Q9
NOW, THINKING ABOUT THE CITY OF
SOUTHLAKE OVERALL, WHAT WOULD YOU
SAY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE FACING
SOUTHLAKE TODAY?
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VERBATIM COMMENTS
SECTION 3: QUALITY OF LIFE AND COMMUNITY
Q9 NOW, THINKING ABOUT THE CITY OF SOUTHLAKE OVERALL, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS
THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE FACING SOUTHLAKE TODAY?
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT/STREETS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Overcrowding, congestion, schools becoming crowded due to so much building!
Congestion.
The new traffic patterns on 1709 make navigating the city difficult. Finding safe ways for residents to get
where they are going seems important. Maybe the solution includes more walking and biking routes or
more streets parallel to 1709 where possible.
During the past four or so years, 1709 has had continual construction of one sort or another, which has
affected travel on that same highway. Needless to say many travelers have chosen alternate routes,
Continental Blvd being one of them. This has caused a huge amount of traffic in the morning and
evening. There have been times I have had to wait 15 minutes just to turn onto Continental from
Oakwood Trail. I find this to be a huge inconvenience. At times it is almost impossible to turn west due to
the amount of traffic and then once there it takes forever to get to Davis Blvd. Ever since the unnecessary
modification of 1709 into a boulevard we have had to endure this non-stop traffic overflow due to all the
new 1709 projects: Boulevard, sidewalks, extra turn lanes, landscapers blocking lanes to plant flowers,
etc. You folks at city hall know all the stuff that has been going on with 1709 over these past few years, a
lot of which is unnecessary in my opinion. If anyone thinks all that "stuff" that was plopped in the center of
1709 has made things better then I would say they have too much spare time on their hands. If one has
shopping to do on the north and south sides of 1709, U-turns are necessary and in my book are a safety
hazard. When I first moved here it only took me about five minutes to get to downtown Grapevine; now it
takes me longer than that just to exit my street; that's a nice improvement. Yes, there is a lot of fine
shopping around here but it isn't convenient due to access and travel time. What is my answer? I shop on
the Internet; I don't have to drive from store to store looking for what I want. The truth is, Loew's,
PetSmart, Home DePot and Walmart are the only places I shop in this town due to the hassle of getting
around in it. As an example, I use the post office in Colleyville rather than the one in Town Center.
Land Development What to build, where, when...and how it affects neighborhoods and traffic patterns
around those neighborhoods.
Increased business/residences that leads to increased traffic, crime, overcrowding of schools,...
traffic and growth management
Congestion. Adding more population and road capacity will will turn Southlake into Plano
LACK OF ADEQUATE WATER SUPPLY, LACK OF ADEQUATE INGRESS & EGRESS WITH
DOWNTOWN STREETS ONTO CARROLL
Heavy traffic on 114 and Southlake Blvd.
Managing the additional traffic that will come from the new subdivisions going in and the new retail
development that will draw more people to our city.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT/STREETS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Maintaining the current quality of life, traffic and needs additional things to do besides eating out.
The traffic flow, it needs more outlets to major highways. Sidewalks, which are being worked on, however
I need to be able to access these sidewalks on Southlake Blvd from Johnson Road. Children and parents
should be able to walk to Florence Elementary.
traffic
Over population in the area. Too many people causing traffic to increase and quality of life to decrease.
Population density - too many new developments on tiny lots, thus increasing traffic congestion. At least
1/2 acre lots need to be required for residential construction.
Growth to the west of Southlake is increasing traffic through Southlake.
increased traffic and water supply
over crowding and traffic
Traffic....
Same as question 8 - development needs to be managed - traffic and congestion is an issue in the city
now
Traffic congestion and maintaining the high standards we expect of our city. This includes not relaxing
standards for new development and continuing the policy of no apartment construction.
Eliminate red light cameras
Traffic and parking especially in and around the town square area. There should be restrictions on "U"
turns at the major intersections (Carroll and 1709, Kimble and 1709). With new construction like Del
Frisco parking spaces will be at a premium in that south east section, hopefully a multi-level parking
structure would ease the pressure for spaces to car.
Traffic
Maintaining how government business is going well Safety with schools, and car traffic Grow business in
Southlake
Traffic
traffic congestion
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TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT/STREETS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Managing the business growth to strike the right balance between positive cash flow from commercial
taxes and too much traffic in the area.
Traffic and over expansion of commercial and residential construction in the city. We have lost all the
open green spaces and the roads are not equipped for the traffic volumes. The city is becoming very
noisy and congestion is on the rise.
The U Turns on Southlake Blvd. Someone is going to get in an accident and sue the city. It is very
confusing for example if you are exiting the shopping center where the mattress firm, Staples and Home
Goods is located. If you are turning right (west) onto Southlake Blvd, people traveling eastbound are
turning into the shopping center and some are doing a u turn. I have witnessed several near misses there
and along other parts of 1709. All of these almost accidents involve people doing a U turn. We have
people coming here from other towns to shop. The U turns are confusing and someone is going to get in
an accident and sue the city.
Traffic
Keeping up with growth via infastructure. Roads etc
Traffic control.
Traffic flow at intersections.. I see a lot of instances where cars turn left in a double turn lane and they
change lanes while turning. I believe this is because signage could be improved. One specific instance of
this is the left turn lanes going from Carroll onto 1709. I believe this is an extremely dangerous
intersection and I have been cut off many many times as I turn left.
Population Growth. Southlake needs for its new construction to be single-family housing on lots of at least
a half-acre. Even better would be full-acre lots for new construction. We can't add many more children to
our schools or cars to our roads.
traffic and congestion particularly at 1709 and Davis. It's impossible to get into that plaza going west on
1709 without nearly getting into a wreck.
Increased traffic patterns/congestion. As well as, an aging population that will nolonger need estate size
homes.
Keeping the traffic congestion under control especially around Town Square.
High taxes and traffic
Traffic is still a big problem with only one thoroughfare. U turns are a disaster.
Traffic Overbuilding Substandard Quality No open space No place to live for Empty nesters No Parking in
Town Square- I just shop on the internet now. It is ridiculous and sounds like it is getting worse.
improved traffic flow
Traffic congestion on 1709
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT/STREETS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Traffic
Water--average American uses 70 gallons per day, SLK residents use 350--on lawns. How do we tackle
that? Traffic on SLK BLVD--can hardly turn left on Carroll, how will it be when new retail development
goes in across from Central Market?
overcrowding, excess traffic which was not really improved by adding the medians to southlake blvd
(1)The need to eradicate mosquitoes and West Nile virus. One cannot simply enjoy sitting outdoors. This
will also require a greater focus on drainage problems and plans. (2) Stop people from texting while
driving in Southlake.
Traffic congestion
traffic
Traffic Flow and outside visitors could increase crime and accidents
Expansion of the Southlake Retail without major significant attention to what will happen to road traffic at
Southlake Bld and Carroll. It is already bad and new development has only just now started. 2 years from
now it will be much worse. Southlake Blvd needs multiple dedicated turning lanes in all directions at that
intersection.
Over crowding. Traffic
Congestion and growth near residential areas
With the continual building of homes and businesses in southlake, traffic issues will grow. There is already
significant issues with the concrete medians on Southlake Boulevard and many near misses in people
doing u-turns in traffic. Most times, they have no other option but to do a U-turn given the location of the
business they are trying to get to.
attitude seems to be spend first and then think it out. spending money on the 1709 project for example,
and then adding outdate interior landscaping was not well thought out. another example appears to be to
approve additional restaurants in town square, then come back later and address the overburdened
Carroll Avenue and town square traffic patterns.
Traffic
Traffic!!! I understand that the city did not have a choice in putting the barriers up on SL Blvd, but it is a
mess! Adding additional retail and potentially stacked residential (apartments) at Town Square will
compound an already big problem. I have already curbed my shopping at Town Square because it's such
a headache getting in, out, around, and finding parking when I am there.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT/STREETS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
TRAFFIC!!! Do not approve Trader Joe's. It will turn the situation from bad to worse!!!
Managing growth. City is starting to feel congested on the streets.
Traffic congestion. Airplane noise.
Over-growth that outstrips the available infrastructure (roads, water, etc.)
Traffic and maintaining property values.
Same topic...Apartments. Also, traffic flow is increasing without a solid plan to relieve it.
Police presence is very heavy on the road. One can argue that they are merely protecting us and speed
limit laws; however, at times, it feels too governed and "shark like". A balance of these 2 are ideal. We
don't want citizens to feel hounded. We love our city and certainly respect our officers and take pride in
our city laws.
Southlake is expanding and becoming compacted with households. The speed limit through town is far to
fast for how many cars are on the road. The speed limit while driving through our town should be lowered
to 30 mph. God forbid a child tries to cross the street. This is one reason many children do not walk to
school...the traffic is getting out of control. Lower the limit to keep our residents safe and able to walk on
the new sidewalks we just paid for!!
Traffic
Traffic Control on hwy 114 has improved but still needs work. I call this road the 114 raceway. I imagine
that there are already statistics that support this. Aggressive drives, speeding drivers, etc.
Urban planning so as to spread the traffic out, make sure there aren't other bottleneck areas - plan
access to heavily visited spots. Maintain green zones and trails to break up the concrete.
Traffic
Traffic down Southlake Blvd. The Robin Hood Act. Increased crime. The 10% rule - our students are
outstanding and the 10% rule prevents many of our seniors from going to Texas schools. (State issue I
know:)
Not as accessible as it once was with the dividing median on 1709. If you pass a turn lane into a business
it is very difficult to fix when driving. Too many U-turns! See people having near crashes with one making
a U-turn to turn around and the other trying to make a right hand turn onto 1709.
Traffic that is only going to get even worse, especially around the schools and on 1709.
It appears that the city was not planned with the growth that it has seen. Traffic is already an issue on
many streets and we see more building such as Carillon going in which will only increase the issue.
Traffic, high tax rate
traffic congestion
Development and recent increase in airplane noise! Traffic
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT/STREETS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
I think traffic is an issue as the city continues to grow and change.
Density and traffic.
Traffic.
traffic control
Congestion is becoming an issue. Town Square is an amazing place yet the congestion is getting
overwhelming. Adding the new restaurant took away space. If we get much more crowded there it will no
longer be a desirable place to visit, shop, bring the family.
Congestion
Handling the increase in traffic especially from visitors who do not know where they are going and add to
the frustration of the locals and they make dangerous decisions all the time!!!
Traffic! There is too much traffic on Southlake Blvd, and the medians don't give enough room for vehicles
going to turn left from 1709. Three major intersections with this problem are: 1709 eastbound and White
Chapel northbound...1709 eastbound and Carroll Ave northbound...1709 westbound and Davis Blvd. I
think the Davis Blvd turn is the worst.
I think the most important issue now is that there is far too much building going on, and it is causing traffic
congestion. We do not want to look like we got out of hand in our building ideas. People are flocking to
Southlake anyway, let's put the brakes on developers' offers to fill up every space. Please reconsider the
consequences of more subdivisions, banking and retail, making our town area begin to look crowded. And
in future, ask residents on a survey if they would prefer to live in a town that is crowded with shops and
businesses. Traffic is very congested on our route of Continental at rush hour, and this is in conjunction
with the two newest Southlake communities being built off of Union Church - it is alarming to think that
there will be double the congestion once these many, many new homes are finished.
Traffic
TRAFFIC!!!! and over building!!
traffic
traffic
Security--as everywhere--and traffic
Traffic in the next couple of years. Traffic would increase in all communities around the city.
TRAFFIC
traffic, kids racing cars through traffic lights, weaving in and out of traffic on main and back streets. over
building our community
Controlling growth and traffic issues that come with this growth.
Not sure! I want to know that I will be able to get around the city without encountering tremendous traffic
back up, most of the time. Rush hour can be frustrating.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT/STREETS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Potential traffic issues with the influx of new businesses. Example sideline fresco grille. Recommend that
speed limit be lowered.
Traffic congestion. With more and more businesses coming in and more housing planned it will only get
worse. Stick with low density housing and limit the number of businesses. It would be preferred to expand
to other areas of the city instead of having all retail on Southlake Blvd.
Keeping up with street repairs and infrastructure (sewer, water) to accommodate the continuing growth. In
particular, finishing projects that have been started and abandoned.
Controlling the loss of green space and population explosion. Too much traffic, all the charm is gone, no
pastures, native trees, no space.
Air traffic noise, concerned about overdevelopment of Town Square, traffic between 114 & N. Carroll Ave,
and development of parks and pathways in Southlake.
Maintaining an equitable and balanced tax base. Too much commercial development along the main (only
?) corridor, 1709. The traffic is already problematic, particularly toward the eastern end. The center
parkings (medians) create a driving hazard, created by people having to U-turn on green left turn arrows,
while cars on cross street traffic are making legal right turns on red. That and just heavy volume.
overcrowding and congestion.
Traffic
I'd like to see more street lights -- especially at the entrances/exits to schools (like CHS on Whites
Chapel). There are many evening activities and with limited parking, people will often walk from nearby
neighborhoods. It's hard to see people, and even to see the entrances when driving. Perhaps adding
lighting to the beautiful Southlake signs showing where things are (schools, shopping, etc.) so they can
be seen better after dark.
Traffic and land use
Over development. I have lived in and outside of many cities across America. We chose Southlake
because of the mixture of neighborhoods and green space. There has been significant development in
the past 5 years, and I don't want to encounter the traffic problems and the loss of green space that I
have seen cities encounter because of their desire for more tax money.
Volume of traffic in Southlake
Traffic, and overcrowding of homes.. We need to curtail building . We need to redraw our school
boundaries and have only city of southlake residences attending our schools. Not Grapevine or Keller
Traffic ...
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT/STREETS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Traffic, traffic, traffic! The end of construction projects should help with traffic. However, when one project
finishes another one begins. DFW Connect is virtual finished, Kimball from Highland to Dove is starting.
Sidewalk work on 1709 is almost complete, I hope. Construction projects change the traffic congestion
patterns and we are ready for ALL construction projects to be finished!
ScN: traffic...whatever happened to a small town quality of life? Two areas/sections of Southlake Blvd
could be improved. The City could take a lead role/involve with other respective agencies...to add a
pedestrian bridge across Southlake Blvd connecting Town Square and the Shops of Southlake (Central
Market shopping center). The added bridge would reduce the traffic around this section of Southlake Blvd
during holiday seasons, special events, and weekends. Secondly, another section of Southlake Blvd
could be improved is the interception between the Boulevard and Peytonville Ave. I am no traffic
engineer, but why is there a U-turn to the Senior High School when heading west? Last time I checked,
the legal address of CSHS is on Southlake Blvd. The medians on Southlake Blvd physically eliminates an
entrance to one of the City's most active destinations. An improvement could be made by reducing the
deceleration lane for Southridge Lake neighborhood (have not seen traffic backup on this lane going to
this neighborhood), and add a left-turn lane (heading west) for the senior high school. Last but not least,
the City could add a roundabout at the interception between White Chapel and Highland Street. This
would reduce the traffic backups during school zone hours and weekday's between 5 to 7pm. The traffic
backup extends to Hwy 114 on any given days.
As with all growing cities, it is a challenge to keep pace with the population in terms of schools, shopping,
traffic, etc. I think Southlake works very hard to keep pace.
traffic on Southlake Blvd.
traffic.....in and out of town square
Traffic due to over development.
traffic
congestion
traffic on city streets
Road and highway construction
traffic
Traffic congestion.
Addressing the traffic issues
Traffic woes and growth, along with keeping out low income housing.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT/STREETS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
traffic congestion
Traffic/congestion. Too many people/cars in too small a space.
Congestion. Growth and not enough roads to accommodate the growth.
The city becoming too large and not being able to support the needs of the community. All the housing
going in and the school system. The roads being too crowded. No one wants to live in another Dallas.
Retail stores becoming abandon buildings. Because there are too many of them.
THE NOISE PROBLEMS COMING FROM THE TRAFFIC ON HIGHWAY 114.
Getting too crowded. Too much traffic. Too many vacant businesses. Too many small neighborhoods
being allowed to squeeze into the community.
Traffic on 1709 is awful
Housing issues - apartments or condos - we do not want them. Traffic. Bike and walking paths and
general access to use the outdoors.
traffic
Too much traffic
manage growth and traffic
Traffic management and congestion.
Traffic management. Streets like Carroll Avenue have become through streets for non-residents to cut
through from 114 to 26, or the reverse, and there is a ton of traffic moving too fast through the traffic
circles. Yielding is rare, as most tailgate the car in front in order to avoid yielding so that the can blow
through to the other main road. Southlake Blvd. is to be avoided at all costs at certain times -- too
congested.
Traffic continues to grow and increasingly making access into and out of subdivision dangerous.
Traffic.
Traffic!!!
Traffic
Traffic on southlake blvd.
