Park Cities People (Newspaper) - November 24, 1983, Dallas, Texas Happy Thanksgiving VOL 3 NO 47 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 24 1983 EOPLE 5289380 Anderson praises Park Cities Dallas City Manager says area is an integral part of Dallas urban environment By Susan Albrecht The Park Cities has been called an island suburb because its 69 square miles are completely surrounded by the city of Dallas People ask where were from we answer Dallas Our mail comes addressed to Dallas Its a unique sort of identity crisis that comes from living in a city within a city One person quite aware of this overlap is Dallas City Manager Charles Anderson who points out that although the city of Dallas has no jurisdiction over the Park in one city certainly affect the other zoning and transportation deci sions critically affect the Park Cities because of the proximity says Anderson Building and development codes and ty of city services in Dallas also influence in the Park Cities he says because Park Cities officials often use Dallas stan dards as guidelines So just as an island is affected by the days tide whether it be an ebb or a huge wave thecity of Dallas helps shape our community When one of us Park Cities islanders con tacts Anderson to offer advice or opinions on an issue our address is immaterial Thats one of the special qualities of the Dallas area Anderson observes Most citizens notwithstanding their residency care deeply about the welfare of the area Says Anderson 43 held similar jobs in Kansas Missouri and Colorado That represents a spirit of affection and achieve ment different from other metropolitan areas in the nation These qualities he adds make the Dallas area magical and give it a momentum of progress It would seem the closeness of the two Park Cities to Dallas especially downtown would come with builtin problems But not so says Anderson I think its an advantage to have residen tial neighborhoods so close to downtown he says One of my objectives is to make downtown a activity center where people will live work and go for recreation This closeness translates to importance says Anderson The Park Cities is an integral part of the urban environment because of its location citizens who work shop contribute time and money for Dallas projects But Park Cities is not unique says Anderson explaining that most major cities have similar areas Police and fire service in the Park Cities Dallas border area seem to be without prob lems too says Anderson Anderson his wife Sherril and sons Jeff 16 and Christopher 13 have lived in Dallas approximately three years He came to Dallas in 1980 as Assistant Ci ty Manager and the following year was nam ed to his current position Anderson said Park Cities residents shape Dallas politics mainly through elections in issues rather than candidates He gave the recent Dallas Area Rapid Transit vote as an example saying that leadership and funds within the Park Cities influenced the outcome He also said groups such as Goals for Dallas and Dallas Planning Council have helped the city I think theyre useful said Anderson because they help focus energy efforts and capital to help the city sustain and increase the level of services and capital projects Anderson works closely with University Parks City Manager Leland Nelson and with Highland Parks George Patterson He said he has a great respect for both and also for the residents in the Park Cities Ive been enormously impressed said Anderson with the citizens with whom Ive interacted Southern Methodist Donald PC People Scott Wilson DALLAS CITY MANAGER Charles Anderson says the Park Cities do not pre sent a problem in city planning but rather provide a base of support for accomplishing Dallas longterm goals Shields is another person with whom Ander son works closely Although SMU doesnt receive any funding from the City of Dallas SMU is an increasingly valuable resource for the Dallas area said Anderson and Im personally committed to strengthen that resource But Anderson said he doesnt foresee a move to annex the Park Cities I see no in terest he explained But Dallas would pro be able to give money to the Park Cities to widen Mockingbird and Lovers Lanes if all parties agreed But in the absence that possibility Ander son said he hopes the DART system will help clear up the eastwest traffic congestion To be sure traffic will be the major con cern among city planners of all three cities as the longstanding symbiosis between the Park Cities and big brother Dallas continues to thrive housing ordinances pass Stephens After much committee input and work on amending the height and drainage ordinances the University Park Board of Commissioners passed the respective plans at the Nov 22 morning meeting The amendment to the height or Ordinance is the com missioners response with advise ment from the Environmental Stan dards Committee to heavy citizen protest over large homes be ing constructed next to cottages The new amendments as outlined in last weeks Park Cities People limit the height of the eave line to as little as 21 6 on lots 59 feet in width and no limit save the maximum height limit on lots in the Volk Estates section of Univer sity Park Lots 70 feet or more in width have a maximum eave height of 23 6 in and zoning districts Additionally on Jots 69 feet in width less an square feet shall be permitted on vertical building wall surfaces above the allowable eave line facing an interior side yard a sur face containing a gable or similar surface There will be no limit on lots ex 69 feet in width Roof slopes above the eave limit shall not exceed a pitch 14 feet vertical for every 12 horizontal or will be considered part of the ver tical wall Building appurtenances including balustrades and base not ex 25 square feet can extend up to 39 feet in height Finally the amendments included limiting a story ad dition