Where is the River?

Last year at this time we were in full swing of our effort to curb the plans of the town as they tried to muscle the road plans at full speed. Our efforts were mainly to get the word out to our residents and to convince them that the real need was to change the face of our town government.

As we all know the focal point of the need for the road was the much heralded addition to our town called "The Riverwalk". The plan was for a hospital, 400 apartment units, retail, mixed use offices, and a "River".

Right now, we know we have a beautiful hospital about to open and by most account’s a true state of the art facility. Something we can all be proud of. The next phase of the project will be an apartment complex with about several hundred units, of which 85 percent have to be larger than 700 square feet. The size and the variance of these units will be a matter of discussion at this week’s town council meeting. Beyond that, there have been some major changes in this project that from this point on I will call "The Riverless Walk".

The original developer of the "RLW", Flower Mound's own Cole McDowell, due to his own financial difficulties has parceled off the land into five separate pieces. None of the potential property owners are obligated or can afford the amenities promised by McDowell, "The River". As you all remember, the amenity, "The River" was the trigger that would have started the clock on the phase two of the road expansion project, in which McDowell would have had to have ponied up an additional 2.2 million dollars towards the road project. The other 5 developers WILL NOT provide that funding, Hence, no "River", no traffic, no road.

It is essential that we change the face of our town government. If the current regime retains its power and majority, Those 5 other parcels of land will fall in the hands of APARTMENT developers and the 400 units will turn in to 1000 plus units, and a hospital. No River, LOTS of traffic, but still no 2.2 million dollars for the road expansion.

If in May, Tom Hayden retains the support of Al Filidoro and adds the support of Steve Lyda and a new Mayor, Melissa Northern, they can be counted on to enforce SmartGrowth, not give free reign to out of town developers to build apartments on this property. They will be looking to support commercial options more favorable to our community than apartments, such as turning that acreage into a productive, profitable, inflation-proof option of a major medical complex to compliment the hospital and attract high paying jobs to our town. Maybe we can re-brand the project, "The River of Life". No River, No Road.