Housing: The Density Dilemma

I'm opposed to the excessive development of multifamily rental properties that has changed the character of the city over the past decade. I'm even more opposed to the "bait and switch" game that some developers have played on city staff and councils. 

I am not anti-apartment.

• I'm anti-proliferation of high-density development in areas that don't have adequate infrastructure to support it. 
• I'm anti-traffic gridlock that comes with adding large numbers of additional people with cars when the roads aren't adequate to hold them. 
• I'm anti-increased crime that often accompanies high density rental housing when there aren't adequate law enforcement resources to address it.
• I'm anti-safety risks that result from cost-cutting on the part of developers, which can overburden our fire department and harm our citizens.

That was then, this is now

When I moved to Rowlett in 2004, it was a bedroom community. There were a couple of small apartment buildings, but the majority of housing was single-family subdivisions. 

That created a dilemma. We had young people who wanted to move out of their parents' homes but in our city. They couldn't afford the down payments and mortgages associated with home ownership and weren't necessarily ready to make that long-term commitment. We had older people whose kids were gone and who wanted to downsize and live a lower-maintenance lifestyle but stay in Rowlett. We had nowhere for them to go. 

It made sense for past councils to approve some apartment projects. Multifamily makes sense in certain areas, when done properly and without encroaching on existing single-family neighborhoods. In too many cases, however, what we got were uninspired buildings that took up some of the city's most valuable real estate.

And they just kept on coming. The multifamily projects that have begun construction in the past three years were approved prior to the election of any of the current members of the council. Once approved, we can't "unapprove" them. We can, however, control what happens in the future. 

Multifamily projects now require a Special Use Permit, which means each such project has to come before the council and can't build apartments "by right" in zoning where multifamily is allowed. 

I have voted against every apartment proposal that has come before the council since I was elected in 2022, because I believe enough is enough. 

What about mixed use? It looks good on paper: pedestrian friendly, live-work-play developments that combine apartment or condo units with retail and office spaces. I've seen some lovely examples in other cities. But somehow, it never has worked out well in Rowlett.

What's supposed to be mixed use more often than not ends up as nothing but apartments with one or two "retail spaces" that remain vacant. 

Rowlett residents have trust issues when it comes to multifamily and mixed-use zoning, and I understand why.

The Signature Gateway Debacle

Back in 2012, city planners and consultants painted pretty pictures to sell nearby neighbors on the concept of Signature Gateway, which was to be a beautiful mixed-use development with retail shops and restaurants on the ground floors, office buildings above, and residences above that. We were promised a dog park, amphitheater, and a water taxi. Concept photos showed soaring glass high-rise towers with canals traversed by boats floating past waterfront outdoor dining venues. You can view the video here. 

     What we got was something very different.

In that same video, then-City Manager Lynda Humble assured residents that rezoning the land at the entry to our city from the south off PGBT wouldn't result in the typical "sea of apartments" that our citizens feared. The video displays a complex of three-story traditional apartments and shows Humble saying, "When we talk about multifamily, this is not what we're referring to." 

Ironically, what sits on that site now is an ocean of gray apartments that stretch on and on and look not too different from the ones Ms. Humble was adamantly not referring to. They're billed as luxury units and from what I've seen, the interiors are nice enough, but it's nothing at all like what we, the people, were promised:

That was a different administration and a different city council, and I have no doubt that council had every intention of bringing an amazing "gateway" to our city. What happened? 

The council turned over, city management changed, staff members left and new ones came in, developers didn't buy into the dream, and we settled for something very different from the original vision. 

Going Forward

I don't want to settle anymore. I believe we can activate the Rowlett "can do" spirit - as we did in the wake of the 2015 tornado - and build a better community with a planned and balanced approach to leveraging the highest and best use of the small amount of undeveloped land we have left.

And I believe there are higher and better uses, at this point, than multifamily rental properties.

The photo at the top of this page was taken from my hotel room in Barcelona. That city is at the bottom of the top ten list of European cities by population density. I don't want Rowlett to ever look like that. 

Pol Adv. paid for by Deb Shinder Campaign