Why We Need Your Support at the Arlington City Council Meeting

Your support is critical at the Arlington City Council meeting on 16 June 2015 (Tuesday) starting at 6:30pm. An issue very important to our community is on the agenda – the rezoning request for Southwind Meadows, which will be co-located next to our community along Ragland Rd. and Hwy 360.

Southwind Meadows plans to make modifications to and use property that belongs to the Southwind Community Association. Specifically, they will remove trees and landscaping along Southwind Dr. to tie their streets into Southwind Dr. They will add sidewalks to tie into our existing walking trails to feed into their community. Southwind property that will shared with the new community includes: the monument entryway on both corners of Hwy. 360, Southwind Dr. up to the walking trails, the walking trails themselves, and the front pond and immediate surrounding land. Southwind pays taxes on this property, and owns and maintains these pieces of property.

We have asked the Southwind Meadows developer to equally share the costs for maintaining these shared area – both near and long term, and they have agreed. Our lawyers prepared a cost sharing agreement that was sent to the developer in February, which they reviewed, agreed with, and agreed to sign. As we neared the date for the city council meeting to approve rezoning the property along Ragland Rd. and Hwy 360 from commercial to residential, the developer has so far refused to sign the agreement. He has offered other remedies that our lawyer has indicated would not legally protect our interests.

In addition to the shared areas mentioned above, the developer has also promised verbally to repair our front pond by installing a well, fixing the draining issues, and maintaining a constant water level. The developer has also agreed to cost share maintenance on our playground, since they will not be installing their own playground and their residents will ultimately utilize our playground on Water Oak Dr.

What are the financial considerations of all this? A cost sharing agreement could potentially bring in tens of thousands of dollars that can then be used for improvements to our community. Fixing the entryway pond could easily cost our community from $50,000 - $100,000.

Our community lawyer, Lance Williams, is continuing to advise us and also attempting to communicate with the developer and their lawyer to reach a settlement. The Southwind Board has been in contact with Robert Rivera, our Arlington city councilperson, for his assistance. He has set up meetings for the Board to meet with all the city councilpersons earlier in the day next Tuesday to discuss our concerns with them prior to the city council meeting.

But in the end, we will need to convince the city council at the meeting to not commit to Southwind Meadows until they have agreed to commit to our community in writing and satisfy all our concerns. Your attendance at the meeting will impress upon them our resolve. Thanks for your support.

John Jurik

President, Board of Directors

Southwind Community Association