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Cedar Hill Keeps Friendly Ways

By MARY JACOBS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

In the early 1980s, a news story dubbed Cedar Hill – population 6,800 – “the last small town in Dallas County.”

Some other little town needs to assume that moniker, because Cedar Hill is now home to more than 43,000 people and, on a busy shopping day, thousands of visitors. But longtimers say the town has kept its friendly feel.

“It’s a wonderful small-town atmosphere, but there are accommodations for more upscale buyers, too,” said Carrol Smith, a Realtor with Century 21-Judge Fite who lived in Cedar Hill for 18 years.

Frances Reed likes that longtime residents gather at Sim’s grocery each morning. Ms. Reed, a resident since 1999, owns Distinct Elegance, a bridal shop in the historic downtown area. Her retail neighbors include a tearoom, quilt shop, apparel store and beauty salon.

Many of these businesses still thrive even with the 2 million square feet of retail space added in the last four years – making Cedar Hill a shopping destination for an estimated 175,000 residents in the southern part of Dallas County.

Ms. Reed’s customers include visitors from Waxahachie, Ennis, Red Oak and Ovilla.

“People come here instead of driving into Dallas,” she said. “The city is really working hard to maintain the old downtown.” Her home, near the square downtown, was built in 1899.

City promoters tout their “Hill Country of the metroplex” for its rolling hills covered in cedar.

“We’ve got some terrain here that can’t be matched anywhere else in the D-FW area,” said Corky Brown, Cedar Hill’s manager of public relations and a resident since 1991.

Cedar Hill is also the highest point between the Red River and the Gulf of Mexico – about 880 feet above sea level. That drew the original settlers around 1848, because the elevation meant somewhat cooler temperatures. Today, the elevation has brought a collection of radio and TV towers, now familiar Cedar Hill landmarks.

For newer, upscale neighborhoods, such as the gated community of Lakeridge, the elevation also affords views of 7,500-acre Joe Pool Lake and 1,826-acre Cedar Hill State Park. Both are within or next to Cedar Hill.

Ms. Smith said much of the recent population growth probably comes from young families.

“The public schools are good here, and there are some good private schools nearby, too,” she said. Cedar Hill High School’s football team recently won the 5A (Division 2) state championship.

Many residents were attracted to the relatively lower prices in Cedar Hill. Mr. Brown moved from neighboring Duncanville to Cedar Hill with his family in 1991.

“We looked north in Plano and Richardson, and found the houses were so much more affordable down here, plus the quality of life was more relaxed,” he said.

Prices have begun to climb, though. Several fairly new gated communities, such as Lakeridge, have added large, higher-end houses overlooking the lake. Lots are 1 to 2 acres, and prices range from $400,000 to $2 million. But smaller homes in older neighborhoods can still be as low as $60,000.

Two more reasons for people to head to Cedar Hill will arrive next year: Another retail development, the “open-air lifestyle center” Uptown Village, will open in 2008. And the National Audubon Society will break ground this summer for Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center, a 270-acre nature center with hiking trails, also scheduled to open in 2008.

Cedar Hill Retail Growth

We all know that retail in Cedar Hill is booming. What we didn’t realize, however, is how we compare to other suburbs in the Metroplex.

Retail guru Herb Weitzman just released his 2006’s stats which shows that Cedar Hill is tops in retail:

Region-wide occupancy is 89.6%: Dallas at 89.7% and Fort Worth at 89.4%. In boring down into the numbers, Cedar Hill has the highest suburban occupancy with 99%; McKinney, 98%; Allen, 97%; Park Cities-Oak Lawn, 95%; and Northeast Tarrant County, 95%. And rental rates are running, on average, from the mid-$25 per sf to mid-$30 per sf.”

You can read the entire article at http://www.globest.com/news/828_828/dallas/152341-1.html.

City Ponders Hows, Whys of Saving Trees

By LOYD BRUMFIELD / Today Newspapers

It sounds easy on paper, crafting a tree ordinance. But as the city of Cedar Hill is finding out, ironing out the details and putting it into practice will be a long, time-consuming chore.

The city council and other members of the city’s staff held a workshop Jan. 18 at the Cedar Hill Recreation Center in an effort to get educated on the hows, whys and do’s and don’ts of a protective tree ordinance - something that many residents have long called for.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people in other cities, and each one tells me, ‘If you’re going to do this, you’re going to need a full-time person to monitor it,’” Planning Director Rod Tyler told the council.

Council member Wade Emmert asked him if he was going to include that suggestion in his next budget request, and Tyler said he was hoping the Parks and Recreation Department would hire an arborist.

The Jan. 18 meeting was held basically to get council members familiar with the language involved, the purpose of the ordinance and the path to get it approved.

Tyler and his staff constructed a purpose statement for the ordinance that calls for protecting a “diminishing natural resource (native and adapted trees), to balance the needs of land development with the goals of preserving mature trees, encourage the planting of trees to replace those lost due to land development and provide a means to ‘mitigate’ the loss of Protected Trees due to land development.”