Car and pedestrian traffic flow and safety. Sidewalks, crosswalks, lights, etc in and around town square.
Over-crowded feeling; traffic
Traffic congestion
Better traffic control
traffic
traffic and overcrowding
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT/STREETS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Traffic patterns, I guess, but I see no major solution unless you put a gate around Southlake and don't let
anyone in but us. Not a good idea! I personally love the round-abouts. Maybe more of those would help in
some key places.
Continuing to develop the remainder of the city in the quality manner we have developed to this point,
growing the tax base with quality long-term tenants, but keeping an emphasis on residents (taxpayers)
and their quality of life / safety / security / traffic. General thoughts are that the median placed down 1709
has created more problems than it solved, as U-Turns being required to get where you're going is more
dangerous than the left-hand turns that were made before. It has also been detrimental to many
businesses - if too hard to get to, people just go elsewhere.
Starting to feel a little overcrowded, especially in the townsquare-central market area. I.e. too many cars,
not enough ground lots. Garages are very inconvenient and dangerous with all the huge cars around
here.
In some road I have difficulty visionin the night for not good light
Traffic
Terrible traffic on 1709
Overbuilding/development and the resulting traffic issues.
Traffic
For us it's having so much police around for over zealous traffic stops when I see them speeding down
the same streets almost daily and texting while driving or on the computer in their car while they are
driving, how is that any different than me doing it? Are they physically superior where the studies don't
pertain to them that when you are distracted like that it's like driving drunk.
Traffic congestion on Southlake Boulevard during peak travel times.
Mobility: roads, rail, walking.
The traffic flow, it needs more outlets to major highways. Sidewalks, which are being worked on, however
I need to be able to access these sidewalks on Southlake Blvd from Johnson Road. Children and parents
should be able to walk to Florence Elementary.
I'd like to see more street lights -- especially at the entrances/exits to schools (like CHS on Whites
Chapel). There are many evening activities and with limited parking, people will often walk from nearby
neighborhoods. It's hard to see people, and even to see the entrances when driving. Perhaps adding
lighting to the beautiful Southlake signs showing where things are (schools, shopping, etc.) so they can
be seen better after dark.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT/STREETS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Traffic and road congestion. I know TXDOT is responsible for the 1709 median but we need to address
how poorly it has served some areas. The shopping plaza at 1709 and Davis for example. Exiting to go
west or south is very difficult. We also need 2 turn lanes from 1709 westbound onto Davis. I see cars
using private parking lots as a cut-through while doing u-turn (Golden Triangle Veterinary parking lot is a
prime example of this).
Traffic continues to get heavier
Too much building, leading to too much traffic
Traffic remains my main concern. I live in the Lakewood development and making a left turn out of my
neighborhood is difficult and at times impossible. By the time the southbound traffic clears on Carroll,
northbound traffic from 1709 is coming full force. Somehow Kimball needs to take on more of the traffic.
Allowing the citizens of Southlake to truly enjoy their own city. We use to love going to the fourth of July
celebration with friends. A nice blanket with family in the square. Now we don't even think about fighting
the mobs of folks driving in from other cities. I appreciate the merchants want folks driving for these
events and spending monies, but I believe we have forgotten folks live here. We like enjoying our parks
and special events. I lived in Austin, Tx for several years. You simply hate going into the city on weekends
because they have some type of major event going own resulting in streets being closed and traffic
snares everywhere. WE need better police patrols among our residential streets. I am amazed how folks
speed up and down Kimball Rd, Dove Rd, and I pick up trash/wine bottles in front of my yard several
mornings each week. Do we really have folks driving around our residential streets drinking and driving
without any fear of being arrested?? I believe the city must do a better job of addressing the needs of
folks who have and will be living here for years. It often appears we are doing all we can do recruit the
corporate families who move here, stay three years and then they are off do their next "corporate
community". Lastly, DFW airport has chosen a new strategy to send more planes more often right down
Hwy 114 and over Dove Rd. This has not been the norm and the city should not allow it to become the
norm. It's loud and dangerous.
Traffic and Congestion.
traffic and school funding
The traffic on Southlake Blvd is getting scary. There is way too much traffic going way too fast with way
too many U-turns caused by the medians and a high number of traffic accidents. It is the heart of traffic
for southlake citizens, but it is way too busy with commuter traffic. It scares me to think of my sons
learning to drive on this street. It may be my least favorite thing about living in Southlake.
Managing the growth, over crowding, traffic...
Traffic! Improve traffic flow.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
MANAGE GROWTH/DEVELOPMENT
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Overcrowding, congestion, schools becoming crowded due to so much building!
Development commercial and residential
During the past four or so years, 1709 has had continual construction of one sort or another, which has
affected travel on that same highway. Needless to say many travelers have chosen alternate routes,
Continental Blvd being one of them. This has caused a huge amount of traffic in the morning and
evening. There have been times I have had to wait 15 minutes just to turn onto Continental from
Oakwood Trail. I find this to be a huge inconvenience. At times it is almost impossible to turn west due to
the amount of traffic and then once there it takes forever to get to Davis Blvd. Ever since the unnecessary
modification of 1709 into a boulevard we have had to endure this non-stop traffic overflow due to all the
new 1709 projects: Boulevard, sidewalks, extra turn lanes, landscapers blocking lanes to plant flowers,
etc. You folks at city hall know all the stuff that has been going on with 1709 over these past few years, a
lot of which is unnecessary in my opinion. If anyone thinks all that "stuff" that was plopped in the center of
1709 has made things better then I would say they have too much spare time on their hands. If one has
shopping to do on the north and south sides of 1709, U-turns are necessary and in my book are a safety
hazard. When I first moved here it only took me about five minutes to get to downtown Grapevine; now it
takes me longer than that just to exit my street; that's a nice improvement. Yes, there is a lot of fine
shopping around here but it isn't convenient due to access and travel time. What is my answer? I shop on
the Internet; I don't have to drive from store to store looking for what I want. The truth is, Loew's,
PetSmart, Home DePot and Walmart are the only places I shop in this town due to the hassle of getting
around in it. As an example, I use the post office in Colleyville rather than the one in Town Center.
Land Development What to build, where, when...and how it affects neighborhoods and traffic patterns
around those neighborhoods.
Growth is inevitable, but I think it's important not to lose our friendly,inviting,"small town" rural
atmosphere.
Continued development of the Town Square area to include more living options to make it a vibrant lived
in community and not just a shopping and dining center
Over growth with lack of consideration for empty nesters
Land developement
Continued quality development while not compromising to improve tax base
traffic and growth management
Quality growth
Controlled growth with remaining undeveloped residential and commercial real estate to ensure the same
quality of life features that attracted most of us to this area. The school system, the roadways and city
infrastructure cannot be compromised by short-term thinking on attracting new residents and businesses
to the area.
Keep on going, do not let it fall apart due to lack of care or dollars
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
MANAGE GROWTH/DEVELOPMENT
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Future development.
Well planned build out. Remain a great place to live as growth and tax base increase slows. Put in some
parks with shade, water, and recreation not just ball fields.
Managing the additional traffic that will come from the new subdivisions going in and the new retail
development that will draw more people to our city.
preventing over development and keeping apartments out of the city
too much growth
Too many rooftops. Not enough office development .
overdevelopment including apartments which ruin the residential feel of our community and de-value our
homes. Perceived corruption in city council . City council acting in self serving manners ( see above)
Population density - too many new developments on tiny lots, thus increasing traffic congestion. At least
1/2 acre lots need to be required for residential construction.
Growth to the west of Southlake is increasing traffic through Southlake.
I'm concerned that there is too much retail and restaurant development on the horizon and there is not
enough population to support it. When Del Frisco's opens, will the same number of people go to
Trulucks? I hope an unintended cannibalization does not occur where businesses and restaurants are
eating each other alive.
Same as question 8 - development needs to be managed - traffic and congestion is an issue in the city
now
Allowing builders to build homes on ridiculously tiny lots! Our city will look like a "Yuppie Slum" with all this
packed new development. It must stop. We really hate it!
Growth --- noticing zero lot line homes in Carillon area. We left California because of this trend. This
should not happen in Texas.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Quality development
Traffic congestion and maintaining the high standards we expect of our city. This includes not relaxing
standards for new development and continuing the policy of no apartment construction.
Pressure from developers(for their personal profit motives) to radically depart from prior master plans that
limited density and population growth.
Traffic and parking especially in and around the town square area. There should be restrictions on "U"
turns at the major intersections (Carroll and 1709, Kimble and 1709). With new construction like Del
Frisco parking spaces will be at a premium in that south east section, hopefully a multi-level parking
structure would ease the pressure for spaces to car.
Over crowding, and places for lease, both of which are adding to themselves daily with homes being built
on 0 lot lines, and stip centers being built, when there are plenty of spaces for rent without building strip
centers. If you check in other cities adjacent to ours and see what the strip centers look like today. It is
really very ugly and not original which would benefit our city.
CONTINUED ABILITY TO MANAGE GROWTH.
Rapid growth and development.
I feel like there are too many trees being cut down for buildings and not enough replanted so I would like
to see a organization made to replant trees.
Limiting development
A pro development view by the City Council is problematic in that development comes before quality, and
that is troubling. The mayor and his cronies are more focused on growth than quality, quality as defined
by quality of construction, housing density, style of the neighborhoods, and they are willing to sacrifice
that quality in place of the original the original master plan. I came here for low density, quality of life, and
have paid the taxes to have that.
Managing the business growth to strike the right balance between positive cash flow from commercial
taxes and too much traffic in the area.
Traffic and over expansion of commercial and residential construction in the city. We have lost all the
open green spaces and the roads are not equipped for the traffic volumes. The city is becoming very
noisy and congestion is on the rise.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Growth in the manner Southlake is famous for.
Ensuring long term growth in terms of residential as well as commercial and industrial . . . In the latter, my
reference is to "hi tech" and other "lite" growth industries. These of course are tied to transportation /
mobility issues. Though we and our friends refer to the "Southlake bubble", the reality is that Southlake is
part of a dynamic area of the metro and therefore, there needs to be coordination and planning with our
neighbors. This of course is a two-way street and our neighbors need to communicate with us as their
plans will have positive and negative impact on Southlake.
Figuring out growth versus quality of living.
The threat of multi family housing. Although the leasing of the planned development in Southlake Town
Square is proposed to be upscale this would not be the case in the future when rents would be lowered to
insure occupancy. No matter what it is called in reality they are apartments. If we study communities
around Southlake we would discover the school issues that develop as apartments turn over.
Keeping up with growth via infastructure. Roads etc
-Economic stability and growth -Population control -Maintaining strong schools system while dealing with
state funding issues
Continuing to maintain the high level of Safety that Southlake has enjoyed for so many years. As
development continues, the police force needs to increase in size.
Keeping up with growth and expansion while still maintaining the "small town" atmophere.
I'm not sure I can answer that at this very moment, but I suppose it would be along the lines of
responsible growth. Make sure we have the infrastructure and have addressed safety issues before
moving ahead with growth.
growth
to much building to fast
Population Growth. Southlake needs for its new construction to be single-family housing on lots of at least
a half-acre. Even better would be full-acre lots for new construction. We can't add many more children to
our schools or cars to our roads.
appropriate real estate development
Water--average American uses 70 gallons per day, SLK residents use 350--on lawns. How do we tackle
that? Traffic on SLK BLVD--can hardly turn left on Carroll, how will it be when new retail development
goes in across from Central Market?
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
We have lived here for a good number of years and Southlake has grown and continues to grow. I am
concerned that it may lose it's "small town" appeal that brought us, and many others to Southlake. There
are less and less open areas and more and more buildings and houses being built.
Completion of master planned growth on a thoughtful level. We tend to grant more variances then I would
like to see.
Lack of growth for too many schools.
Build out final open area's in a responsible manner consistent with the original development plans.
Current council seems to ignore the development plans that were created for our city before they became
council members. Special interests seems to be taking over rather than the wishes of the citizens.
Managing growth, real estate taxes and public safety as state and federal aid declines with budget
deficits.
Not to continue building retail and office buildings when we are starting to see so many vacant ones. We
don't want the appearance of being run down
Expansion of the Southlake Retail without major significant attention to what will happen to road traffic at
Southlake Bld and Carroll. It is already bad and new development has only just now started. 2 years from
now it will be much worse. Southlake Blvd needs multiple dedicated turning lanes in all directions at that
intersection.
Avoiding a piling up of debt that will impact future growth and maintenance.
Quality, upscale development along HW 114.
Growth
Maintaining the high quality of neighborhoods by controlling growth of apartments.
Southlake today is the perfect balance and seems to be thriving compared to other cities/towns. The
biggest issue is how do you maintain without overdevloping? If you continue developing at the current
pace the balance will be lost and the quality of life will diminish as crime, traffic, noise, commercial
lighting, etc. creep into our neighborhoods.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Out of control development with reduced lot sizes and more and more strip shopping centers when there
are already vacancies in existing commercial locations.
controlling growth, worried the school system will get overloaded.
developing land already prepared for additional retail/commercial. For example finish the development on
114 frontage from Center to Carroll.
Keep improving infrastructure including parks, rec facilities and schools.
With the continual building of homes and businesses in southlake, traffic issues will grow. There is already
significant issues with the concrete medians on Southlake Boulevard and many near misses in people
doing u-turns in traffic. Most times, they have no other option but to do a U-turn given the location of the
business they are trying to get to.
Protecting Southlake's quality of life as the areas around us become more congested, and in some of
those areas growth without enough control mechanisms is allowed to continue.
Maintaining a small town feel and the sense of community that goes with it. Slowing down retail
development and not being so quick to grant variances to every builder that wants to decrease lot sizes
would help. At the same time, I recognize the importance of a vibrant downtown and retail business maybe it's figuring out the balance...
growth
smart development
Issuing of building permits!
The most important issue facing the City is that it might become overcrowded and too built up. The Mayor
and City Council need to really think about their plans for this city and what would be best for Southlake.
I would say it is balancing growth with maintaining quality of life.
Congestion and growth near residential areas
Controlled growth with remaining undeveloped residential and commercial real estate to ensure the same
quality of life features that attracted most of us to this area. The school system, the roadways and city
infrastructure cannot be compromised by short-term thinking on attracting new residents and businesses
to the area.
Continued investment in infrastructure to ensure population growth doesn't tax resource levels of existing
citizens.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Sustainability!!! Also being critically careful in regards to developement since we are close to build-out.
Anticipating future needs of the community, it's changing demographics in particular. The City needs to be
an affordable place to live for all its residents.
Allowing high density and rental housing to be built is NOT consistent with the existing city plan and will
negatively impact the pride, desirability and value of the city.
Over-growth that outstrips the available infrastructure (roads, water, etc.)
the rezoning of property outside the future land use plan all in the interest of developers that don't live
here,are only concerned with squeezing every dollar out and not caring about what is taken away from
the citizens
Same topic...Apartments. Also, traffic flow is increasing without a solid plan to relieve it.
Density !!! It seems that the city will allow any developer to come in and build a bunch of large homes on
small lots. I realize that this is economically necessary for the developer to make a oodles of money for
his risk but the city loses sight of the longer term negatives associated with this practice. Too many
people in big homes which lose their attractiveness to couples who have to move after the kids graduate
due to large tax and maintenance bills. Too few smaller homes on generous lots are available. This also
contributes to the water drainage and traffic problems. The city should concentrate on getting good tax
revenues from businesses not homeowners. Check out the real estate listings; today there are 44 homes
listed for sale with a minimum price of $1 million.
How to handle development and growth and still keep the family/small town feel.
Managing growth. City is starting to feel congested on the streets.
City Planning and Development
Appropriately managing growth as the city reaches maturity.
Growth --- noticing zero lot line homes in Carillon area. We left California because of this trend. This
should not happen in Texas.
Growth and Infrastructure
Growth management--it will be difficult to continue to build homes and businesses without losing the tight
knit community feel that the city currently has.
Lots of restaurants come and go. I worry about over extending the retail end and not being able to sustain
businesses in the infrastructure that is built or being built
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Over building and the idea that spin meetings work
overdevelopment with high density housing, including townhomes/apartments or whatever you want to
call them. NO Southlake homeowner in his right mind is in favor of this, but the city council continues to
approve these plans!
Growth management
Urban planning so as to spread the traffic out, make sure there aren't other bottleneck areas - plan
access to heavily visited spots. Maintain green zones and trails to break up the concrete.
Managing the development along Hwy 114
Urban planning
The over building of residential and commercial sites - and the depletion of open spaces.
Balanced growth maintaining the traditional values that have made Southlake a great place to live, while
embracing the changing dynamics of the economy and technology.
