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Podcast #7: Former Mayor Ithiel Worden

We continue our series of interviews with Cedar Hill’s former Mayors. In this edition, we visit with Ithiel Worden, Cedar Hill’s 5th mayor, who served from 1970 to 1972. He was also a City Council member from 1965 to 1968.

We begin our interview with Mayor Warden describing Cedar Hill in 1954.

Note: I’m sad to say I had some audio problems with the recording. Please excuse the static and echo. I will improve my equipment and interview him again in the near future.

Council Turns Down Housing Development

By LOYD BRUMFIELD, News Editor / Today NewspaperThe Cedar Hill City Council agreed with several residents who spoke out, and denied a change in zoning for homes a developer wanted to build in an existing neighborhood.The unanimous vote also confirmed a similar vote taken previously by the city’s planning and zoning commission.About a dozen people spoke out against the plans of developer Bob Shelton, who wanted a change in zoning from single family, 22,000 square-foot lot minimums to single-family, 15,000 square-foot minimums in a 44.9 acre tract of land in a neighborhood located along South Clark Road just south of Plummer Elementary.Those new homes would have been significantly smaller than existing homes in the neighborhood. Many of the residents who spoke out live on Stoney Creek Drive, Spring Hollow Drive and East Little Creek.Ottis Lee of Civil Works Engineering, representing Shelton, said the vast majority of the new homes would back up to park land and not against already developed areas.Bill Cuthberson, a 27-year resident of Cedar Hill, presented an extensive list of names against the move in a petition to the council.“I don’t like the increased traffic situation,” he said. “The developer has said there will be no thoroughfare through the neighborhood, but I just feel like it’s an infringement of my privacy.”Cuthberson also said the development would bring more children into an already-overcrowded school.Many of the residents who spoke out said they didn’t like the idea of smaller homes coming in to their neighborhoods.“If you’re going to build homes closer to the size of the homes we already have, I don’t think we’ve have much of a problem with that,” Duane Walsh said.Several residents said homes on smaller lots aren’t as well maintained as homes on bigger lots and pointed to nearby neighborhoods as an example of what could happen.“I think if smaller homes were built, you’d see homes that would end up like those on the other side of Joe Wilson Road. You’d have fences falling down and lower property values,” Joe Daigrepont said.Dave Robinson said the city would face an increased strain on its budget if the development were approved.“Are you willing to upchuck the $3-$4 million it’s going to take to widen Clark Road?” he asked the council.Carl Metzger, a 10-year resident, said he would hate to see his neighborhood fall into disrepair like his old neighborhood did in upstate New York.“Where I used to live, you couldn’t see the stars at night because of all the streetlights,” he said. “There was traffic everywhere, a lot of noise and light pollution, and it got to where it wasn’t a nice place to live.”Lee said Shelton shared the public’s concern and pledged to hold the homes to a minimum square-footage of 2,200.“I do know it’s difficult for a developer to come in and make these kinds of requests,” Lee said. “We understand the concerns of people when you have one-acre lots next to lots zoned for a half-acre.”City council member Cory Spillman said he was concerned with the lack of interaction between the developer and the residents after Lee said meetings had not been set up.Spillman also said he wanted to hold off on zoning changes in existing neighborhoods until the city took a look at changing its Comprehensive Zoning Plan next year.Council member Wade Emmert thanked the residents for speaking out.“I like to see so many people at city council meetings, and I especially like to see them at meetings when they aren’t yelling at me,” he said. “I’m concerned with lot sizes, and personally I think we need to increase lot sizes instead of decreasing them.”Emmert’s statement drew raucous applause, and with that he made a motion denying the zoning change and was seconded by council member Daniel Haydin.Mayor Rob Franke lives in the neighborhood where the new homes would have been built, and he volunteered to recuse himself from any discussion and vote on the issue, but Lee said he had confidence in the mayor’s ability to handle the matter objectively.

City Supports Bike Rally

By LOYD BRUMFIELD, News Editor / Today NewspaperIt wasn’t as much money as they asked for - and it didn’t come without extensive debate - but the Rotary Club of Cedar Hill received $20,000 from the city in support of the club’s main fundraiser, a May bike rally.In previous meetings with city staff members, the cost of support was estimated at $31,000, but council member Wade Emmert saw $20,000 as a good compromise for an event he’d like to see become a mainstay.The “Head for the Hills Bike Rally” is scheduled for May 12 and hopes to attract cyclists from all over the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.The city’s funding will come from it’s hotel-motel tax.”I do have some concerns with the city’s financial participation,” Mayor Rob Franke said. “We don’t have many hotels in this town, and I think this ($31,000) would take up most of what has been promised to others, such as (the Cedar Hill Association for the Cultural Arts).”Franke and Mayor Pro Tem Cory Spillman voted against the authorization, not because they were against the bike rally but because of the amount of money included in Emmert’s motion.The vote was 5-2 in favor.”I want more things like this to come to our city” Emmert said. “I share some of the concerns regarding finances and insurance and things like that.”A few council members asked if the club could reimburse the city for the expense, but Emmert’s motion contained no such provision.Judy Pluto, lead organizer of the rally, said the event will function as the club’s main fundraiser.”There’s no doubt we can do this,” she said. “We want this to become a premier event not just in Cedar Hill, but in the Metroplex.”She told the council she is aware of the importance of the city’s support.”If we don’t do it right the first time, they come back for the second year,” she said.Emmert hoped the club could raise the rest of its estimated $31,000 cost through sponsorships and donations.Council member Makia Epie supported Emmert’s motion.”It takes money to make money,” he said. “I’m very satisfied with the explanation that a significant amount of money will come from the outside and we should more than recoup our investment.”"The seed money will grow it, and the water will come from the outside.”Franke said previous big-scale events in Cedar Hill, such as Country Day on the Hill, have flourished because of a strong sense of community volunteerism.”Any event that has worked has been because of a groundswell of support from volunteers and others,” he said. “I’m uncomfortable with the city handling the major burden of this. If the citizenry takes a hold of this and wants to do this, then the city is behind it and will help.”"Otherwise, it seems like we’re the ones pushing the rope.”Franke also was concerned that once other local groups found out about the $20,000 funding that they would want similar help for their events.

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