to just 50 percent of the surface area of the second story University Park citizen Virgil Liptak voiced some concern over what he viewed as the arbitrary nature of the amendments Citizens should have a right to use they see fit Lip tak commented Why not submit these proposals to a referendum to determine the wishes of the citizens UP mayor Joel Williams said the council was responding to many writ ten complaints submitted by citizens on the issues We cant submit every question we handle to a referen dum Williams said Commissioner Don Houseman com pared the amendments as an exten sion to standard zoning restrictions Surprisingly the commissioners also passed amendments to the drain ing ordinance Ordinance regarding drainage standards for building sites Chairman of the Environmental Standards Committee Tie Davis ex these amendments just as he had explained the height amendments The amendments concern the percentage of lots that can be covered by an impervious substance such as concrete The area includes the house structure and all sidewalks patios and sidewalks The amendment affects new con struction and enlargement of building space In lots zoned lots 6000 square feet or less impervious cover can equal 60 percent of the lot or 3600 square feet which ever is greater Lots from 6001 to 7500 square feet are allowed 60 percent lots from 7501 to 10000 square feet can cover 52 percent or 4500 square feet whichever is greater lots from 10001 to 12000 square feet are allowed 48 percent cover or 5200 square feet whichever is greater lots from 12001 to 35000 square feet can cover 40 percent or 5760 square feet whichever is greater those in excess of 35000 square feet are allowed 35 percent cover or 14000 square feet whichever is greater Multifamily dwellings and SFA see UP BOARD on page 9 PC students wax poetic for Thanksgiving PC photo by Phil Stephens JIM DOWER Town Engineer for Highland Park oversees cleanup operations in the final alley paving project for the Town of HP at Beverly and Westway Manning the frontend loader behind Dower is Junior Bac and HP town employee This completes a series of 16 projects started back in 1973 INSIDE Editorials 2 Reid Slaughter gives thanks Al on TV commercials Society 45 A look at the Eye Ball Brother sister Bayoud shine Sports 68 The Scots advance with a 2113 whipping of Richardson Electronics 9 Keying in on the computer craze Neighborhood News 1011 Weddings Society 1213 14 Entertainment 15 Diane Garvin says Testament is a poignant portrayal of nuclear crisis Police Report Crime on rise in HP Homes Classifieds Society Still more party pics 16 17 18 19 Editors Note The following are thoughts and poetry written by Univer sity Park 5th graders from teacher Sally Gordons class The timely topic Thanksgiving We present them unedited as written Oad to a Turkey Turkey Turkey run across the field Poor little turkeys goin to be a meal Farmer Farmer out to get a turkey Going to make the into beef jerkey Kate Williams Thanksgiving is a special time Not just for turkey and wine You give and love and celebrate And I think Thanksgiving is really great The Pilgrims planted crops every day And that is why Im glad to say Thanksgiving is a special time When everyone is sweet and kind Another thought about Thanksgiving Im glad that everybody living You eat and talk and dance And now Thanksgiving is in France The reason for Thanksgiving is A time for sharing and a time to give Thanksgiving is on a special day And I hope it will soon come our way Elizabeth Abbott Each Thanksgiving we thank God for food we eat each day For the clothes wear and shelter We are proud of America and Americas proud of us Diane Banner Thanksgiving is the time of year When people kill lots of turkey and deer People are thankful for what theyve got And they are glad of these country for which theyve fought And that is why Im glad to say Im living in a free country every Day Elizabeth Jones Thanksgiving means thanking God and eating Thanksgiving means than king the Pilgrims for being there Thanksgiving means washing all the means wonder ful and happy memories Angelique McCloud Thanksgiving is a time for giving and for the people living That is why the turkeys are you better watch out You also better not shout or you might scare them away and you wont have any turkey for Thanksgiving Day Meredith Magers My mother always says that since I was born on Nov 26 Thanksgiving is to give thanks for me Thats hardly what the planned on To me thanksgiving is a day set aside by the US to give thanks for the Lord thier country thier freedom Its a time to reflect on how lucky and blessed we are to live in a free country Thanksgiving is a time to think about the pilgrims and the hardships they suffered Think about the Indians who helped them Would you help a person who you had never seen one of thier kind before Would you Thanksgiving is just what it says it is A time to give thanks Jenny ODriscoll Safes tax rebates increase Both University Park and Highland Park showed increases in the amount of city sales tax receipts received for the month of October 1983 University Park brought in for an increase of almost six percent over last year Highland Park got a check for representing an increase of 87 percent State Comptroller Bob Bullock sent city sales tax rebate checks a full week early because many taxpayers paid by the 20th of last all taxpayers will be required to do this month Were sending these checks early because 134000 Texas taxpayers specifically retail merchants paid before the deadline Bullock said This kind of cooperation among taxpayers is helping us avoid new and higher taxes Its obvious this change will help local governments put these tax revenues to work faster in their cities The earlier deadline set by the Legislature will bring in million more for the current state budget without a tax increase 1