The airplane traffic over Southlake. I have been here for 15 years. The traffic over my
house/neighborhood has tripled. A new study came out about heart disease and stroke. If you live ear
shot of an airport- Noise Pollution from airplanes- you are 30% ? more likely to have heart disease and
stroke. We need to seriously look at this issue. We need noise abatement procedures from the FAA. For
take offs over Southlake. Curfews on take of/ landings over Southlake. I get woken up from 1-3 Am most
nights. Then at 4-6AM Certain approaches only at 10 thousand feet. Not 5,000. Power back engines
before they get to Southlake. Full power over a house at 5,000-10,000 ft is loud. Maybe only regional jets/
corporate jets on the side runway. The patterns were changed slightly in 2005. Also, opening of the side
runway. That is when I started noticing the changes. I am not talking about runway construction. I am
sure patterns can not change. Maybe some of the others can. I have spoken to the noise man for the
airport. I do not need to have another conversation with him. He can offer no solutions. He says, "nothing
has changed."
Quality retail development, ensuring empty buildings secure quality retail tenants.
Overcrowding in schools and overdevelopment.
Too much building, not enough parks for young children to play. Need more play equipment at parks. So
many sporting fields but nothing to play on.
sustaining growth and maintaining quality
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
I do not care for the level of residential and commercial construction and its impact on the attractive
green/undisturbed land within the city. I do not like the prospect of Southlake becoming a congested
concrete mess. How many free-standing pizza restaurants do we really need. And what will become of
these buildings once they fall out of favor. One building that comes to mind is the eyesore that once was
Gateway church. One occurrence would have me seriously consider moving from Southlake: The
construction of anything but single-family dwelling. The townhomes are as close as we need to get to
that. Love the city. Love the schools. Love the parks and recreation.
over development- it may get too commercial.
overdevelopment
Effective planning for increased population growth.
growth, construction
Too much growth and over crowding....coupled with a lack of adequate parks and recreation
opportunities. It will be sad if the city does not cater somewhat to the older citizens who the city is
counting on to use the new hospitals being built.
Controlling growth
Over building. Continued residential and commercial building is resulting in the area losing its initial
appeal.
It appears that the city was not planned with the growth that it has seen. Traffic is already an issue on
many streets and we see more building such as Carillon going in which will only increase the issue.
Growth. Continue the low-density housing plan that is in place and do not allow apartments in our city.
Apartments have ruined many small cities that used to be "the premiere place to live" just like Southlake
is today.
Over growth, losing the small town feel.
TRAFFIC!!!! and over building!!
Control of separate retail buildings cluttering up 1709 and 114. AND too much Zero Lot Line housing.
The city is very torn about apartments (i.e, condos) and new development with smaller lots. I would love
this issue to resolve in a fashion that it both good to the developers and businesses who will benefit, and
also to appease the group who believes that "Southlake's population is big enough".
Development and recent increase in airplane noise! Traffic
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Loss of small town identity and overgrowth.
Growth
Keeping tabs on the growth of the area. Maintianing open green space. Not becoming another Plano!
Water availability and cost. There is no grandfather plan for existing property on large lots vs. current
smaller lots and future development. Growth and support of business outside of Town Square. It appears
that Town Square get's preferential treatment.
I think the most important issue now is that there is far too much building going on, and it is causing traffic
congestion. We do not want to look like we got out of hand in our building ideas. People are flocking to
Southlake anyway, let's put the brakes on developers' offers to fill up every space. Please reconsider the
consequences of more subdivisions, banking and retail, making our town area begin to look crowded. And
in future, ask residents on a survey if they would prefer to live in a town that is crowded with shops and
businesses. Traffic is very congested on our route of Continental at rush hour, and this is in conjunction
with the two newest Southlake communities being built off of Union Church - it is alarming to think that
there will be double the congestion once these many, many new homes are finished.
capacity and retention - as the city approaches capacity the priority will need to shift from development
and recruitment to a long term plan of retention for residents and business. maintenance, lifestyle and
safety
Maintaining the reputation of a wonderful place to live with all the expansion going on.
The rising cost of living here will result in more folks who don't plan to stay very long. This short term
thinking will lead to more folks not caring about what happens with the city or it's future. It very important
to keep taxes as low as possible with a focus on business development.
Prevent any future multi-family developments.
Putting in apartments that are planned will be too high priced and you will end up with an economic
disaster from a tax perspective and will be forced to lease at loss or worse high vacancies and delinquent
tax challenges. I only have a year and one half to go until children are out of High School. I will sell the
day after my son graduates. Additionally the School district has the poorest reputation from our personal
experience regarding the care and handling of children with disabilities and I continue to recommend to
people moving hear to go to either Colleyville or Grapevine as they have better support. I moved an entire
corporation here with over 1100 employees a significant majority moved into Southlake. I remain very
sorry that I recommend the move to my corporate headquarters based upon the reputation of the school
district which turned out to be false.
Too many businesses building new facilities.
Growth
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Controlling growth and traffic issues that come with this growth.
Controlling growth of the city to ensure the high level of quality of life remains high.
Over commercialization of beautiful farmland. There are plenty enough neighborhoods. Plenty enough tax
dollars. Restrict growth. Cap total number of households. Restrict density. Embrace code restrictions on
zero lot line construction and mega-unit condo/apartment additions to town center. Think I'm crazy? Head
over to town square for the holiday lighting ceremony. If the city becomes a crowded zoo who will want to
come?
growth
Keeping up with street repairs and infrastructure (sewer, water) to accommodate the continuing growth. In
particular, finishing projects that have been started and abandoned.
Zoning. We cannot change our zoning beliefs for larger, single family homes and give into developers'
wishes. Yes, families do want to downsize once they are empty nesters, however, if you build smaller
homes and/or apartment type complexes, then they will be sought after by families with children. Most of
us moved into Southlake for the excellent schools. Unfortunately, excellence and economics go hand-inhand.
Air traffic noise, concerned about overdevelopment of Town Square, traffic between 114 & N. Carroll Ave,
and development of parks and pathways in Southlake.
Maintaining an equitable and balanced tax base. Too much commercial development along the main (only
?) corridor, 1709. The traffic is already problematic, particularly toward the eastern end. The center
parkings (medians) create a driving hazard, created by people having to U-turn on green left turn arrows,
while cars on cross street traffic are making legal right turns on red. That and just heavy volume.
Balancing the economic drivers in Southlake. Today, retail sales / shopping is primary driver. Southlake
needs to attract higher end office development
Controlled growth and thoughtful expansion
Completing Town Square in a way that brings in high end retailers and solidifies the competitiveness for
the future.
TOO much retail/office development close to homes. It is becoming too busy and noisy.
Over development. I have lived in and outside of many cities across America. We chose Southlake
because of the mixture of neighborhoods and green space. There has been significant development in
the past 5 years, and I don't want to encounter the traffic problems and the loss of green space that I
have seen cities encounter because of their desire for more tax money.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Overcrowding remaining space with retail development.
Traffic, and overcrowding of homes.. We need to curtail building . We need to redraw our school
boundaries and have only city of southlake residences attending our schools. Not Grapevine or Keller
Traffic, traffic, traffic! The end of construction projects should help with traffic. However, when one project
finishes another one begins. DFW Connect is virtual finished, Kimball from Highland to Dove is starting.
Sidewalk work on 1709 is almost complete, I hope. Construction projects change the traffic congestion
patterns and we are ready for ALL construction projects to be finished!
over building
Development vs beauty
Not Sure. Perhaps with Southlake being nearly built out, how to control "unnecessary" retail growth.
Abandoned retail space is unsightly.
Traffic due to over development.
Controlling growth and maintaining the more rustic, natural beauty of the area. This, of course, includes
the necessity of keeping natural gas fracking OUT of Southlake to try to keep our air and water clean.
Sustainable housing development (not overbuild) / Sustainable population density ? Respect for green
areas. Future city management ?
Traffic woes and growth, along with keeping out low income housing.
Too much growth. We like the small town feel with good schools and open space.
I do not care for the level of residential and commercial construction and its impact on the attractive
green/undisturbed land within the city. I do not like the prospect of Southlake becoming a congested
concrete mess. How many free-standing pizza restaurants do we really need. And what will become of
these buildings once they fall out of favor. One building that comes to mind is the eyesore that once was
Gateway church. One occurrence would have me seriously consider moving from Southlake: The
construction of anything but single-family dwelling. The townhomes are as close as we need to get to
that. Love the city. Love the schools. Love the parks and recreation.
The most important issue facing Southlake today is OVER DEVELOPMENT, especially commercial but
also residential (smaller lots).
Congestion. Growth and not enough roads to accommodate the growth.
The city becoming too large and not being able to support the needs of the community. All the housing
going in and the school system. The roads being too crowded. No one wants to live in another Dallas.
Retail stores becoming abandon buildings. Because there are too many of them.
Ensuring improvements or services added now don't end up unaffordable in the future.
Development of large tracts of land in the City.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Land management and business/industry attraction.
That "apartment type" buildings could come to Southlake which I am against.
Managing growth north of 114
Stop building, keep apartments OUT and preserve our open spaces. More focus on quality instead of
quantity. We are slowly becoming a concrete jungle and losing what sets us apart.
Future build out.
Responsible growth
Too much commercial growth.
Development. There is way too much development going on to build medical buildings and retail space
that never gets filled - what's wrong with green space?? We have too many strip centers that have
uninteresting shops that move around when a new strip center is built leaving others vacant. Also, a long
time ago when this city started growing it was made clear that there would not be multi-family housing that is what sets Southlake apart from Plano, Frisco, etc. Now we as citizens are having to fight for this apartments are not good for city economy and school quality. When you pay property taxes you care
more about what is going on in your city.
growth
Keeping multifamily housing out. I do not agree with allowing more high density housing in the Town
Square development. The brownstones should be the sole type of residential allowed. In 20 years what
would the multifamily units look like?
balance commercial development and environment protection/keeps forest
Maintaining/Improving the high standards of eduction and extra curricular activites at all levels of our
schools The federal government targeting higher end communities and forcing them to include low
income housing. Growth...should be controlled and planned.
The trend toward higher density development and the CONSIDERATION OF MULTI FAMILY
development within our city
manage growth and traffic
Uncontrolled growth and the consequences thereof.
Growth and affordable housing.
High density home construction impacting school/class size
Allowing multi housing, apartments, in our city. They lower the style of living in Southlake, and crowd the
schools.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Unsustainable pension plans for city employees School system spending tax dollars foolishly
Answered on previous overbuilding shopping centers, low rise medical and professional buildings may be
a better use.
Growth demands that compromise past covents
How to deal with this enormous growth. While this has been good for businesses in our area it threatens
the quality of life in our "small-town" community.
Over development.
Biggest threat is commercial exploitation of developers trying to derive maximal financial gain without
regard to adjoining residential values and quality of life.
Too much building, leading to too much traffic
Staying true to planned zoning. Keeping the city competitive to the newer communities springing up
around the Frisco, Allen and Plano areas.
Density !!! It seems that the city will allow any developer to come in and build a bunch of large homes on
small lots. I realize that this is economically necessary for the developer to make a oodles of money for
his risk but the city loses sight of the longer term negatives associated with this practice. Too many
people in big homes which lose their attractiveness to couples who have to move after the kids graduate
due to large tax and maintenance bills. Too few smaller homes on generous lots are available. This also
contributes to the water drainage and traffic problems. The city should concentrate on getting good tax
revenues from businesses not homeowners. Check out the real estate listings; today there are 44 homes
listed for sale with a minimum price of $1 million.
Southlake today is the perfect balance and seems to be thriving compared to other cities/towns. The
biggest issue is how do you maintain without overdevloping? If you continue developing at the current
pace the balance will be lost and the quality of life will diminish as crime, traffic, noise, commercial
lighting, etc. creep into our neighborhoods.
I think Southlake is becoming a place to be for shopping and dining and people want to come here.
Though there are good places to do these things compared to the surrounding cities, I do fear that
because most of the places are chains, they are going to lose their appeal and Southlake will lose it's
great draw. Places that stay appealing and upper class will have unique dining and shopping. Examples
are Highland Parks, University Park, Nichols Hills in OKC has the Classen Curve. I think we need some
more unique things to keep drawing upper and upper middle class families to Southlake. I'm not saying
extremely expensive, just unique.
Keeping the exclusiveness of the area. I'm concerned about apartments being built at the Town Center.
Apartments/Condo are a less expensive form of housing that brings consequences.
Overgrowth
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Allowing the citizens of Southlake to truly enjoy their own city. We use to love going to the fourth of July
celebration with friends. A nice blanket with family in the square. Now we don't even think about fighting
the mobs of folks driving in from other cities. I appreciate the merchants want folks driving for these
events and spending monies, but I believe we have forgotten folks live here. We like enjoying our parks
and special events. I lived in Austin, Tx for several years. You simply hate going into the city on weekends
because they have some type of major event going own resulting in streets being closed and traffic
snares everywhere. WE need better police patrols among our residential streets. I am amazed how folks
speed up and down Kimball Rd, Dove Rd, and I pick up trash/wine bottles in front of my yard several
mornings each week. Do we really have folks driving around our residential streets drinking and driving
without any fear of being arrested?? I believe the city must do a better job of addressing the needs of
folks who have and will be living here for years. It often appears we are doing all we can do recruit the
corporate families who move here, stay three years and then they are off do their next "corporate
community". Lastly, DFW airport has chosen a new strategy to send more planes more often right down
Hwy 114 and over Dove Rd. This has not been the norm and the city should not allow it to become the
norm. It's loud and dangerous.
How we grow. We have seen a significant growth over the last two years. It is great financially for our
community but needs to grow in a way that keeps with the values of Southlake. A small town feel that is
safe.
Keeping the growth low enough that the city doesn't become overcrowded and undesirable. Currently not
pleased with all these developments going up with very small lot sizes and houses close together. When I
think of Southlake, I think of beautiful, spread out beauty - not a city like Plano or Frisco.
Controlled growth
Managing the growth, over crowding, traffic...
Increasing tax revenue through commercial development.
Maintain our urban/rural atmosphere without industrial development (such as oil drilling) within the
community.
Growth of retail areas
Not following the approved master plan for development.
-Economic stability and growth -Population control -Maintaining strong schools system while dealing with
state funding issues
controlling growth, worried the school system will get overloaded.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
RESIDENTIAL/HOUSING
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
keeping housing standards high and not lowering standards/changing zoning just to allow more residents
and tax dollars
During the past four or so years, 1709 has had continual construction of one sort or another, which has
affected travel on that same highway. Needless to say many travelers have chosen alternate routes,
Continental Blvd being one of them. This has caused a huge amount of traffic in the morning and
evening. There have been times I have had to wait 15 minutes just to turn onto Continental from
Oakwood Trail. I find this to be a huge inconvenience. At times it is almost impossible to turn west due to
the amount of traffic and then once there it takes forever to get to Davis Blvd. Ever since the unnecessary
modification of 1709 into a boulevard we have had to endure this non-stop traffic overflow due to all the
new 1709 projects: Boulevard, sidewalks, extra turn lanes, landscapers blocking lanes to plant flowers,
etc. You folks at city hall know all the stuff that has been going on with 1709 over these past few years, a
lot of which is unnecessary in my opinion. If anyone thinks all that "stuff" that was plopped in the center of
1709 has made things better then I would say they have too much spare time on their hands. If one has
shopping to do on the north and south sides of 1709, U-turns are necessary and in my book are a safety
hazard. When I first moved here it only took me about five minutes to get to downtown Grapevine; now it
takes me longer than that just to exit my street; that's a nice improvement. Yes, there is a lot of fine
shopping around here but it isn't convenient due to access and travel time. What is my answer? I shop on
the Internet; I don't have to drive from store to store looking for what I want. The truth is, Loew's,
PetSmart, Home DePot and Walmart are the only places I shop in this town due to the hassle of getting
around in it. As an example, I use the post office in Colleyville rather than the one in Town Center.
Land Development What to build, where, when...and how it affects neighborhoods and traffic patterns
around those neighborhoods.
Keeping apartments OUT of the city limits.
Be careful with density. Apartment complexes will devalue the community.
Public housing/apartments
Keeping the older neighborhoods up to date.
Development of land into small and smaller parcels. Too much of this is happening.
Managing the additional traffic that will come from the new subdivisions going in and the new retail
development that will draw more people to our city.
Safety and keeping quality of life by not letting in for rent condos
overdevelopment including apartments which ruin the residential feel of our community and de-value our
homes. Perceived corruption in city council . City council acting in self serving manners ( see above)
Becoming more affordable for college grads to come home because we are looking at broad
demographics.
preventing over development and keeping apartments out of the city
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Taxes Apartments (NO) Be less controlling
Population density - too many new developments on tiny lots, thus increasing traffic congestion. At least
1/2 acre lots need to be required for residential construction.
