Over the last few years, it’s become obvious our town council is failing to plan for Flower Mound’s future in any meaningful way.
People may roll their eyes at the “planning” discussion but a town needs funds to be able to provide services, infrastructure, and a safe environment. For Flower Mound, the main source of those funds are sales and property taxes. Planning for new sources of these taxes and maintaining our existing sources is essential so Flower Mound can build a safe and inviting environment that attracts and keeps residents and good businesses.
It has become commonplace for this Council to deny development applications with no discussion on the impact on Flower Mound’s future or to waste tax dollars on unplanned for ill thought-out purchases. Here are some examples that I’ve observed recently in public meetings. It is concerning to think of what Flower Mound has lost in discussions that occur only in closed session.
Wager Road: Due to the shenanigans of our town council, a low-density development was denied on a 24-acre property that abuts an elementary school on the east side of Flower Mound. This land, owned by the school district, now has the potential of being a bus yard for over 150 plus buses a day. These buses will be going in and out of a residential area twice a day, using two lane residential streets. Due to the denial of planned homes, the town’s residents will be forced to deal daily with bus traffic and we lose future tax revenue of approximately $175,000 a year.
Timber Creek Property: The former LISD administration property was purchased from the school district. No one on council seemed to know a large part of the property is in a flood zone or it was in the middle of a high density neighborhood that would severely restrict its use. Only AFTER the property was purchased did the Council ask for a study to determine if an Arts Center could be built on this property. Of course the answer is no. Additionally, the town had to spend additional tax dollars has taking down two of the buildings and we’re still saddled with a large, ancient, probably asbestos filled, building on the site. This debacle has wasted millions left us with nothing except a potential liability.
One last example: the Ewing property off 377 and 1171. Regardless of whether you believe the warehouses should have been approved or not, a discussion of the importance of this property to Town’s future should have occurred. What did happen is it appears decisions were made during closed session to zone the property for uses that are already planned for hundreds of undeveloped acres in and around Canyon Falls.
There was no explanation of why Council thinks this property will have any better luck developing those uses. There was certainly no thought about how $2 million in tax revenue will be replaced or a discussion about the infrastructure the project would have built and paid for including four water lines, two major roads and a traffic light. This infrastructure is needed to support the continued growth of the area and serve Argyle High School’s continued expansion and new stadium.
The town will now have to foot this bill of at least $5 million plus the cost of purchasing acres of land from the Ewings. The land will need to be purchased before the water lines and roads can be built. Given the Council’s poor handling of the situation, that is certain to be a long and costly endeavor. This failure to plan has left Flower Mound short of needed future revenue and inadequate infrastructure in western Flower Mound.
This failure to adequately plan needs to stop now. On Council, I will work to make sure this long-neglected planning is started now with input from ALL of Flower Mound. By putting Community First and planning properly, issues like I’ve noted will not mar Flower Mound’s bright future.
Carol Kyer
Candidate for Flower Mound Town Council, Place 1
Flower Mound, TX
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