Flower Mound Town Council denied the proposed names for two parks located at the Oakbridge Crossing development and the Whyburn Addition development by a vote of 3-2 at its council meeting on Monday.
The 2.5-acre park tract within the Oakbridge Crossing residential development, located on Aberdeen Drive, was given the proposed title of “Oakbridge Park.”
Parks Board representative Craig Goodhart said the board decided on the name because of its geographical location. They believed it would be convenient for residents to know where the park is without having to look for directions.
Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem Adam Schiestel said he believes the board can do better, challenging them to come up with a name that might better suit the location based on geographical features rather than just the location within a residential development.
“In this case, it appears we have a neighborhood called Oakbridge, another called Oakbridge Crossing and the park would be named Oakbridge,” he said. “That makes me question whether this is a private park or a town park, so I think I would like some distinction there.”
Schiestel was also concerned about the familiarity of the public with the location of Oakbridge.
“I think it makes more sense if you’re a member of Oakbridge neighborhood because I don’t know if I would know where Oakbridge is if it wasn’t for this item,” he said.
Whyburn Park
The 3.5-acre park tract at the Whyburn Addition development, located within 28 acres at the corner of FM 2499/Long Prairie Road and Waketon Road, was proposed to be “Whyburn Park.”
While it goes along with the Town’s ordinance for park naming, as it is named after a landowner in Flower Mound, Schiestel said he thinks naming a park after a family name should be held to a higher standard than a family that just sold their land to a developer.
“If the Whyburn family has an agreement with David Weekly to name the neighborhood that and that’s their family legacy, I’m in favor of that,” said Schiestel. “But the Whyburn family didn’t donate above and beyond the land to make that their legacy, so I think we have an opportunity to go a different direction.”
Martin said she would like to see the park named after the Whyburn Farm, which maintains the family name, but focuses on the historical aspect of the land instead of just the family.
“I think it would be cool if it were Whyburn Farms, which is not a person, but a place,” she said. “Because it is named after their family, who was the original property owner.”
Looking for clarity
Flower Mound’s Director of Parks & Recreation Chuck Jennings worried sending the naming back to the Parks Board could lead to a lack of clarity on future decisions.
“If that’s what you guys, as a body, want to do and bring it back to the parks board, as clear direction as we can get would be better,” he said. “Because I don’t want them to come back with another name and say that one isn’t working, either.”
Mayor Pro-Tem Ann Martin advocated for the Parks Board and the subcommittee’s naming decisions.
“We’ve delegated the authority of naming parks to this subcommittee, so I don’t want to micromanage that,” she said. “And, this council has given direction to the parks board to encourage more pocket parks, so there may be more and they would be difficult to name if we didn’t have the sense of place that anchors that park to that small community.”
Mayor Cheryl Moore said naming a park after a nearby community would be less confusing for residents than other alternatives.
“I’m looking to give the subcommittee under Dr. Goodhart a little more guidance and let them have another stab at it,” said Schiestel.
Council members Chris Drew, Janvier Werner and Schiestel voted to deny the names and send them back to the Parks Board. Council member Brian Taylor and Martin both voted to accept the names.