Developing property tax base beyond residential (ie office and commercial) It is too late probably by now
but explore commuter train station and adjoining housing and commercial along SR 26 (ie at Brumlow/26
and around Dragon Stadium area)
The vote to allow multifamily housing (i.e. apartments) to be built in Southlake.
Allowing builders to build homes on ridiculously tiny lots! Our city will look like a "Yuppie Slum" with all this
packed new development. It must stop. We really hate it!
The danger new residential construction poses to the CISD. Overcrowding in schools leads to poorer
performing schools. With a number of new developments going up, the already crowded high school is
going to be pushed to its limits.
Traffic congestion and maintaining the high standards we expect of our city. This includes not relaxing
standards for new development and continuing the policy of no apartment construction.
Over crowding, and places for lease, both of which are adding to themselves daily with homes being built
on 0 lot lines, and stip centers being built, when there are plenty of spaces for rent without building strip
centers. If you check in other cities adjacent to ours and see what the strip centers look like today. It is
really very ugly and not original which would benefit our city.
Apartments coming in to SOuthlake. The mayor will and wants them in the city.
I think it is great that the city is letting kids that live in Southlake but are in other school districts such as
Keller have the option to go to Southlake Schools. This would be great to make this permanent. Great
decision. The other item is to keep the City safe from drug dealers trying to us homes here with hidden
drug labs in the city. The other item is to require home owners to keep up their property which the city is
doing a good job doing. The challenge is for the city to continue this trend and not let areas deteriate.
Space for future development/housing.
Traffic and over expansion of commercial and residential construction in the city. We have lost all the
open green spaces and the roads are not equipped for the traffic volumes. The city is becoming very
noisy and congestion is on the rise.
A pro development view by the City Council is problematic in that development comes before quality, and
that is troubling. The mayor and his cronies are more focused on growth than quality, quality as defined
by quality of construction, housing density, style of the neighborhoods, and they are willing to sacrifice
that quality in place of the original the original master plan. I came here for low density, quality of life, and
have paid the taxes to have that.
Allowing multi housing, apartments, in our city. They lower the style of living in Southlake, and crowd the
schools.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
1. multi-family housing 2. residential density 3.
Keeping the exclusiveness of the area. I'm concerned about apartments being built at the Town Center.
Apartments/Condo are a less expensive form of housing that brings consequences.
Noise from DFW Airport when there are take-offs on RWY 31L. The City Government must be more
involved in mitigating the use of 31L for take-offs. DFW Airport has seven(7)runways. Just because one
becomes non-operational doesn't mean they have to take-off on 31L. The quality of live and property
values in Southlake suffer greatly when there are take-offs on 31L.
Apartments being added to the town square have the ability to destroy the city. Once these apartments
get in 114 will be line with apartment building causing overcrowding in the schools.
Allowing rental condos/apartments in city. Do not allow!!!!!
Lower density housing
Population Growth. Southlake needs for its new construction to be single-family housing on lots of at least
a half-acre. Even better would be full-acre lots for new construction. We can't add many more children to
our schools or cars to our roads.
Increased traffic patterns/congestion. As well as, an aging population that will nolonger need estate size
homes.
We have lived here for a good number of years and Southlake has grown and continues to grow. I am
concerned that it may lose it's "small town" appeal that brought us, and many others to Southlake. There
are less and less open areas and more and more buildings and houses being built.
Builders trying to implement apartment/leased condo's within city -- don't need them nor additional people
Apartments. NO APARTMENTS! This isn't Keller. We moved here because there weren't any apartments.
Plus the city council needs to make fiscally conservative financial decisions. And the library is so out of
date. Grapevine and Colleyville have much better libraries than we do. Start using city money to improve
the library instead of beautifying the city.
Ensuring long term growth in terms of residential as well as commercial and industrial . . . In the latter, my
reference is to "hi tech" and other "lite" growth industries. These of course are tied to transportation /
mobility issues. Though we and our friends refer to the "Southlake bubble", the reality is that Southlake is
part of a dynamic area of the metro and therefore, there needs to be coordination and planning with our
neighbors. This of course is a two-way street and our neighbors need to communicate with us as their
plans will have positive and negative impact on Southlake.
Continue to ensure quality homes, retail and office space is built to complement what is currently in place.
Do not compromise.
Over crowding too many houses
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Affordable housing. The city is becoming too expensive for even middle class families. There needs to be
some diversity to benefit all of us.
maintaining housing prices
keeping the apartments out
Whether we should allow additional brownstone style housing in the towncenter.
FOR THE HOMEOWNER IT'S HOME VALUE = NO APARTMENTS
Code Enforcement. Too many dilapidated fences, too many weeds, too many homes needing repairs that
aren't being tended to. If not addresses, we won't have the same city within 10-15 years.
Apartments...or what you call "rental condos". I do not want them...this is why we moved here...no
housing like that. If you get these rental condos, we may need to decide if Southlake is still the city for us.
Maintaining our way of life without pricing retirees out of a place to live due to taxes. We need to
encourage more businesses (e.g., Westlake)to share the tax burden. Speaking of Westlake and taxes,
we need liquor stores in Southlake. I suspect 99.9% of the Southlake households visit the liquor store
during the course of a year. Why should those tax dollars go to Westlake, Colleyville, etc.?
Maintaining the high quality of neighborhoods by controlling growth of apartments.
It needs diversity and spice. We are too often referred to as the "southlake bubble"...but that is not the
real world. How can we tap into our current diversity to promote how great it is to live here?
Considering allowing multi-family dwellings. Big mistake!
No apartments, no condos, no lofts, nothing rentable. Please stick to this. You are straying away from
this. So is so disappointing. We used to be special. This makes us not special.
APARTMENTS! WE DO NOT WANT THEM.
With the continual building of homes and businesses in southlake, traffic issues will grow. There is already
significant issues with the concrete medians on Southlake Boulevard and many near misses in people
doing u-turns in traffic. Most times, they have no other option but to do a U-turn given the location of the
business they are trying to get to.
The threat of multi family housing. Although the leasing of the planned development in Southlake Town
Square is proposed to be upscale this would not be the case in the future when rents would be lowered to
insure occupancy. No matter what it is called in reality they are apartments. If we study communities
around Southlake we would discover the school issues that develop as apartments turn over.
Maintaining property value as the neighborhoods age.
high density housing -do not want apartment-size units in the city -adds to cost of all homeowners -more
schools etc
To maintain single family housing & lot size restrictions
The possible movement to have apartments or condos for rent. This should be stopped. This would bring
more crime and lower house values.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
RESIDENTIAL/HOUSING
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Density !!! It seems that the city will allow any developer to come in and build a bunch of large homes on
small lots. I realize that this is economically necessary for the developer to make a oodles of money for
his risk but the city loses sight of the longer term negatives associated with this practice. Too many
people in big homes which lose their attractiveness to couples who have to move after the kids graduate
due to large tax and maintenance bills. Too few smaller homes on generous lots are available. This also
contributes to the water drainage and traffic problems. The city should concentrate on getting good tax
revenues from businesses not homeowners. Check out the real estate listings; today there are 44 homes
listed for sale with a minimum price of $1 million.
Density of current building
PREVENTING APARTMENTS. IF SOMEONE WANTS TO RENT IN SOUTHLAKE THERE ARE PLENTY
OF HOMES FOR RENT. APARTMENTS ARE SOMETHING WE DON'T EVER NEED OR WANT.
Making sure that we maintain the same residential climate-no multiple (aparmtnent style0 dwellings.
Preventing multi-unit housing, zero lot line homes, and smaller lots in general.
Balancing a small town feel with the rising number of residents...keeping trees, open spaces, and trails
and not allowing high density neighborhoods
Our quality of life was reduced when a number of years ago, residential lots were allowed under 1 acre.
Please do not reduce lost sizes any further and no multi-family housing.
Overcrowding. Too small of lot sizes for new homes going in.
Growth --- noticing zero lot line homes in Carillon area. We left California because of this trend. This
should not happen in Texas.
Southlake is expanding and becoming compacted with households. The speed limit through town is far to
fast for how many cars are on the road. The speed limit while driving through our town should be lowered
to 30 mph. God forbid a child tries to cross the street. This is one reason many children do not walk to
school...the traffic is getting out of control. Lower the limit to keep our residents safe and able to walk on
the new sidewalks we just paid for!!
Growth management--it will be difficult to continue to build homes and businesses without losing the tight
knit community feel that the city currently has.
Traffic!!! I understand that the city did not have a choice in putting the barriers up on SL Blvd, but it is a
mess! Adding additional retail and potentially stacked residential (apartments) at Town Square will
compound an already big problem. I have already curbed my shopping at Town Square because it's such
a headache getting in, out, around, and finding parking when I am there.
Congestion and growth near residential areas
No smaller scale, but luxury housing for retirees, that you can "lock and leave" while traveling, etc. The
Brownstones are very nice, but not friendly for seniors. Would prefer something like townhomes or
condos, when we're ready to downsize.
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RESIDENTIAL/HOUSING
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
overdevelopment with high density housing, including townhomes/apartments or whatever you want to
call them. NO Southlake homeowner in his right mind is in favor of this, but the city council continues to
approve these plans!
Residential buildout
Maintaining the high quality of our neighborhoods (lot size, home size, quality of builders)
overcrowding of high schools with new residential building
Threat of apartments in Southlake.
Developing mindfully, while keeping in mind that the reason this city is so popular is the large lots, no
apartments, green open spaces - increased density equals lower quality of life!
The airplane traffic over Southlake. I have been here for 15 years. The traffic over my
house/neighborhood has tripled. A new study came out about heart disease and stroke. If you live ear
shot of an airport- Noise Pollution from airplanes- you are 30% ? more likely to have heart disease and
stroke. We need to seriously look at this issue. We need noise abatement procedures from the FAA. For
take offs over Southlake. Curfews on take of/ landings over Southlake. I get woken up from 1-3 Am most
nights. Then at 4-6AM Certain approaches only at 10 thousand feet. Not 5,000. Power back engines
before they get to Southlake. Full power over a house at 5,000-10,000 ft is loud. Maybe only regional jets/
corporate jets on the side runway. The patterns were changed slightly in 2005. Also, opening of the side
runway. That is when I started noticing the changes. I am not talking about runway construction. I am
sure patterns can not change. Maybe some of the others can. I have spoken to the noise man for the
airport. I do not need to have another conversation with him. He can offer no solutions. He says, "nothing
has changed."
Our schools are bearing the brunt of over population. I am an active volunteer mom, and I constantly hear
complains about the tightening school budget, about the surge in students now that the city has opened
it's schools to bordering areas. If multifamily housing is next, we can expect Carroll ISD to go the same
route as Coppell and others. Start out excelling, and then losing the chance to keep at the top. We moved
here for the schools. Coppell was getting congested, and the schools were suffering, specially the high
school. This might become the fate of Southlake as well. I sure do hope it doesn't.
I do not care for the level of residential and commercial construction and its impact on the attractive
green/undisturbed land within the city. I do not like the prospect of Southlake becoming a congested
concrete mess. How many free-standing pizza restaurants do we really need. And what will become of
these buildings once they fall out of favor. One building that comes to mind is the eyesore that once was
Gateway church. One occurrence would have me seriously consider moving from Southlake: The
construction of anything but single-family dwelling. The townhomes are as close as we need to get to
that. Love the city. Love the schools. Love the parks and recreation.
Too much dependence on residential property taxes.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
-Drugs -declining lower level neighborhoods. Price/sq foot is high in southlake but the quality of many of
the older neighborhoods with price points under $700M is becoming an eye sore. Houses are not kept upneighborhoods look awful. competitor neighbo
The debate over whether or not to change the zoning and build multifamily/rental units. DO NOT DO IT!!!
Whether to allow leased condominiums
Becoing more afordable for new college grads as well as seniors who have livered here. That would be
children who had grown up here, lving with parents, and seniors who have seen their costs of living
increase as income decreases.
Limited housing for active baby boomers. Small lots, condo buildings, or condo style patio homes. Other
communities are pulling the baby boomers away. These are people who are empty nesters, still willing to
pay Southlake's high property taxes, and don't tax the services... Just spend lots shopping & eating out in
Southlake.
Affordability of homes As people become empty nesters they leave as there are no viable smaller/more
affordable homes
As we draw more visitors from out of town, we lose the hometown feeling that drew us to Southlake in the
first place. I'm concerned about our safety.
Compromising on size of lots, "condo" etc.... Southlake is known for its nice lots and family homes
Growth. Continue the low-density housing plan that is in place and do not allow apartments in our city.
Apartments have ruined many small cities that used to be "the premiere place to live" just like Southlake
is today.
Image to others outside of city Perceived as a rich neighborhood that everything comes easy to
Apartments/condos! This is a hot topic right now, isn't it? My opinion is NO apartments/condos.
How to maintain what our situation is with great housing, shopping, restaurants, etc.
Allowing high density and rental housing to be built is NOT consistent with the existing city plan and will
negatively impact the pride, desirability and value of the city.
The fact that the Council seems intent on approving leasable apartment units in Town Square, which will
lead to full apartment development in our City.
Maintaining a tax base with limited businesses and only single family housing.
Traffic and maintaining property values.
Same topic...Apartments. Also, traffic flow is increasing without a solid plan to relieve it.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Control of separate retail buildings cluttering up 1709 and 114. AND too much Zero Lot Line housing.
The city is very torn about apartments (i.e, condos) and new development with smaller lots. I would love
this issue to resolve in a fashion that it both good to the developers and businesses who will benefit, and
also to appease the group who believes that "Southlake's population is big enough".
I think the most important issue now is that there is far too much building going on, and it is causing traffic
congestion. We do not want to look like we got out of hand in our building ideas. People are flocking to
Southlake anyway, let's put the brakes on developers' offers to fill up every space. Please reconsider the
consequences of more subdivisions, banking and retail, making our town area begin to look crowded. And
in future, ask residents on a survey if they would prefer to live in a town that is crowded with shops and
businesses. Traffic is very congested on our route of Continental at rush hour, and this is in conjunction
with the two newest Southlake communities being built off of Union Church - it is alarming to think that
there will be double the congestion once these many, many new homes are finished.
Keep the quality of the neighborhoods up. No apartments and multifamily housing.
Water availability and cost. There is no grandfather plan for existing property on large lots vs. current
smaller lots and future development. Growth and support of business outside of Town Square. It appears
that Town Square get's preferential treatment.
Putting in apartments that are planned will be too high priced and you will end up with an economic
disaster from a tax perspective and will be forced to lease at loss or worse high vacancies and delinquent
tax challenges. I only have a year and one half to go until children are out of High School. I will sell the
day after my son graduates. Additionally the School district has the poorest reputation from our personal
experience regarding the care and handling of children with disabilities and I continue to recommend to
people moving hear to go to either Colleyville or Grapevine as they have better support. I moved an entire
corporation here with over 1100 employees a significant majority moved into Southlake. I remain very
sorry that I recommend the move to my corporate headquarters based upon the reputation of the school
district which turned out to be false.
Zoning. We cannot change our zoning beliefs for larger, single family homes and give into developers'
wishes. Yes, families do want to downsize once they are empty nesters, however, if you build smaller
homes and/or apartment type complexes, then they will be sought after by families with children. Most of
us moved into Southlake for the excellent schools. Unfortunately, excellence and economics go hand-inhand.
New subdivisions need to be "large lot" sales not high density. Make sure there are no apartments put in
Southlake.
Continuing to handle housing growth
Don't build high rise and rental apartment, keep Southlake exclusive
An important issue for me would be the consideration of adding apartment dwellings in our city. That
would not benefit this city.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
To maintain the highest quality of homes and commercial built out.
City is reaching capacity and the empty nesters are choosing to stay in their homes. This reduces kids in
the schools which affects our school funding. We must keep the superior quality of our schools as a top
priority.
Over commercialization of beautiful farmland. There are plenty enough neighborhoods. Plenty enough tax
dollars. Restrict growth. Cap total number of households. Restrict density. Embrace code restrictions on
zero lot line construction and mega-unit condo/apartment additions to town center. Think I'm crazy? Head
over to town square for the holiday lighting ceremony. If the city becomes a crowded zoo who will want to
come?
Traffic congestion. With more and more businesses coming in and more housing planned it will only get
worse. Stick with low density housing and limit the number of businesses. It would be preferred to expand
to other areas of the city instead of having all retail on Southlake Blvd.
Tax revenue grouth and the overall taxes to each home owner. I can't retire in Southlake as the property
taxes are to high.
Maintaining Exemplary schools to support our real estate values
Keeping apartments out of Southlake!
multi family housing
keep the city from turning more urban (condos, reduction of plot sizes etc)
TOO much retail/office development close to homes. It is becoming too busy and noisy.
Over development. I have lived in and outside of many cities across America. We chose Southlake
because of the mixture of neighborhoods and green space. There has been significant development in
the past 5 years, and I don't want to encounter the traffic problems and the loss of green space that I
have seen cities encounter because of their desire for more tax money.
