I believe in Flower Mound and love to hear what newcomers have to say about what drew them to our town from my wife, a Flower Mound-based real estate agent who every day helps families buy and sell homes.
For many families, their largest asset is their home and this puts maintenance and enhancement of home values near the top of their list of what’s important in a town.
A unique factor that enhances Flower Mound’s home values, and protects the quality of life of our residents, is that Flower Mound has made a thorough, in-depth plan for the future growth of our Town, The Flower Mound Master Plan. This Master Plan, by virtue of its SMARTGrowth program, makes sure that every new development is carefully planned, and that adequate schools, roads, and Town services are in place before any new project is approved and started.
With the economy now showing signs of taking a turn for the better there is opportunity to attract quality development to our community but making changes to zoning just to attract “any” development is not good for our Town. Increasing residential density above the guidelines in the Master Plan, such as in the case of mixed use developments with high residential components, puts the burden on our taxpayers of new roads, schools, and town services – and all for the sole purpose of supporting residential development on land that was not master planned for that use in the first place.
Commissioner Jeff Whittaker, in his work on the Flower Mound Planning and Zoning Commission, has been a leader in protecting the Town from these types of poorly planned urban developments. Jeff brings to the Council real experience in identifying quality development, as in his past career he served as a Controller for a large commercial real estate developer in Florida. Jeff has what we need – broad experience, in-depth knowledge of the issues, commitment to see things through, and the courage to stand up for Flower Mound no matter what.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Tom Hayden has also gone to great lengths to help improve the development process while maintaining Flower Mound’s unique identity by consistently voting in support of our Master Plan. We should all appreciate that Tom is running for re-election – he has proven himself to be an exemplary member of Council.
I applaud these two gentlemen for the work they have done for our community, and am honored to join them as a candidate in this year’s Town Council election.
The new majority elected to Town Council in 2010, together with Councilmember Tom Hayden, has with great forethought looked to position Flower Mound for economic recovery by pursuing quality commercial and retail development that is consistent with the Master Plan, good for our tax base, and supportive of our citizens’ desires to keep Flower Mound a great place to work, live, and play.
There are towns that have put out a blanket “Open for Business” sign to the development community only to see their town dotted with abandoned strip malls and their valuable tax-producing commercial space replaced by high density apartments. I prefer to believe that our sign says “Open for Quality Business.” It is incumbent on the citizens of Flower Mound to elect leaders who they trust to welcome good development into our community without compromising the ideals of the Master Plan and SMARTGrowth.
I ask for your vote, as well as votes for Jeff Whittaker and Tom Hayden, for Town Council on May 14th.
Mark Wise
Flower Mound, TX
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