Council members and Mayor Rob Franke were receptive to the creation of an ordinance, but many worried about the longterm costs.

“What I’ve seen so far seems too restrictive,” Council member Greg Patton said. “Overall I like it, but I’m concerned about the cost, because that’s going to be passed on to buyers.”

Tyler did not try to sugarcoat things.

“We’re talking tens of thousands of dollars (for developers),” he said. “And if your lot is particularly big, it could get into the hundreds of thousands.”

Protected trees are defined as any species of tree that is 8 inches or more in diameter, measured 4 feet above the ground and don’t belong to a few species of trees that have undesirable characteristics such as weak wood, are generally short-lived or have destructive habits, such as wild-growing, invasive roots systems.

The 8-inch number is just a rough figure and the city can change it to whatever it wants, Tyler said.

“How about 30 inches?” Patton said, drawing laughs.

Trees that branch out immediately from the ground, rather than sprouting a trunk and branches, would generally not be protected, Tyler said.

“Then the question is, is it a tree or a bush?” he said.

Developers would have several mitigation options in order to protect trees, Tyler said, including transplanting protected trees, planting smaller trees, preserving groves of smaller trees and cash payments to a reforestation fund for the city to use to replant trees.

“What if the transplanted tree dies?” Public Information Officer Corky Brown asked.

Tyler said it was doubtful very many developers would choose to transplant existing trees.

“Transplanted trees need a lot of heavy equipment and a lot of people to move it,” Tyler said. “The older the tree, the bigger its root zone, so I don’t think you’ll see this option a lot because it will be expensive.”

But if developers opt for replacing bigger trees with smaller ones, they’d have to do it “at a rate that is twice the total caliper inches of Protected Trees to be removed.”

If developers replace bigger trees with so many smaller ones that a congestive situation is created, some of those trees can be given to the city for planting on other lots, Tyler said in reply to a question raised by Council member Makia Epie.

Smaller trees to replace bigger ones must be described as a “large canopy” tree as listed in the city’s landscape ordinance and must be a minimum of 3 caliper inches, although the city can adjust those numbers when it sits down to craft the ordinance, Tyler said.

If the developer chooses to pay cash to the city’s reforestation fund, the city must come up with an appropriate fee, Tyler said, saying that his figure of $150 per caliper inch of protected trees removed was something he “picked out of the air.”

Developers would be asked to submit a tree protection plan when they platted their land, and it would have to be approved before any work or land clearing could start.

In order to ease costs for developers, no tree survey would be required, Tyler suggested, because it would save them from having to hire engineers and surveyors.

“I can tell you that it does get expensive,” said Franke, an engineer.

Instead of a tree survey, developers would simply have to list the trees on their property and say which ones would be protected, which ones wouldn’t and how they plan to mitigate any destruction of protected trees.

“I have competing opinions,” Council member Wade Emmert said. “On the one hand, I want to preserve our natural beauty as much as possible, but I’m also concerned about landowners’ rights. Generally speaking, everybody says they want to preserve trees until they’re the ones who have to do it.”

Emmert added that he was appreciative of the work the staff and Mayor Pro Tem Cory Spillman have done in working to construct an ordinance.

Franke supported the idea of a tree ordinance.

“It’s the right thing to do,” he said. “We don’t want the city to become, as people have called it, ‘Concrete Hill.’”

Tyler emphasized that any city ordinance would be largely aesthetic in nature rather than environmental, and Patton wondered about preserving trees that may be hundreds of years old.

“It seems like you’re not really saving Old Granddad you’re just replacing it,” he said.

Franke said any ordinance would not be geared toward stopping development.

“If Old Granddad is in the middle of where Dillard’s wants to go, then Old Granddad’s out of here,” he said.

Council Optimistic About Cutting Sign Clutter

By LOYD BRUMFIELD / Today Newspapers

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign, blocking out the scenery - generally causing consternation among citizens and officials alike.

The Cedar Hill city council expressed interest in doing away with those temporary signs drivers see every few feet along streets and highways, advertising everything from homebuilders to get-rich quick schemes.

In their place, the council hopes to craft an ordinance that implements a kiosk-style sign program in which temporary signage is displayed in professionally designed structures at different locations around the city.

Code enforcement officer Stacey Graves presented a program on kiosks at the Jan. 9 council meeting and had a receptive audience.

Any proposed ordinance would prohibit so-called directional signs in favor of free-standing structures that can promote local businesses and city events, Graves said.

The city would contract with an advertising company to construct the kiosks, install and maintain the signage and assist the city in determining where the kiosks would be placed, Graves said.

Under current ordinances, businesses must pay a $10 permit fee for signs, and they must be 10 feet apart from each other, at least 3 feet from the curb and 50 feet from any intersection.

Cedar Hill collected $10,400 in sign permit fees in 2006, Graves said.

In a kiosk program, businesses would pay the sign company for space on the kiosk, and the company in turn would give a designated portion of that amount to the city for permit fees.

Council member Wade Emmert expressed strong support for a kiosk ordinance.