Preserving the single family dwelling model and avoiding pressures to develop apartments and other
forms of multi family dwellings.
How to maintain existing housing restrictions.
Maintaining a single family community without multi-family rental properties.
Controlling Property Taxes on residential population
Traffic, and overcrowding of homes.. We need to curtail building . We need to redraw our school
boundaries and have only city of southlake residences attending our schools. Not Grapevine or Keller
Zoning. Please listen to the citizens who do not want less than 1/2 lots. Certainly no apartments. Our
schools are full and struggling.
Maintaining property values, a vibrant commercial base and water conservation
Maintaining an excellent school system and community. Keep property values up.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Building too many houses on very small lots, therefore crushing CISD with huge enrollment issues. The
City seems to disregard this issue, however, parents of CISD students do not. We have seen class sizes
increase every year for the past 5 years.
Considering developing apartments.
Lack of variety of housing options
The need to keep the city as a vibrant place, in places like our neighborhood the few people still living in
my community are families with older kids and the same that have work trying to make it a community.
Not over-building more neighborhood to keep from over-crowding our schools
The apartment or condo project at Town Square.
Again, high density rental property; this DOES NOT belong in our community. The second highest issue
are taxes. We need to reign in spending to keep our property taxes in check.
Only the very affluent seem able to afford even modest homes. Many who have lived here 10+ years are
being forced out economically.
Sustainable housing development (not overbuild) / Sustainable population density ? Respect for green
areas. Future city management ?
Traffic woes and growth, along with keeping out low income housing.
Whether or not to allow rental appartments or condos
Maintaining property values.
Again, the leasing of apartments and townhomes. We do not want this to occur, EVER. It is not fair to the
taxpayer, and would compromise the integrity of Southlake.
The most important issue facing Southlake today is OVER DEVELOPMENT, especially commercial but
also residential (smaller lots).
I am not in favor of allowing condo/apartment rentals within the City. There seems to be pressure on the
City to allow such zoning. Proponents have numerous positions on why they seem to need such zoning.
Bottom line, none of their positions will improve the City.
The city becoming too large and not being able to support the needs of the community. All the housing
going in and the school system. The roads being too crowded. No one wants to live in another Dallas.
Retail stores becoming abandon buildings. Because there are too many of them.
water rights, finances, allowing apartments into community
Getting too crowded. Too much traffic. Too many vacant businesses. Too many small neighborhoods
being allowed to squeeze into the community.
Maintaining property values and community safety through enforcement of existing policies against
housing project detrimental to same.
That "apartment type" buildings could come to Southlake which I am against.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
keep Apartments and duplexes out of Southlake!
Development. There is way too much development going on to build medical buildings and retail space
that never gets filled - what's wrong with green space?? We have too many strip centers that have
uninteresting shops that move around when a new strip center is built leaving others vacant. Also, a long
time ago when this city started growing it was made clear that there would not be multi-family housing that is what sets Southlake apart from Plano, Frisco, etc. Now we as citizens are having to fight for this apartments are not good for city economy and school quality. When you pay property taxes you care
more about what is going on in your city.
Residential growth is going to slow which will mean we will have to be more financially responsible as our
tax base won't continue to grow.
Keeping multifamily housing out. I do not agree with allowing more high density housing in the Town
Square development. The brownstones should be the sole type of residential allowed. In 20 years what
would the multifamily units look like?
Maintaining/Improving the high standards of eduction and extra curricular activites at all levels of our
schools The federal government targeting higher end communities and forcing them to include low
income housing. Growth...should be controlled and planned.
building new homes on lots at least 0.5 acre
Keep from making changes in zoning that will cause the quality and style of life to change. Allowing
condos built for rental is not a good idea because that opens the door for courts to force approval of
apartments.
Stop building, keep apartments OUT and preserve our open spaces. More focus on quality instead of
quantity. We are slowly becoming a concrete jungle and losing what sets us apart.
Housing issues - apartments or condos - we do not want them. Traffic. Bike and walking paths and
general access to use the outdoors.
Not allowing multi family dwelling
Many farms are being converted to housing estates. Will the roads be able to tolerate the increased
traffic? Will people be able to walk around, ie. sidewalks and paths for cycling? Are some areas being
preserved for parks? I am relieved to see some parks finally being developed in Southlake, but I realize
that is a very low priority. There aren't little neighborhood stores. So, there is little incentive for people to
cycle or walk because, other than school, there isn't really a destination to go to. It is not too bad for us
because we can get to Grapevine's lake parks. But if I lived further south, it would frustrate me. As the
traffic increases due to increasing housing, it will become even more dangerous to cycle on the roads.
Allowing multi-tenant rental properties within the cities boundaries.
Housing Development
lack of affordable housing for retirees
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RESIDENTIAL/HOUSING
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Growth and affordable housing.
Honestly, I think we need to slow down a bit. I believe we are overbuilding homes and businesses. Slow
down and focus.
Keeping the housing under control by not allowing huge houses on such little plots.
Density. Southlake is known for its lovely neighborhoods. No need for multiple family dwellings.
Starting to feel a little overcrowded, especially in the townsquare-central market area. I.e. too many cars,
not enough ground lots. Garages are very inconvenient and dangerous with all the huge cars around
here.
Biggest threat is commercial exploitation of developers trying to derive maximal financial gain without
regard to adjoining residential values and quality of life.
Affordable housing. The city is becoming too expensive for even middle class families. There needs to be
some diversity to benefit all of us.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Overcrowding, congestion, schools becoming crowded due to so much building!
High density home construction impacting school/class size
Increased business/residences that leads to increased traffic, crime, overcrowding of schools,...
Maintaining excellent school system, and keep to single high school strucutre. Vibrant community is built
around a great school system, and everyone is a Dragon theme, which leads to continual new and young
families. I left Coppell after 12 years and moved to Southlake 18 months ago, because Coppell is no
longer attracting enough young families, and this has lead to them letting in area apartments and families
from Lewisville/Carrollton into the Coppell ISD.
lack of private schools
School funding,
funding of schools, alcohol & drug use in schools
Education. The schools are exceptional, however as a new parent, I am strongly looking at schools that
offer International Baccalaureate (IB) programs who introduce a second language in elementary school
as well as require community service. An IB program would help Southlake compete with schools like
Westlake Academy and raise our educational recognition even higher.
Maintaining how government business is going well Safety with schools, and car traffic Grow business in
Southlake
Challenge of keeping the school districts exemplary.
I think it is great that the city is letting kids that live in Southlake but are in other school districts such as
Keller have the option to go to Southlake Schools. This would be great to make this permanent. Great
decision. The other item is to keep the City safe from drug dealers trying to us homes here with hidden
drug labs in the city. The other item is to require home owners to keep up their property which the city is
doing a good job doing. The challenge is for the city to continue this trend and not let areas deteriate.
The sad fact that most people put up a for sale sign in their yard upon the graduation of their last child
from Carroll schools. We do not provide an affordable alternative to the 1/2 - 1 acre yard.
Getting more money for schools, less to robin hood plan
Controlling growth in the schools
Keeping the schools top notch. The high schools seem to be lacking compared to our neighboring
districts.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Keeping our schools ranked high. The latest reports show us ranking below Grapevine/Colleyville. This
really needs to be a focus.
Allowing multi housing, apartments, in our city. They lower the style of living in Southlake, and crowd the
schools.
Maintaining the culture of an affluent small town with great schools and sense of community.
Propert taxation and school funding
-Economic stability and growth -Population control -Maintaining strong schools system while dealing with
state funding issues
Apartments being added to the town square have the ability to destroy the city. Once these apartments
get in 114 will be line with apartment building causing overcrowding in the schools.
Education budget cuts.
School safety
Population Growth. Southlake needs for its new construction to be single-family housing on lots of at least
a half-acre. Even better would be full-acre lots for new construction. We can't add many more children to
our schools or cars to our roads.
Maintain quality education
Lack of growth for too many schools.
Maintaining school system reputation
Academics in Southlake schools have to be more competitive nationally.
Continuing to make people want to live in Southlake so that they see the value in the schools, the safety
and the "bubble"
Maintaining excellent school system, and keep to single high school strucutre. Vibrant community is built
around a great school system, and everyone is a Dragon theme, which leads to continual new and young
families. I left Coppell after 12 years and moved to Southlake 18 months ago, because Coppell is no
longer attracting enough young families, and this has lead to them letting in area apartments and families
from Lewisville/Carrollton into the Coppell ISD.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Keeping the schools strong, safe. This is what has fueled the growth and environment of Southlake.
Currently we do not have kids in school. We need to keep the schools in the tops of the DFW area to
continue the attraction of Southlake. Southlake is also having a lot of empty nesters in the area so they
have to pay attention to this growth area. We are paying high taxes to keep the schools strong without
having students enrolled.
Too much spending on athletics in the schools
RETIREES WANTING TO CUT SCHOOL FUNDING BECAUSE THEIR KIDS HAVE GRADUATED, AND
NOW THEY CARE LESS ABOUT THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION. AS EDUCATION QUALITY GOES,
SO WILL GO SOUTHLAKE
controlling growth, worried the school system will get overloaded.
Keep improving infrastructure including parks, rec facilities and schools.
We had a terrible entry into The Senior High School. We wanted to register for classes in April, so that we
could be prepared. We were told we could not register into the system and for classes until August, two
weeks before school started. We regretfully registered in August. My daughter went to her classes and
found out there was Summer homework. She started her year being behind. This was devastating to her
especially in her class of literature. I got a call the first day from her literature teacher saying my daughter
did not do her Summer homework. I tried to explain that we could register until August. The teacher had
no consideration for our situation. I tried to contact the Principal and left messages to have him call me
back. He never returned my call. My daughter had always done her homework in the past, and was a
straight A student since first grade. I could not get anyone to listen to me about this matter. My daughter
quickly got behind and quit doing any homework. She was very depressed and her grades dropped. We
had the worst two years in school that we have ever had. It changed everything. I couldn't get her out of
bed in the morning. She was tardy every day. You need to register students before Summer Break, and
make sure they are aware of Summer homework. This affects so many areas a child's life.
Controlled growth with remaining undeveloped residential and commercial real estate to ensure the same
quality of life features that attracted most of us to this area. The school system, the roadways and city
infrastructure cannot be compromised by short-term thinking on attracting new residents and businesses
to the area.
School funding
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
The safety and moral compass of our students. We have young children and are frightened by what we
see and read regarding some young adults. Southlake suffered the loss of several students and families
in the last few years, and I hope some of the loss can bring about positive awareness.
The senior high school should be split. It is not just about 22 football players, it is about educating and
giving all students a chance. Southlake places too much emphasis on 22 people while short changing the
other 1000 students. And I am quite confident whoever reads this will just blow this comment off, but
before you do, I was first team all-conference in a major sport at a university. Education is not just about a
limited number of students.
Drug/alcohol/bullying in the schools
Schools
Education - we need to ensure that our school system continues to be see as one of the premier districts
in the metroplex.
overcrowding of high schools with new residential building
Drug use in high schools
Traffic down Southlake Blvd. The Robin Hood Act. Increased crime. The 10% rule - our students are
outstanding and the 10% rule prevents many of our seniors from going to Texas schools. (State issue I
know:)
Putting in apartments that are planned will be too high priced and you will end up with an economic
disaster from a tax perspective and will be forced to lease at loss or worse high vacancies and delinquent
tax challenges. I only have a year and one half to go until children are out of High School. I will sell the
day after my son graduates. Additionally the School district has the poorest reputation from our personal
experience regarding the care and handling of children with disabilities and I continue to recommend to
people moving hear to go to either Colleyville or Grapevine as they have better support. I moved an entire
corporation here with over 1100 employees a significant majority moved into Southlake. I remain very
sorry that I recommend the move to my corporate headquarters based upon the reputation of the school
district which turned out to be false.
Overcrowding in schools and overdevelopment.
Drug and alcohol abuse in the schools
Our schools are bearing the brunt of over population. I am an active volunteer mom, and I constantly hear
complains about the tightening school budget, about the surge in students now that the city has opened
it's schools to bordering areas. If multifamily housing is next, we can expect Carroll ISD to go the same
route as Coppell and others. Start out excelling, and then losing the chance to keep at the top. We moved
here for the schools. Coppell was getting congested, and the schools were suffering, specially the high
school. This might become the fate of Southlake as well. I sure do hope it doesn't.
Traffic that is only going to get even worse, especially around the schools and on 1709.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Drugs in our schools. Unfortunately, I have personal knowledge of the drug scene in Southlake. And as
the experts in the field in this area that I have had to become aquanted with have told me, "It is epidemic
in Southlake" I would have to agree with them. I am awarte SL has been trying to get a permanent DEA
position and I have been to the SPIN meetings . I think what needs to be done is someone, Chief of
Police or Mayor come out and say it, SL has a drug problem so parents can be informed now, before it is
to lateand effects there family.
education
overcrowding schools
How are we paying for the budget shortfall for our schools? Last year it was stated that there is a $3
million shortfall. How is this being addressed?
Education
Keeping the schools top notch. The high schools seem to be lacking compared to our neighboring
districts.
Keeping up proper funding in order to continue to provide an excellent school system.
Density of housing and the strain on resources, particularly overcrowding in schools.
Making sure that our schools have adequate ratios of teachers to children. Based on the fast growth, I'm
a bit fearful that our classes will get too big hindering the learning experience of our children.
Maintaining the quality of schools and managing development.
Oil & gas drilling. There is money in the ground for city, school and individuals. AND, harvesting of that
natural resource has been prevented by a few. And, these few are not hesitant to use those resources
(from other sources).
Maintaining our school quality
Drugs in school and teens roaming town square
balancing great schools and property taxes
Money for the schools.
Education. The schools are exceptional, however as a new parent, I am strongly looking at schools that
offer International Baccalaureate (IB) programs who introduce a second language in elementary school
as well as require community service. An IB program would help Southlake compete with schools like
Westlake Academy and raise our educational recognition even higher.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Kids in high school need to have more balanced lives. They give the kids WAY too much homework if
they're in the higher level classes and it stresses them all out. Also, there should be some rule about
teacher's ability to text the kids all hours of the day and night. Back in the day, once you left school, you
knew what needed to be done for the next day, etc. and that was it. These days the kids get home and
the teacher may text the kids about some new test for the next class, give more info about some project
due, etc. Bottom line is that the kids have NO DOWN TIME and that is just not healthy!
City is reaching capacity and the empty nesters are choosing to stay in their homes. This reduces kids in
the schools which affects our school funding. We must keep the superior quality of our schools as a top
priority.
Growing excess Taxes (mostly on school spending)
Zoning. We cannot change our zoning beliefs for larger, single family homes and give into developers'
wishes. Yes, families do want to downsize once they are empty nesters, however, if you build smaller
homes and/or apartment type complexes, then they will be sought after by families with children. Most of
us moved into Southlake for the excellent schools. Unfortunately, excellence and economics go hand-inhand.
School financing
Maintaining Exemplary schools to support our real estate values
I'd like to see more street lights -- especially at the entrances/exits to schools (like CHS on Whites
Chapel). There are many evening activities and with limited parking, people will often walk from nearby
neighborhoods. It's hard to see people, and even to see the entrances when driving. Perhaps adding
lighting to the beautiful Southlake signs showing where things are (schools, shopping, etc.) so they can
be seen better after dark.
Drugs in school
keep the city from turning more urban (condos, reduction of plot sizes etc)
How to create an academic climate with high expectations without putting too much pressure on our kids.
Traffic, and overcrowding of homes.. We need to curtail building . We need to redraw our school
boundaries and have only city of southlake residences attending our schools. Not Grapevine or Keller
Zoning. Please listen to the citizens who do not want less than 1/2 lots. Certainly no apartments. Our
schools are full and struggling.
Maintaining an excellent school system and community. Keep property values up.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
ScN: traffic...whatever happened to a small town quality of life? Two areas/sections of Southlake Blvd
could be improved. The City could take a lead role/involve with other respective agencies...to add a
pedestrian bridge across Southlake Blvd connecting Town Square and the Shops of Southlake (Central
Market shopping center). The added bridge would reduce the traffic around this section of Southlake Blvd
during holiday seasons, special events, and weekends. Secondly, another section of Southlake Blvd
could be improved is the interception between the Boulevard and Peytonville Ave. I am no traffic
engineer, but why is there a U-turn to the Senior High School when heading west? Last time I checked,
the legal address of CSHS is on Southlake Blvd. The medians on Southlake Blvd physically eliminates an
entrance to one of the City's most active destinations. An improvement could be made by reducing the
deceleration lane for Southridge Lake neighborhood (have not seen traffic backup on this lane going to
this neighborhood), and add a left-turn lane (heading west) for the senior high school. Last but not least,
the City could add a roundabout at the interception between White Chapel and Highland Street. This
would reduce the traffic backups during school zone hours and weekday's between 5 to 7pm. The traffic
backup extends to Hwy 114 on any given days.
