The final vote for a critical zoning request will be taken this Tuesday night March 20, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at Arlington, TX City Hall.
As you may recall, that zoning request change for Overcoming Faith Drill Site had been removed from the consent agenda on March 6th. That was a wise move, motioned by Councilman Robert Shepard, and seconded by another male council member. We were very pleased because that was, in fact, a controversial item.
We pray that this zoning request gets voted down on March 20th because:
- A drill site does not fit into the original vision for the Tierra Verde overlay, which was intended to be environmentally sustainable, memorable for its village-like atmosphere and rural character. Even Jim Parajon, Planning and Development Director, stated this fact during the February 21st public hearing.
- Two strong opposers: Our champion, Councilwoman Sheri Capehart; and the Children's Psychiatrist of Sundance Hospital who represents doctors and many patients. [The City Secretary told us that - according to Planning & Development - the doctors' opposition letter does not meet the criteria for a petition. We believe, however, in the spirit of fairness, that the letter be considered acceptable - especially since they were kept out of the loop during the entire planning process and only found out days before the hearing.] Was this intentional?
- The two main entities in favor of the drill site are: 1) The operator, Edge Resources; and 2) The Pastor of Overcoming Faith Christian Center. And did we mention that one petition in favor was signed by the COO of Sundance who is supposedly not authorized to make such decisions?
- And finally, agenda details indicate that Edge sent out notice about this zoning change to neighborhood groups throughout Arlington. To date, we cannot find evidence that one of these groups ever received this notice. Hmmm.