“I think it’s much better than the current row of signs you see,” he said. “They’re ugly, they’re unsightly. Those big trucks park half on the road and half off it, and it’s dangerous.”

Emmert asked Graves if there was a way for average citizens to use the kiosks to advertise garage sales and things like that.

Unless something changes in the ordinance the city comes up with, individuals would have to apply for a sign permit, Graves said.

“I think we should make some concessions for average citizens to advertise their garage sales,” he said. “I think if they don’t remove them, we could probably do something about that, but I don’t think we should shut our citizens out of the process.”

Graves was asked how homebuilders felt.

“Some are for it, others are against it,” she said.

Rec Center 2nd Anniversary

The Cedar Hill Recreation Center held its second anniversary celebration on Saturday, January 13, 2007. Mayor Rob Franke kicked off the event by welcoming all the participants to the celebration. The mayor recognized the center as one of the city’s premier facilities. Afterwards, the festivities began with the mayor cutting the anniversary cake. The event headliners were the Les Trousseau Events presented the “Sparkle in Crystals” bridal expo/fashion show and our first annual health fair.

Les Trousseau Events presented the “Sparkle in Crystals” bridal expo and fashion show. The bridal expo included over 25 vendors which include bakeries, caterers, a bridal salon, décor, and various entertainment groups. The bridal expo had a number of brides register for the event that included a various giveaways and door prizes. Les Trousseau Events will be presenting their next event the “Forever Green” bridal extravaganza April 22, 2007 from 11am – 4pm.

The celebration was full of activities such as our first annual health fair which included over twelve vendors. Carter Blood Care brought their mobile blood donor vehicle. Dawn Harris provided yoga demonstrations for the recreation center participants. Other fitness demonstrations were performed by various recreation center instructors. This included two of the recreation center most popular adult classes Spin and Body Sculpting with Charlene Branch.

Several programs that participated included Aikia and Chang Lee karate classes who were headed to a tournament in Arlington. Other programs such as Acro Stunt gymnastics, the Little Princess etiquette class, and cooking with Kim were also represented. In addition, Carlton Dixon had an early registration for his spring break basketball camp that will be held March 12th – 15th this spring.

In addition, we had Looney the Clown and several membership giveaways. Participants with children also enjoyed free daycare at the celebration event. Other activities included the bounce house and a three point shoot out which was divided into two age groups seventeen and under and eighteen and up. The winners of the three point shoot out were Xavier Sigler (17 and under) and Monte Scott (18 and up). The contest included over twenty-four participants in both contest.

The event was a complete success for the city and the recreation center. It was wonderful to celebrate another successful year of fitness, fun and friendship. This was a great opportunity for residents of Cedar Hill and surrounding communities to see what the recreation center has to offer. One of the new amenities for 2007 is free child care for anyone who purchases a membership within the year. Along with other membership specials throughout the year this is sure to improve on the success that the recreation center has already seen over the last two years.

Lastly, the participants were able to enjoy a wonderful event and go home with a free t-shirt commemorating the second anniversary of the recreation center. The event was a huge success. We hope to see all of you again next year!

Keep Cedar Hill Beautiful Reception

Cedar Hill is blessed with natural beauty. I applaud those who give of their time to ensure that this beauty is maintained.

Keep Cedar Hill Beautiful one such an organization. I was honored to serve as their Treasurer for a couple of years, and I still support their mission.

This past Tuesday night KCHB hosted its annual Appreciation Banquet. Sheri Borth awarded Certificates of Appreciation to the Yard of the Month winners and all those who supported KCHB over the past year.

If you have an interest in participating in this worthwhile cause, please contact Sheri Borth (smborth@aol.com) for more information.

CHISD Math Textbook Viewing Schedule

A public viewing of textbooks under consideration for adoption by the district has been scheduled for January 10 – January 29, 2007. Textbooks for math in grades 6 – 12 will be available. (NOTE: Grades K-5 math books are scheduled for adoption in 2007-2008.) The viewing will be set up at the Cedar Hill ISD Administration Building located at 270 S. Highway 67 during regular operation hours: 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM on M-T and 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Friday. A form will be available for public use to provide input or comments.

A Textbook Fair will be held at the Administration Building on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM. Representatives from the four major publishers that CHISD is considering will be present to discuss and answer questions about their textbooks. The public is invited to attend the Textbook Fair in order to talk to the publishers and members of the District Textbook Committee.

For more information about the textbook review and adoption process, please go to the TEA website: http://www.tceacontests.org/robotics/index.html.

Questions about Cedar Hill ISD’s process may be directed to Diane Case, Instructional Technology, at 972-291-1581 ext 4085 or email diane.case@chisd.net.

Parade Pictures

The parade to celebrate the CHHS Longhorns State Championship was yesterday. The parade was wonderful. It was great to see so many people come out to support the Longhorns. There were more than 40 entries in the parade and a lot of spectators. In case you missed it, I’ve included some pictures of the parade. Thanks to Corky Brown for providing the pictures and allowing me to post them. GO LONGHORNS!!!

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