As with all growing cities, it is a challenge to keep pace with the population in terms of schools, shopping,
traffic, etc. I think Southlake works very hard to keep pace.
Building too many houses on very small lots, therefore crushing CISD with huge enrollment issues. The
City seems to disregard this issue, however, parents of CISD students do not. We have seen class sizes
increase every year for the past 5 years.
Keeping quality of schools at the highest level ever to attract more gifted and talented students and
teachers
The schools financial program
Hate is being taught in our schools and churches. Hypocrisy by self proclaimed Christians who say they
are prolife but support gun violence, hate to others, and refuse to support our school systems with tax
increases
Not over-building more neighborhood to keep from over-crowding our schools
Maintaining quality of the city's schools
Schools will be so over crowded because of greedy politicians and shady builders
School financing though, am not sure that is a city responsibility. I also think that getting more industry in
town to provice tax revenue without increasing demands on schools and reliance on retail sales is
important. To date, I have seen large tracts of land go for housing and not for job industrial/professional
jobs except for the many many doctors/dentist offices. Westlake has Fidelity. We need some similar tax
generating professional businesses.
Too much growth. We like the small town feel with good schools and open space.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
The city becoming too large and not being able to support the needs of the community. All the housing
going in and the school system. The roads being too crowded. No one wants to live in another Dallas.
Retail stores becoming abandon buildings. Because there are too many of them.
School and City Safety. Seems like daily you see someone going crazy in the news.
TRaffic Drugs in School
Multi-family housing, no more should be allowed. Our schools are great and to add that element, will only
bring our schools down and hurt the main attraction that brings quality people to live in Southlake.
I think Southlake should re- open the debate over fracking . Those resources will be removed by drilling
efforts that surround this city, and Southlake citizens will be denied the royalties from same. I will not vote
for anyone who opposes such drilling, especially when they are benefitting from same. We need to face
fiscal reality. The city can use the revenue to create a rainy day fund and the local citizens could do the
same. I think it is prudent given the current economic conditions to be pro-active and take advantage of
this economic opportunity.
Getting more money for schools, less to robin hood plan
Schools and paying teachers competitive to keep the great teachers in the district
Finance impacts of school age children getting older.
Property Taxes have made it hard to live here. The poor use of taxes on posh government offices smacks
of Washington. I raised several kids here and know firsthand the quality of education is ABYSMAL. Many
of my neighbors home schooled their kids and now I know why. The monstrous single high school system
guarantees that 99% of male kids will have a ZERO role in sports... so they will have to resort to video
games hanging out at malls and looking for a bad element to associate with. Great thinking there. But at
least you have a great football stadium.... and about 40 kids with hair dyed blond during playoffs so the
cops --- oopsey --- don't arrest a football player by mistake in one their teen party dragnets for MIC. IF
you don't think that's the reason for the dyed hair, you are naive.
Continuing the excellence of education while providing quality teachers.
Maintaining premier school system and overall high quality of life.
Keeping schools in the top tier
With still more population growth and housing being built, more walking trails, and natural green areas,
bike paths etc. 2 separate High Schools for greater Varsity, Jr Varsity and competitive opportunities for
the growing student population. One High school does not allow for these opportunities. Winning a State
Football championship with an elite team is not the most important experience for students in High
School, having opportunities to try,to compete and explore interests is hugely valuable and should be
offered to a greater number.
Maintaining premier school system and overall high quality of life.
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Special interests gaining influence, driving decisions, and railroading over individual property rights. I was
very disappointed when the current city managers sided with the school district to put up lights at the
senior high school due to majority pressure rather than do the right thing by all of its citizens, even if
unpopular, and lead by honoring past promises made. We need principled leadership that see that our
values, things like integrity and trust, are more important in planning our future than simply giving people
what they want. We need leadership not just management. Southlake needs to better define who we are,
what we value and stand for, before we decide what we should do to improve our collective quality of life.
High taxes and inability to adequately fund public schools.
Maintaining/Improving the high standards of eduction and extra curricular activites at all levels of our
schools The federal government targeting higher end communities and forcing them to include low
income housing. Growth...should be controlled and planned.
Many farms are being converted to housing estates. Will the roads be able to tolerate the increased
traffic? Will people be able to walk around, ie. sidewalks and paths for cycling? Are some areas being
preserved for parks? I am relieved to see some parks finally being developed in Southlake, but I realize
that is a very low priority. There aren't little neighborhood stores. So, there is little incentive for people to
cycle or walk because, other than school, there isn't really a destination to go to. It is not too bad for us
because we can get to Grapevine's lake parks. But if I lived further south, it would frustrate me. As the
traffic increases due to increasing housing, it will become even more dangerous to cycle on the roads.
Controlling growth in the schools
School, School, School is TOP priority.
Keeping drugs out of Southlake. My kids are grown and didn't attend SL schools but I keep hearing how
bad the drug problem is at the schools. I read about the high school student who died and then the lawyer
who was shot by the Mexico drug mafia. Scary stuff! The police are doing a good job of staying on top of
the drug problem but it is a problem that can quickly escalate out of control. I think looking for the drug
pushers who are selling it to SL kids should always be a top priority.
schools - keeping drugs out
Maintain property values and improve performance of schools.
schools and continuing to have great teachers, upset that no Spanish is offered for younger grades
traffic and school funding
Water usage, wasteful spending among school officials in the name of "keeping schools excellent". Im in
support of school excellence but not when its wasteful. Also Keep out high density housing!!!!
Kids in high school need to have more balanced lives. They give the kids WAY too much homework if
they're in the higher level classes and it stresses them all out. Also, there should be some rule about
teacher's ability to text the kids all hours of the day and night. Back in the day, once you left school, you
knew what needed to be done for the next day, etc. and that was it. These days the kids get home and
the teacher may text the kids about some new test for the next class, give more info about some project
due, etc. Bottom line is that the kids have NO DOWN TIME and that is just not healthy!
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
BUSINESS/COMMERCE
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
During the past four or so years, 1709 has had continual construction of one sort or another, which has
affected travel on that same highway. Needless to say many travelers have chosen alternate routes,
Continental Blvd being one of them. This has caused a huge amount of traffic in the morning and
evening. There have been times I have had to wait 15 minutes just to turn onto Continental from
Oakwood Trail. I find this to be a huge inconvenience. At times it is almost impossible to turn west due to
the amount of traffic and then once there it takes forever to get to Davis Blvd. Ever since the unnecessary
modification of 1709 into a boulevard we have had to endure this non-stop traffic overflow due to all the
new 1709 projects: Boulevard, sidewalks, extra turn lanes, landscapers blocking lanes to plant flowers,
etc. You folks at city hall know all the stuff that has been going on with 1709 over these past few years, a
lot of which is unnecessary in my opinion. If anyone thinks all that "stuff" that was plopped in the center of
1709 has made things better then I would say they have too much spare time on their hands. If one has
shopping to do on the north and south sides of 1709, U-turns are necessary and in my book are a safety
hazard. When I first moved here it only took me about five minutes to get to downtown Grapevine; now it
takes me longer than that just to exit my street; that's a nice improvement. Yes, there is a lot of fine
shopping around here but it isn't convenient due to access and travel time. What is my answer? I shop on
the Internet; I don't have to drive from store to store looking for what I want. The truth is, Loew's,
PetSmart, Home DePot and Walmart are the only places I shop in this town due to the hassle of getting
around in it. As an example, I use the post office in Colleyville rather than the one in Town Center.
Continued development of the Town Square area to include more living options to make it a vibrant lived
in community and not just a shopping and dining center
Increased business/residences that leads to increased traffic, crime, overcrowding of schools,...
Attracting the right kind of shopping and restaurants
safety of kids at school and in town square
Out of touch city council. The city council should focus the city on providing basic services (police, fire,
water) and basic infrastructure (parks, libraries) and doing that well and efficiently. Other kinds of
plans/controls should be left to the people. Businesses are trying to come here, there's no reason to try to
attract them, unless the city council is interested in some kind of payoff.
when you put a shopping center in MORE PARKING!!! most of the centers you have approved DO NOT
have parking for customers after the staff parks
I'm concerned that there is too much retail and restaurant development on the horizon and there is not
enough population to support it. When Del Frisco's opens, will the same number of people go to
Trulucks? I hope an unintended cannibalization does not occur where businesses and restaurants are
eating each other alive.
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BUSINESS/COMMERCE
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Traffic and parking especially in and around the town square area. There should be restrictions on "U"
turns at the major intersections (Carroll and 1709, Kimble and 1709). With new construction like Del
Frisco parking spaces will be at a premium in that south east section, hopefully a multi-level parking
structure would ease the pressure for spaces to car.
Over crowding, and places for lease, both of which are adding to themselves daily with homes being built
on 0 lot lines, and stip centers being built, when there are plenty of spaces for rent without building strip
centers. If you check in other cities adjacent to ours and see what the strip centers look like today. It is
really very ugly and not original which would benefit our city.
Vibrant Town Square - more residence need to be built to keep the life of the city businesses healthy
Maintaining how government business is going well Safety with schools, and car traffic Grow business in
Southlake
Financial solvency - maintaining sufficient retail/commercial to assist the tax base.
Keeping the traffic congestion under control especially around Town Square.
Attracting new businesses with high-paying jobs. We have enough restaurants with low wage jobs. More
retail is not what we need.
Apartments being added to the town square have the ability to destroy the city. Once these apartments
get in 114 will be line with apartment building causing overcrowding in the schools.
Bringing in more business to help reduce the tax rate.
Maintaining a tax base with limited businesses and only single family housing.
Lots of restaurants come and go. I worry about over extending the retail end and not being able to sustain
businesses in the infrastructure that is built or being built
Southlake today is the perfect balance and seems to be thriving compared to other cities/towns. The
biggest issue is how do you maintain without overdevloping? If you continue developing at the current
pace the balance will be lost and the quality of life will diminish as crime, traffic, noise, commercial
lighting, etc. creep into our neighborhoods.
The over building of residential and commercial sites - and the depletion of open spaces.
I do not care for the level of residential and commercial construction and its impact on the attractive
green/undisturbed land within the city. I do not like the prospect of Southlake becoming a congested
concrete mess. How many free-standing pizza restaurants do we really need. And what will become of
these buildings once they fall out of favor. One building that comes to mind is the eyesore that once was
Gateway church. One occurrence would have me seriously consider moving from Southlake: The
construction of anything but single-family dwelling. The townhomes are as close as we need to get to
that. Love the city. Love the schools. Love the parks and recreation.
too many strip malls
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BUSINESS/COMMERCE
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Maintain the small town feel, and do not cave in to the potential to dense up the city. Also, keep saying
'no' to certain types of businesses that do not belong inside our borders.
Filling empty commercial spaces - and sidewalks!
Expansion of the Southlake Retail without major significant attention to what will happen to road traffic at
Southlake Bld and Carroll. It is already bad and new development has only just now started. 2 years from
now it will be much worse. Southlake Blvd needs multiple dedicated turning lanes in all directions at that
intersection.
Maintaining our way of life without pricing retirees out of a place to live due to taxes. We need to
encourage more businesses (e.g., Westlake)to share the tax burden. Speaking of Westlake and taxes,
we need liquor stores in Southlake. I suspect 99.9% of the Southlake households visit the liquor store
during the course of a year. Why should those tax dollars go to Westlake, Colleyville, etc.?
Out of control development with reduced lot sizes and more and more strip shopping centers when there
are already vacancies in existing commercial locations.
developing land already prepared for additional retail/commercial. For example finish the development on
114 frontage from Center to Carroll.
With the continual building of homes and businesses in southlake, traffic issues will grow. There is already
significant issues with the concrete medians on Southlake Boulevard and many near misses in people
doing u-turns in traffic. Most times, they have no other option but to do a U-turn given the location of the
business they are trying to get to.
attitude seems to be spend first and then think it out. spending money on the 1709 project for example,
and then adding outdate interior landscaping was not well thought out. another example appears to be to
approve additional restaurants in town square, then come back later and address the overburdened
Carroll Avenue and town square traffic patterns.
Maintaining a small town feel and the sense of community that goes with it. Slowing down retail
development and not being so quick to grant variances to every builder that wants to decrease lot sizes
would help. At the same time, I recognize the importance of a vibrant downtown and retail business maybe it's figuring out the balance...
Traffic!!! I understand that the city did not have a choice in putting the barriers up on SL Blvd, but it is a
mess! Adding additional retail and potentially stacked residential (apartments) at Town Square will
compound an already big problem. I have already curbed my shopping at Town Square because it's such
a headache getting in, out, around, and finding parking when I am there.
Controlled growth with remaining undeveloped residential and commercial real estate to ensure the same
quality of life features that attracted most of us to this area. The school system, the roadways and city
infrastructure cannot be compromised by short-term thinking on attracting new residents and businesses
to the area.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
BUSINESS/COMMERCE
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
How to maintain what our situation is with great housing, shopping, restaurants, etc.
The city is very torn about apartments (i.e, condos) and new development with smaller lots. I would love
this issue to resolve in a fashion that it both good to the developers and businesses who will benefit, and
also to appease the group who believes that "Southlake's population is big enough".
Sustaining businesses and mom & pop eateries -- enough of the chain restaurants!
Lack of a large, modern industrial park, a sound strong base of taxation. The North side of HWY 114 ,
ideal for business, was given to a "non-profit" entity !!??!! Boutiques are frail in an economic turmoil.
Water availability and cost. There is no grandfather plan for existing property on large lots vs. current
smaller lots and future development. Growth and support of business outside of Town Square. It appears
that Town Square get's preferential treatment.
capacity and retention - as the city approaches capacity the priority will need to shift from development
and recruitment to a long term plan of retention for residents and business. maintenance, lifestyle and
safety
Possibility of over building for retail space and not being able to maintain consistent occupancy. Oil drilling
practices and ensuring our safety is priority.
To maintain the highest quality of homes and commercial built out.
Car and pedestrian traffic flow and safety. Sidewalks, crosswalks, lights, etc in and around town square.
Potential traffic issues with the influx of new businesses. Example sideline fresco grille. Recommend that
speed limit be lowered.
Over commercialization of beautiful farmland. There are plenty enough neighborhoods. Plenty enough tax
dollars. Restrict growth. Cap total number of households. Restrict density. Embrace code restrictions on
zero lot line construction and mega-unit condo/apartment additions to town center. Think I'm crazy? Head
over to town square for the holiday lighting ceremony. If the city becomes a crowded zoo who will want to
come?
Traffic congestion. With more and more businesses coming in and more housing planned it will only get
worse. Stick with low density housing and limit the number of businesses. It would be preferred to expand
to other areas of the city instead of having all retail on Southlake Blvd.
Air traffic noise, concerned about overdevelopment of Town Square, traffic between 114 & N. Carroll Ave,
and development of parks and pathways in Southlake.
Expanding business opportunites for revenue generation
Balancing the economic drivers in Southlake. Today, retail sales / shopping is primary driver. Southlake
needs to attract higher end office development
Completing Town Square in a way that brings in high end retailers and solidifies the competitiveness for
the future.
Maintaining property values, a vibrant commercial base and water conservation
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
BUSINESS/COMMERCE
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
ScN: traffic...whatever happened to a small town quality of life? Two areas/sections of Southlake Blvd
could be improved. The City could take a lead role/involve with other respective agencies...to add a
pedestrian bridge across Southlake Blvd connecting Town Square and the Shops of Southlake (Central
Market shopping center). The added bridge would reduce the traffic around this section of Southlake Blvd
during holiday seasons, special events, and weekends. Secondly, another section of Southlake Blvd
could be improved is the interception between the Boulevard and Peytonville Ave. I am no traffic
engineer, but why is there a U-turn to the Senior High School when heading west? Last time I checked,
the legal address of CSHS is on Southlake Blvd. The medians on Southlake Blvd physically eliminates an
entrance to one of the City's most active destinations. An improvement could be made by reducing the
deceleration lane for Southridge Lake neighborhood (have not seen traffic backup on this lane going to
this neighborhood), and add a left-turn lane (heading west) for the senior high school. Last but not least,
the City could add a roundabout at the interception between White Chapel and Highland Street. This
would reduce the traffic backups during school zone hours and weekday's between 5 to 7pm. The traffic
backup extends to Hwy 114 on any given days.
traffic.....in and out of town square
Not Sure. Perhaps with Southlake being nearly built out, how to control "unnecessary" retail growth.
Abandoned retail space is unsightly.
The apartment or condo project at Town Square.
