The battle over the Disney Streets in Northwest Dallas -- pitting those who want the neighborhood to become a conservation district against those vehemently against it -- has been going on for more than a year now, with the "No" Conservation District signs taking deep root in some homeowners' front lawns. In recent days, the brawl has spilled into Royal Lane -- that sign you see here sits at the Royal-Pinocchio Drive intersection. Hadn't seen it till a few days ago; the missus says I'm not terribly observant. Nonetheless, the Disney Streets Conservation Committee July 27 update, forwarded to Unfair Park last night and available after the jump, singles them out: "These signs are (and have been) premature."
City Plan Commissioner Robert Ekblad, who likes to remind that he's lived "within a mile of the Marsh-Walnut Hill intersection" since the 1940s, says the fight's "getting nasty" -- and this is well before it's slated to go on the commission's agenda. Matter of fact, Ekblad says, he's not sure when it'll come up.
"And I don't know how it'll play out," he tells Unfair Park. "But I don't think it'll pass." Then he says again, "It's not very friendly."
Which is plainly evident from a Disney Streets Conservation Committee update sent out earlier this week. Notes the "Yes" side's president, Chip Bensing, "I have heard that those of us who generally support a CD are not being sensitive to the right of each resident to have his or her own opinion. The reality, however, is that one of the primary goals of the Disney Street Conservation Committee ('DSCC') is not to stifle opinions but rather to ensure that opinions can be formed based on factual data." (I've left a few messages for the Say No faction.)
There have already been several meetings about the formation of a conservation distict -- which is less restrictive than a historic district -- but there's another one scheduled on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Midway Hills Christian Church, 11001 Midway Road.
