so ill intended.He represents himself as a major real estate investor while the actuality seems to be that he tends to a family trust. If he seeks to insinuate himself into your group please be cautious. Yourfuture is worth the time it takes to investigate this man."

And then I read the following comment on Trey Garrison's post about the halted Fairfield Residential Development Plan,

"How did the opposition group to this development (the Lovers Amesbury Neighborhood Coalition) manage to leverage so much power? The two ring-leaders (Norma Minnis and John Allegro) live on the far side of White Rock Lake… 4 TO 6 MILES AWAY from the proposed development. What dog do they have in this hunt and why does Angela Hunt even bother giving them the time of day?

One thing that I’m really starting to get tired of is these fake, astro-turf “Neighborhood” action committees that, more often than not, are actually something else entirely. If organizations like the LANC have legitimate concerns, why do they have to masquerade as something they are not?"

I know Norma Minnis personally and plan on asking her about this. And I assume John Allegro is the East Dallas Realtor whose office is right behind Cantina Laredo off Abrams. I know his wife Mary so I eventually plan on discussing this matter with her as well. My concern is that Norma Minnis (I can't speak about John personally since I've never met him) is a great person and as far as I can tell a well respected person in the real estate industry. But I'm not sure she and one other local Realtor weilds this much power. I can see how someone like Neil Emmons would be able to sway Angela Hunt's vote seeing as he is the first line of defense on the City Planning and Zoning committee. But to give an organization like LANC so much power seems that we might be overlooking the true source that is halting development in East Dallas.

If LANC truly holds this much power then they owe East Dallas a HUGE explanation for their actions. And while I appreciate folks calling people to the carpet, I can help but feel like I'm missing something here.

Last Thoughts on Whole Foods: Part Deux

I'm confused. I've always been told Whole Foods' decision not to build a new structure was due to the difficulties they've had with Dallas' lovely planning and zoning folks. Scott Simons of Whole Foods sent me an email that included this explanation.

"...this decision was a business decision that came down to timing. After we had “sat” on that building for an entire year (much longer than we had hoped) to get our game-plan together and navigate the unique landlord situation and zoning, we simply cannot afford to sit on it for six more months to a year to gain the zoning amendment for the new construction."

Understandable and exactly what we all though. Then comes news by way of Angela Hunt's blog that says,

"I spoke with Whole Foods' Seth Stutzman two days before they publicly announced their decision, and he explained that after they got into the zoning case, they did a cost comparison of building a new store versus redoing the old Minyards store. They were shocked to see that the redo would cost $4.5M less than a new store. It would also allow for a more environmentally-friendly store."

So which is it? Someone isn't telling the complete truth. Mrs. Hunt goes on to say,

"I just want to make sure our inclusive zoning process is not blamed for a business decision."

To which I ask, if your "inclusive zoning process wasn't as onerous as you say it is then what happened to the Andres brothers and the development at Lovers and Amesbury? But the Wachovia Bank on Abrams popped up within a year's time. So what's really going on? Let's face it. We'll never know.

My Last Thoughts on the Whole Foods Debaucle

Robert Wilonksi over at Unfair Park posted a great piece about how East Dallas continues to screw itself over by listening to just a few neighborhood voices and scraps yet another great development - in addition to Whole Foods - before the area residents even had a clue about what was going on. And that's the way those anti-development yahoo's want to keep it.

I was at my neighborhood meeting a month or so ago where I went to learn about the Whole Foods plan and how it was progressing. There was a man and a woman who were very clearly against WF building a new structure. I found this a little odd and the man even made a few tacky comments to the WF execs. Most of us there were obviously not as informed as this man and this woman and they sounded like they knew what they were talking about so WF must be doing something wrong, right? I mean these people are residents of our neighborhood, right? They know what's best for us.

Turns out the man's was Neil Emmons, city planning commissioner for parts of East Dallas including the area WF wants to build on. The lady was Virginia McAlester who I hear is a neighborhood busybody who gives a hard time to every developer in East Dallas. As it turns out, neither person is a resident of Abrams-Brookside neighborhood for which the meeting was meant for. So why were they there and why were they allowed to speak out so vehemently against WF? I mean, Mr. Emmons cut off the WF execs multiple times and actually got up out of his chair and stood in the center of the room! This doesn't allow the residents to make up their own minds and I have a problem with that.

So East Dallas has denied Whole Foods and the Andres brothers' mixed use development on Henderson and Neil Emmons claims the residents have spoken. I take issue with this. The DMN article a few days ago stated,

"...'All's well that ends well,' said Anita Childress, spokeswoman for the eight surrounding neighborhood associations."

As one of those residents I would like to say I've never met this lady and she certainly does NOT speak for me - and never will.

By allowing people like Neil Emmons and Virginia McAlester to attend neighborhood meetings in which they do not reside, the WF project was dead before it even left the ground. What other purpose would Mrs. McAlester (who lives on Swiss Ave.) have to attend MY neighborhood meeting other than to try and sway innocent and uneducated residents?

And where was Angela Hunt and Sheffie Kadane in all this? What was their stance on the issue? Why should someone like Neil Emmons have so much say in the WF plans? He said his job is to convey the area's message back to the City Council which is obviously a lie. Does he have a degree in architecture, building and development?

You can probably feel my frustration but I'm happy to know I'm not the only one. Check out the comments on this blog post on Frontburner. I especially like this one that sums it up quite nicely.

"We’ve lost a once in a generation opportunity, because of a few individuals inability to think outside the box."

People like Neil Emmons and Virginia McAlester and those who support them should be ashamed of themselves. Furthermore, I challenge Angela Hunt and Sheffie Kadane to step in and acknowledge that the resident's voices are not being heard.

Lakewood Whole Foods Caves to Handful of Naysayers

While the majority of residents remain clueless and will never know what was to be. Read other blogs posts about the matter here and here. Whole Foods had designed a gorgeous building that would have been attractive from all corners of Richmond, Gaston and Abrams. But as of 2/14/08 they have decided to renovate the old Minyard building whose backside has been a disgrace to the neighborhood for many years. But I guess the crotchety Lakewood residents who killed this deal before it ever left the ground know better than the reknowned architects WF chose to design this wonderful building. To put it plainly, this was Lakewood's one and only shot at having a true crown jewel. And I live within walking distance of the site so I certainly have a strong opinion on the matter.

One day I hope to get permission to reveal the actual plans they drew up for the space. They are simply stunning and would have spruced up Lakewood exponentially. Now I know why people scoot over to the Park Cities or Preston Hollow once they can afford it.

This reminds me of when I was in graduate school at UNT in 2001. This was the year the football team went 0-5 then turned the season around and ended up in a bowl game for the first time in 45 years (or something like that). During the 0-5 time the student body voted AGAINST raising tuition to support a new football stadium. I taught some Kinesiology classes and asked the students what they thought of this. UNT is known for their musical prowess so many weren't surprised, but one student spoke out against the raise in tuition and our conversation went something like this.

Me: "Aren't you on a full music scholarship?"

Her: "Yes"

Me: "So then what do you care about a tuition raise to benefit a new football stadium if you're not technically paying for it?"

Her: "????????"

So what's my point? Stupidity wins over logic and practicality more often than not. And Lakewood has a few stupid residents like my former student and is a loser because of this stupidity.