Getting too crowded. Too much traffic. Too many vacant businesses. Too many small neighborhoods
being allowed to squeeze into the community.
Maintaining business
Property Taxes have made it hard to live here. The poor use of taxes on posh government offices smacks
of Washington. I raised several kids here and know firsthand the quality of education is ABYSMAL. Many
of my neighbors home schooled their kids and now I know why. The monstrous single high school system
guarantees that 99% of male kids will have a ZERO role in sports... so they will have to resort to video
games hanging out at malls and looking for a bad element to associate with. Great thinking there. But at
least you have a great football stadium.... and about 40 kids with hair dyed blond during playoffs so the
cops --- oopsey --- don't arrest a football player by mistake in one their teen party dragnets for MIC. IF
you don't think that's the reason for the dyed hair, you are naive.
Housing for seniors that is affordable and designed for that population, and close to town center for easy
access to shopping needs
Too much crowding of stores.
Growth of retail areas
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
BUSINESS/COMMERCE
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Development. There is way too much development going on to build medical buildings and retail space
that never gets filled - what's wrong with green space?? We have too many strip centers that have
uninteresting shops that move around when a new strip center is built leaving others vacant. Also, a long
time ago when this city started growing it was made clear that there would not be multi-family housing that is what sets Southlake apart from Plano, Frisco, etc. Now we as citizens are having to fight for this apartments are not good for city economy and school quality. When you pay property taxes you care
more about what is going on in your city.
Keeping the tax base up with business that produce a good tax base.
Attracting new business.
Not overbuilding our retail and dining areas.
Again, kind of new here, but my only issue is how far away a good department store is.
Honestly, I think we need to slow down a bit. I believe we are overbuilding homes and businesses. Slow
down and focus.
Answered on previous overbuilding shopping centers, low rise medical and professional buildings may be
a better use.
How to deal with this enormous growth. While this has been good for businesses in our area it threatens
the quality of life in our "small-town" community.
Continuing to develop the remainder of the city in the quality manner we have developed to this point,
growing the tax base with quality long-term tenants, but keeping an emphasis on residents (taxpayers)
and their quality of life / safety / security / traffic. General thoughts are that the median placed down 1709
has created more problems than it solved, as U-Turns being required to get where you're going is more
dangerous than the left-hand turns that were made before. It has also been detrimental to many
businesses - if too hard to get to, people just go elsewhere.
better Water supply More parking in town square.
I really can't say other than maybe not being as restrictive in allowing new commercial/retail business to
come in...
Starting to feel a little overcrowded, especially in the townsquare-central market area. I.e. too many cars,
not enough ground lots. Garages are very inconvenient and dangerous with all the huge cars around
here.
Traffic and road congestion. I know TXDOT is responsible for the 1709 median but we need to address
how poorly it has served some areas. The shopping plaza at 1709 and Davis for example. Exiting to go
west or south is very difficult. We also need 2 turn lanes from 1709 westbound onto Davis. I see cars
using private parking lots as a cut-through while doing u-turn (Golden Triangle Veterinary parking lot is a
prime example of this).
While there are open office space and store fronts, Southlake continues to build new sites.
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Q9 - KEYWORD: TAXES
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
keeping housing standards high and not lowering standards/changing zoning just to allow more residents
and tax dollars
Increasing tax rate.
Robin Hood school tax
Continued quality development while not compromising to improve tax base
Developing property tax base beyond residential (ie office and commercial) It is too late probably by now
but explore commuter train station and adjoining housing and commercial along SR 26 (ie at Brumlow/26
and around Dragon Stadium area)
Financial solvency - maintaining sufficient retail/commercial to assist the tax base.
Managing the business growth to strike the right balance between positive cash flow from commercial
taxes and too much traffic in the area.
A pro development view by the City Council is problematic in that development comes before quality, and
that is troubling. The mayor and his cronies are more focused on growth than quality, quality as defined
by quality of construction, housing density, style of the neighborhoods, and they are willing to sacrifice
that quality in place of the original the original master plan. I came here for low density, quality of life, and
have paid the taxes to have that.
Keeping property taxes down.
Propert taxation and school funding
lowering taxes
There are a few to look at: Getting our own -lower costs water supply throughout the city and reducing the
High Property taxes/ adding more restaurants/businesses.
Lowering property taxes to be more in line with surrounding cities.
Bringing in more business to help reduce the tax rate.
Managing growth, real estate taxes and public safety as state and federal aid declines with budget
deficits.
We think the biggest issue facing the City is fiscal responsibility and managing the budget. It is important
to keep the city safe, well-run, and attractive, but it is also important to reduce waste and be good
stewards of the taxpayer money as well.
Maintain property values and improve performance of schools.
high taxes drive out residents after their children finish school
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Q9 - KEYWORD: TAXES
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Retaining the benefit of as much of our tax dollars as possible.
Keeping property taxes in line
Keeping the schools strong, safe. This is what has fueled the growth and environment of Southlake.
Currently we do not have kids in school. We need to keep the schools in the tops of the DFW area to
continue the attraction of Southlake. Southlake is also having a lot of empty nesters in the area so they
have to pay attention to this growth area. We are paying high taxes to keep the schools strong without
having students enrolled.
keeping real estate taxes at a minimum. The city already boasts some of the highest rates in the state.
The city needs to be villagent in minding its expenses so it doesn't need to raise taxes.
Maintaining our way of life without pricing retirees out of a place to live due to taxes. We need to
encourage more businesses (e.g., Westlake)to share the tax burden. Speaking of Westlake and taxes,
we need liquor stores in Southlake. I suspect 99.9% of the Southlake households visit the liquor store
during the course of a year. Why should those tax dollars go to Westlake, Colleyville, etc.?
Lower the tax rate.
Maintaining excellent services while keeping tax rates low.
High taxes and traffic
Maintaining a tax base with limited businesses and only single family housing.
Property Taxes and taxes base utilization.
Density !!! It seems that the city will allow any developer to come in and build a bunch of large homes on
small lots. I realize that this is economically necessary for the developer to make a oodles of money for
his risk but the city loses sight of the longer term negatives associated with this practice. Too many
people in big homes which lose their attractiveness to couples who have to move after the kids graduate
due to large tax and maintenance bills. Too few smaller homes on generous lots are available. This also
contributes to the water drainage and traffic problems. The city should concentrate on getting good tax
revenues from businesses not homeowners. Check out the real estate listings; today there are 44 homes
listed for sale with a minimum price of $1 million.
high taxes drive out residents after their children finish school
Holding the line on taxes, not spending beyond our means
Limited housing for active baby boomers. Small lots, condo buildings, or condo style patio homes. Other
communities are pulling the baby boomers away. These are people who are empty nesters, still willing to
pay Southlake's high property taxes, and don't tax the services... Just spend lots shopping & eating out in
Southlake.
Propert taxation and school funding
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Q9 - KEYWORD: TAXES
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
balancing great schools and property taxes
Taxes are too high
Keeping taxes down.
Property taxes too high
Don't know any real issues. I've seen a few leave the area due to high property taxes, but not sure that's
an issue facing the city.
Traffic, high tax rate
Lack of a large, modern industrial park, a sound strong base of taxation. The North side of HWY 114 ,
ideal for business, was given to a "non-profit" entity !!??!! Boutiques are frail in an economic turmoil.
Putting in apartments that are planned will be too high priced and you will end up with an economic
disaster from a tax perspective and will be forced to lease at loss or worse high vacancies and delinquent
tax challenges. I only have a year and one half to go until children are out of High School. I will sell the
day after my son graduates. Additionally the School district has the poorest reputation from our personal
experience regarding the care and handling of children with disabilities and I continue to recommend to
people moving hear to go to either Colleyville or Grapevine as they have better support. I moved an entire
corporation here with over 1100 employees a significant majority moved into Southlake. I remain very
sorry that I recommend the move to my corporate headquarters based upon the reputation of the school
district which turned out to be false.
Planning for fiscal responsibility as the city buildout occurs and the fiscal growth potential decreases.
Without careful planning, tax increases are certain in that scenario.
Rising taxes and cost of living.
The rising cost of living here will result in more folks who don't plan to stay very long. This short term
thinking will lead to more folks not caring about what happens with the city or it's future. It very important
to keep taxes as low as possible with a focus on business development.
Strong tax base and financial security
Stabile finances, lower taxes.
Over commercialization of beautiful farmland. There are plenty enough neighborhoods. Plenty enough tax
dollars. Restrict growth. Cap total number of households. Restrict density. Embrace code restrictions on
zero lot line construction and mega-unit condo/apartment additions to town center. Think I'm crazy? Head
over to town square for the holiday lighting ceremony. If the city becomes a crowded zoo who will want to
come?
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Q9 - KEYWORD: TAXES
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Growing excess Taxes (mostly on school spending)
Tax revenue grouth and the overall taxes to each home owner. I can't retire in Southlake as the property
taxes are to high.
Maintaining an equitable and balanced tax base. Too much commercial development along the main (only
?) corridor, 1709. The traffic is already problematic, particularly toward the eastern end. The center
parkings (medians) create a driving hazard, created by people having to U-turn on green left turn arrows,
while cars on cross street traffic are making legal right turns on red. That and just heavy volume.
Over development. I have lived in and outside of many cities across America. We chose Southlake
because of the mixture of neighborhoods and green space. There has been significant development in
the past 5 years, and I don't want to encounter the traffic problems and the loss of green space that I
have seen cities encounter because of their desire for more tax money.
Controlling Property Taxes on residential population
Staying within our city financial budgets and minimizing taxes.
for me it is the rising costs of living in Southlake.... taxes, water, refuse, drainage, sewers, ...these are
growing beyond my senior fixed income.
Hate is being taught in our schools and churches. Hypocrisy by self proclaimed Christians who say they
are prolife but support gun violence, hate to others, and refuse to support our school systems with tax
increases
Again, high density rental property; this DOES NOT belong in our community. The second highest issue
are taxes. We need to reign in spending to keep our property taxes in check.
School financing though, am not sure that is a city responsibility. I also think that getting more industry in
town to provice tax revenue without increasing demands on schools and reliance on retail sales is
important. To date, I have seen large tracts of land go for housing and not for job industrial/professional
jobs except for the many many doctors/dentist offices. Westlake has Fidelity. We need some similar tax
generating professional businesses.
Financial stability. The need to be able to continue to support all of the amenities that make Southlake a
great place to live without increasing taxes.
Financial stability & taxes (be cognizant of spending)
Maintaining our way of life without pricing retirees out of a place to live due to taxes. We need to
encourage more businesses (e.g., Westlake)to share the tax burden. Speaking of Westlake and taxes,
we need liquor stores in Southlake. I suspect 99.9% of the Southlake households visit the liquor store
during the course of a year. Why should those tax dollars go to Westlake, Colleyville, etc.?
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Q9 - KEYWORD: TAXES
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Property Taxes have made it hard to live here. The poor use of taxes on posh government offices smacks
of Washington. I raised several kids here and know firsthand the quality of education is ABYSMAL. Many
of my neighbors home schooled their kids and now I know why. The monstrous single high school system
guarantees that 99% of male kids will have a ZERO role in sports... so they will have to resort to video
games hanging out at malls and looking for a bad element to associate with. Great thinking there. But at
least you have a great football stadium.... and about 40 kids with hair dyed blond during playoffs so the
cops --- oopsey --- don't arrest a football player by mistake in one their teen party dragnets for MIC. IF
you don't think that's the reason for the dyed hair, you are naive.
Residential growth is going to slow which will mean we will have to be more financially responsible as our
tax base won't continue to grow.
Keeping the tax base up with business that produce a good tax base.
High taxes and inability to adequately fund public schools.
The cost of living here. Property taxes force many to leave for financial reasons, as opposed to staying in
retirement.
My property taxes are too high.
Unsustainable pension plans for city employees School system spending tax dollars foolishly
We have a great police department. The biggest issue are the ridiculously high taxes.
Continuing to develop the remainder of the city in the quality manner we have developed to this point,
growing the tax base with quality long-term tenants, but keeping an emphasis on residents (taxpayers)
and their quality of life / safety / security / traffic. General thoughts are that the median placed down 1709
has created more problems than it solved, as U-Turns being required to get where you're going is more
dangerous than the left-hand turns that were made before. It has also been detrimental to many
businesses - if too hard to get to, people just go elsewhere.
Maintaining current structure without large increases in taxes
Too high of taxes
Increasing tax revenue through commercial development.
Taxes
Population growth and property taxes
Retaining the quality of life, safety and property value.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
QUALITY/HIGH STANDARDS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
keeping housing standards high and not lowering standards/changing zoning just to allow more residents
and tax dollars
Finalizing remaining grow out consistent with standards established.
Maintaining our quality of life only Southlake offers
I have already sounded off on the water restrictions so I'll just add this is only going to get worse as our
water resources are depleted. The way the city is handling it now actually turns people off and doesn't do
much to inspire trust in the process. The city will have to continue to manage development wisely, only
approving development that reaches the city's high standards, wile also encouraging walkable
neighborhoods.
Maintaining quality of life
Maintaining the current quality of life, traffic and needs additional things to do besides eating out.
Safety and keeping quality of life by not letting in for rent condos
Maintaining the quality of life that we currently have.
Over population in the area. Too many people causing traffic to increase and quality of life to decrease.
Traffic congestion and maintaining the high standards we expect of our city. This includes not relaxing
standards for new development and continuing the policy of no apartment construction.
Vibrant Town Square - more residence need to be built to keep the life of the city businesses healthy
Maintaining the life style and value over the next 20 years.
Maintaining the high standards that are present. We cannot backslide by allowing multi-family housing,
etc.
A pro development view by the City Council is problematic in that development comes before quality, and
that is troubling. The mayor and his cronies are more focused on growth than quality, quality as defined
by quality of construction, housing density, style of the neighborhoods, and they are willing to sacrifice
that quality in place of the original the original master plan. I came here for low density, quality of life, and
have paid the taxes to have that.
Figuring out growth versus quality of living.
Maintaining excellent school system, and keep to single high school strucutre. Vibrant community is built
around a great school system, and everyone is a Dragon theme, which leads to continual new and young
families. I left Coppell after 12 years and moved to Southlake 18 months ago, because Coppell is no
longer attracting enough young families, and this has lead to them letting in area apartments and families
from Lewisville/Carrollton into the Coppell ISD.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
QUALITY/HIGH STANDARDS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Noise from DFW Airport when there are take-offs on RWY 31L. The City Government must be more
involved in mitigating the use of 31L for take-offs. DFW Airport has seven(7)runways. Just because one
becomes non-operational doesn't mean they have to take-off on 31L. The quality of live and property
values in Southlake suffer greatly when there are take-offs on 31L.
Continuing to make people want to live in Southlake so that they see the value in the schools, the safety
and the "bubble"
RETIREES WANTING TO CUT SCHOOL FUNDING BECAUSE THEIR KIDS HAVE GRADUATED, AND
NOW THEY CARE LESS ABOUT THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION. AS EDUCATION QUALITY GOES,
SO WILL GO SOUTHLAKE
Quality, upscale development along HW 114.
Maintaining our way of life without pricing retirees out of a place to live due to taxes. We need to
encourage more businesses (e.g., Westlake)to share the tax burden. Speaking of Westlake and taxes,
we need liquor stores in Southlake. I suspect 99.9% of the Southlake households visit the liquor store
during the course of a year. Why should those tax dollars go to Westlake, Colleyville, etc.?
Maintaining the high quality of neighborhoods by controlling growth of apartments.
Mobility balanced with Quality of life/noise
Protecting Southlake's quality of life as the areas around us become more congested, and in some of
those areas growth without enough control mechanisms is allowed to continue.
Prioritize issues, maintain high quality of life without increasing cost. Fiscally responsible.
I would say it is balancing growth with maintaining quality of life.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
QUALITY/HIGH STANDARDS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Controlled growth with remaining undeveloped residential and commercial real estate to ensure the same
quality of life features that attracted most of us to this area. The school system, the roadways and city
infrastructure cannot be compromised by short-term thinking on attracting new residents and businesses
to the area.
Allowing high density and rental housing to be built is NOT consistent with the existing city plan and will
negatively impact the pride, desirability and value of the city.
Maintaining our quality town at an affordable price
Our quality of life was reduced when a number of years ago, residential lots were allowed under 1 acre.
Please do not reduce lost sizes any further and no multi-family housing.
Southlake today is the perfect balance and seems to be thriving compared to other cities/towns. The
biggest issue is how do you maintain without overdevloping? If you continue developing at the current
pace the balance will be lost and the quality of life will diminish as crime, traffic, noise, commercial
lighting, etc. creep into our neighborhoods.
Maintaining the high quality of our neighborhoods (lot size, home size, quality of builders)
Balanced growth maintaining the traditional values that have made Southlake a great place to live, while
embracing the changing dynamics of the economy and technology.
Keeping the overall quality of living high.
Developing mindfully, while keeping in mind that the reason this city is so popular is the large lots, no
apartments, green open spaces - increased density equals lower quality of life!
sustaining growth and maintaining quality
-Drugs -declining lower level neighborhoods. Price/sq foot is high in southlake but the quality of many of
the older neighborhoods with price points under $700M is becoming an eye sore. Houses are not kept upneighborhoods look awful. competitor neighbo
Keep the quality of the neighborhoods up. No apartments and multifamily housing.
Maintaining the quality of schools and managing development.
Maintaining the quality of life people have come to expect living here.
Maintaining the quality of life.
Controlling growth of the city to ensure the high level of quality of life remains high.
To maintain the highest quality of homes and commercial built out.
Maintaining the high quality of the buildings and surrounds. As the city ages, the high standards can be
compromised.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
QUALITY/HIGH STANDARDS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
City is reaching capacity and the empty nesters are choosing to stay in their homes. This reduces kids in
the schools which affects our school funding. We must keep the superior quality of our schools as a top
priority.
Zoning. We cannot change our zoning beliefs for larger, single family homes and give into developers'
wishes. Yes, families do want to downsize once they are empty nesters, however, if you build smaller
homes and/or apartment type complexes, then they will be sought after by families with children. Most of
us moved into Southlake for the excellent schools. Unfortunately, excellence and economics go hand-inhand.
ScN: traffic...whatever happened to a small town quality of life? Two areas/sections of Southlake Blvd
could be improved. The City could take a lead role/involve with other respective agencies...to add a
pedestrian bridge across Southlake Blvd connecting Town Square and the Shops of Southlake (Central
Market shopping center). The added bridge would reduce the traffic around this section of Southlake Blvd
during holiday seasons, special events, and weekends. Secondly, another section of Southlake Blvd
could be improved is the interception between the Boulevard and Peytonville Ave. I am no traffic
engineer, but why is there a U-turn to the Senior High School when heading west? Last time I checked,
the legal address of CSHS is on Southlake Blvd. The medians on Southlake Blvd physically eliminates an
entrance to one of the City's most active destinations. An improvement could be made by reducing the
deceleration lane for Southridge Lake neighborhood (have not seen traffic backup on this lane going to
this neighborhood), and add a left-turn lane (heading west) for the senior high school. Last but not least,
the City could add a roundabout at the interception between White Chapel and Highland Street. This
would reduce the traffic backups during school zone hours and weekday's between 5 to 7pm. The traffic
backup extends to Hwy 114 on any given days.
Keeping quality of schools at the highest level ever to attract more gifted and talented students and
teachers
Maintaining quality of the city's schools
Maintaining the high quality of the buildings and surrounds. As the city ages, the high standards can be
compromised.
Keep from making changes in zoning that will cause the quality and style of life to change. Allowing
condos built for rental is not a good idea because that opens the door for courts to force approval of
apartments.
Multi-family housing, no more should be allowed. Our schools are great and to add that element, will only
bring our schools down and hurt the main attraction that brings quality people to live in Southlake.
Stop building, keep apartments OUT and preserve our open spaces. More focus on quality instead of
quantity. We are slowly becoming a concrete jungle and losing what sets us apart.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
QUALITY/HIGH STANDARDS
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Property Taxes have made it hard to live here. The poor use of taxes on posh government offices smacks
of Washington. I raised several kids here and know firsthand the quality of education is ABYSMAL. Many
of my neighbors home schooled their kids and now I know why. The monstrous single high school system
guarantees that 99% of male kids will have a ZERO role in sports... so they will have to resort to video
games hanging out at malls and looking for a bad element to associate with. Great thinking there. But at
least you have a great football stadium.... and about 40 kids with hair dyed blond during playoffs so the
cops --- oopsey --- don't arrest a football player by mistake in one their teen party dragnets for MIC. IF
you don't think that's the reason for the dyed hair, you are naive.
Continuing the excellence of education while providing quality teachers.
Special interests gaining influence, driving decisions, and railroading over individual property rights. I was
very disappointed when the current city managers sided with the school district to put up lights at the
senior high school due to majority pressure rather than do the right thing by all of its citizens, even if
unpopular, and lead by honoring past promises made. We need principled leadership that see that our
values, things like integrity and trust, are more important in planning our future than simply giving people
what they want. We need leadership not just management. Southlake needs to better define who we are,
what we value and stand for, before we decide what we should do to improve our collective quality of life.
Maintaining/Improving the high standards of eduction and extra curricular activites at all levels of our
schools The federal government targeting higher end communities and forcing them to include low
income housing. Growth...should be controlled and planned.
How to deal with this enormous growth. While this has been good for businesses in our area it threatens
the quality of life in our "small-town" community.
Continuing to develop the remainder of the city in the quality manner we have developed to this point,
growing the tax base with quality long-term tenants, but keeping an emphasis on residents (taxpayers)
and their quality of life / safety / security / traffic. General thoughts are that the median placed down 1709
has created more problems than it solved, as U-Turns being required to get where you're going is more
dangerous than the left-hand turns that were made before. It has also been detrimental to many
businesses - if too hard to get to, people just go elsewhere.
Biggest threat is commercial exploitation of developers trying to derive maximal financial gain without
regard to adjoining residential values and quality of life.
How we grow. We have seen a significant growth over the last two years. It is great financially for our
community but needs to grow in a way that keeps with the values of Southlake. A small town feel that is
safe.
Retaining the quality of life, safety and property value.
Maintaining premier school system and overall high quality of life.
Holding to the high standards the city prides themselves for. Do not sell out to keep up with other
communities. Be innovative and creative.
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Q9 - KEYWORD: CITY
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
The new traffic patterns on 1709 make navigating the city difficult. Finding safe ways for residents to get
where they are going seems important. Maybe the solution includes more walking and biking routes or
more streets parallel to 1709 where possible.
logistics. Sometimes the city continues to do things a certain way because that's how it's always done.
Out of touch city council. The city council should focus the city on providing basic services (police, fire,
water) and basic infrastructure (parks, libraries) and doing that well and efficiently. Other kinds of
plans/controls should be left to the people. Businesses are trying to come here, there's no reason to try to
attract them, unless the city council is interested in some kind of payoff.
I have already sounded off on the water restrictions so I'll just add this is only going to get worse as our
water resources are depleted. The way the city is handling it now actually turns people off and doesn't do
much to inspire trust in the process. The city will have to continue to manage development wisely, only
approving development that reaches the city's high standards, wile also encouraging walkable
neighborhoods.
Managing the additional traffic that will come from the new subdivisions going in and the new retail
development that will draw more people to our city.
preventing over development and keeping apartments out of the city
Same as question 8 - development needs to be managed - traffic and congestion is an issue in the city
now
Allowing builders to build homes on ridiculously tiny lots! Our city will look like a "Yuppie Slum" with all this
packed new development. It must stop. We really hate it!
Traffic congestion and maintaining the high standards we expect of our city. This includes not relaxing
standards for new development and continuing the policy of no apartment construction.
Over crowding, and places for lease, both of which are adding to themselves daily with homes being built
on 0 lot lines, and stip centers being built, when there are plenty of spaces for rent without building strip
centers. If you check in other cities adjacent to ours and see what the strip centers look like today. It is
really very ugly and not original which would benefit our city.
Apartments coming in to SOuthlake. The mayor will and wants them in the city.
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Q9 - KEYWORD: CITY
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
I think it is great that the city is letting kids that live in Southlake but are in other school districts such as
Keller have the option to go to Southlake Schools. This would be great to make this permanent. Great
decision. The other item is to keep the City safe from drug dealers trying to us homes here with hidden
drug labs in the city. The other item is to require home owners to keep up their property which the city is
doing a good job doing. The challenge is for the city to continue this trend and not let areas deteriate.
Traffic and over expansion of commercial and residential construction in the city. We have lost all the
open green spaces and the roads are not equipped for the traffic volumes. The city is becoming very
noisy and congestion is on the rise.
Allowing multi housing, apartments, in our city. They lower the style of living in Southlake, and crowd the
schools.
The U Turns on Southlake Blvd. Someone is going to get in an accident and sue the city. It is very
confusing for example if you are exiting the shopping center where the mattress firm, Staples and Home
Goods is located. If you are turning right (west) onto Southlake Blvd, people traveling eastbound are
turning into the shopping center and some are doing a u turn. I have witnessed several near misses there
and along other parts of 1709. All of these almost accidents involve people doing a U turn. We have
people coming here from other towns to shop. The U turns are confusing and someone is going to get in
an accident and sue the city.
Apartments being added to the town square have the ability to destroy the city. Once these apartments
get in 114 will be line with apartment building causing overcrowding in the schools.
Allowing rental condos/apartments in city. Do not allow!!!!!
There are a few to look at: Getting our own -lower costs water supply throughout the city and reducing the
High Property taxes/ adding more restaurants/businesses.
Maintain the small town feel, and do not cave in to the potential to dense up the city. Also, keep saying
'no' to certain types of businesses that do not belong inside our borders.
The financial condition of the city & Carroll ISD.
Builders trying to implement apartment/leased condo's within city -- don't need them nor additional people
Apartments. NO APARTMENTS! This isn't Keller. We moved here because there weren't any apartments.
Plus the city council needs to make fiscally conservative financial decisions. And the library is so out of
date. Grapevine and Colleyville have much better libraries than we do. Start using city money to improve
the library instead of beautifying the city.
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Q9 - KEYWORD: CITY
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Build out final open area's in a responsible manner consistent with the original development plans.
Current council seems to ignore the development plans that were created for our city before they became
council members. Special interests seems to be taking over rather than the wishes of the citizens.
Affordable housing. The city is becoming too expensive for even middle class families. There needs to be
some diversity to benefit all of us.
We think the biggest issue facing the City is fiscal responsibility and managing the budget. It is important
to keep the city safe, well-run, and attractive, but it is also important to reduce waste and be good
stewards of the taxpayer money as well.
Apartments...or what you call "rental condos". I do not want them...this is why we moved here...no
housing like that. If you get these rental condos, we may need to decide if Southlake is still the city for us.
keeping real estate taxes at a minimum. The city already boasts some of the highest rates in the state.
The city needs to be villagent in minding its expenses so it doesn't need to raise taxes.
high density housing -do not want apartment-size units in the city -adds to cost of all homeowners -more
schools etc
The most important issue facing the City is that it might become overcrowded and too built up. The Mayor
and City Council need to really think about their plans for this city and what would be best for Southlake.
Traffic!!! I understand that the city did not have a choice in putting the barriers up on SL Blvd, but it is a
mess! Adding additional retail and potentially stacked residential (apartments) at Town Square will
compound an already big problem. I have already curbed my shopping at Town Square because it's such
a headache getting in, out, around, and finding parking when I am there.
Allowing high density and rental housing to be built is NOT consistent with the existing city plan and will
negatively impact the pride, desirability and value of the city.
all these ridiculous fees the city is always trying to charge. Like this "stormwater fee." I haven't seen any
improvement in my neighborhood since i've lived here. Water just sits in our ditches and just breeds
mosquitos until it finally absorbs or evaporates. I would like to see EXACTLY where all this money is
going.
Police presence is very heavy on the road. One can argue that they are merely protecting us and speed
limit laws; however, at times, it feels too governed and "shark like". A balance of these 2 are ideal. We
don't want citizens to feel hounded. We love our city and certainly respect our officers and take pride in
our city laws.
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Q9 - KEYWORD: CITY
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Density !!! It seems that the city will allow any developer to come in and build a bunch of large homes on
small lots. I realize that this is economically necessary for the developer to make a oodles of money for
his risk but the city loses sight of the longer term negatives associated with this practice. Too many
people in big homes which lose their attractiveness to couples who have to move after the kids graduate
due to large tax and maintenance bills. Too few smaller homes on generous lots are available. This also
contributes to the water drainage and traffic problems. The city should concentrate on getting good tax
revenues from businesses not homeowners. Check out the real estate listings; today there are 44 homes
listed for sale with a minimum price of $1 million.
Managing growth. City is starting to feel congested on the streets.
Growth management--it will be difficult to continue to build homes and businesses without losing the tight
knit community feel that the city currently has.
The priorities of this City are completely out of whack. I have never lived in a community that is so
focused on image and presentation, and that has absolutely zero substance.
Our schools are bearing the brunt of over population. I am an active volunteer mom, and I constantly hear
complains about the tightening school budget, about the surge in students now that the city has opened
it's schools to bordering areas. If multifamily housing is next, we can expect Carroll ISD to go the same
route as Coppell and others. Start out excelling, and then losing the chance to keep at the top. We moved
here for the schools. Coppell was getting congested, and the schools were suffering, specially the high
school. This might become the fate of Southlake as well. I sure do hope it doesn't.
I do not care for the level of residential and commercial construction and its impact on the attractive
green/undisturbed land within the city. I do not like the prospect of Southlake becoming a congested
concrete mess. How many free-standing pizza restaurants do we really need. And what will become of
these buildings once they fall out of favor. One building that comes to mind is the eyesore that once was
Gateway church. One occurrence would have me seriously consider moving from Southlake: The
construction of anything but single-family dwelling. The townhomes are as close as we need to get to
that. Love the city. Love the schools. Love the parks and recreation.
Too much growth and over crowding....coupled with a lack of adequate parks and recreation
opportunities. It will be sad if the city does not cater somewhat to the older citizens who the city is
counting on to use the new hospitals being built.
It appears that the city was not planned with the growth that it has seen. Traffic is already an issue on
many streets and we see more building such as Carillon going in which will only increase the issue.
Growth. Continue the low-density housing plan that is in place and do not allow apartments in our city.
Apartments have ruined many small cities that used to be "the premiere place to live" just like Southlake
is today.
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Q9 - KEYWORD: CITY
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Image to others outside of city Perceived as a rich neighborhood that everything comes easy to
Don't know any real issues. I've seen a few leave the area due to high property taxes, but not sure that's
an issue facing the city.
The city is very torn about apartments (i.e, condos) and new development with smaller lots. I would love
this issue to resolve in a fashion that it both good to the developers and businesses who will benefit, and
also to appease the group who believes that "Southlake's population is big enough".
I think traffic is an issue as the city continues to grow and change.
Fixing the continual shortage of water in the city. We understand this is an infrastructure problem not a
true shortage of water.
Snobbery. The city is becoming known for its' arrogance. The "New Rich" mentality.
Oil & gas drilling. There is money in the ground for city, school and individuals. AND, harvesting of that
natural resource has been prevented by a few. And, these few are not hesitant to use those resources
(from other sources).
The rising cost of living here will result in more folks who don't plan to stay very long. This short term
thinking will lead to more folks not caring about what happens with the city or it's future. It very important
to keep taxes as low as possible with a focus on business development.
Traffic in the next couple of years. Traffic would increase in all communities around the city.
Controlling growth of the city to ensure the high level of quality of life remains high.
Not sure! I want to know that I will be able to get around the city without encountering tremendous traffic
back up, most of the time. Rush hour can be frustrating.
City is reaching capacity and the empty nesters are choosing to stay in their homes. This reduces kids in
the schools which affects our school funding. We must keep the superior quality of our schools as a top
priority.
Over commercialization of beautiful farmland. There are plenty enough neighborhoods. Plenty enough tax
dollars. Restrict growth. Cap total number of households. Restrict density. Embrace code restrictions on
zero lot line construction and mega-unit condo/apartment additions to town center. Think I'm crazy? Head
over to town square for the holiday lighting ceremony. If the city becomes a crowded zoo who will want to
come?
Traffic congestion. With more and more businesses coming in and more housing planned it will only get
worse. Stick with low density housing and limit the number of businesses. It would be preferred to expand
to other areas of the city instead of having all retail on Southlake Blvd.
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Q9 - KEYWORD: CITY
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
An important issue for me would be the consideration of adding apartment dwellings in our city. That
would not benefit this city.
keep the city from turning more urban (condos, reduction of plot sizes etc)
Paving over the city!
ScN: traffic...whatever happened to a small town quality of life? Two areas/sections of Southlake Blvd
could be improved. The City could take a lead role/involve with other respective agencies...to add a
pedestrian bridge across Southlake Blvd connecting Town Square and the Shops of Southlake (Central
Market shopping center). The added bridge would reduce the traffic around this section of Southlake Blvd
during holiday seasons, special events, and weekends. Secondly, another section of Southlake Blvd
could be improved is the interception between the Boulevard and Peytonville Ave. I am no traffic
engineer, but why is there a U-turn to the Senior High School when heading west? Last time I checked,
the legal address of CSHS is on Southlake Blvd. The medians on Southlake Blvd physically eliminates an
entrance to one of the City's most active destinations. An improvement could be made by reducing the
deceleration lane for Southridge Lake neighborhood (have not seen traffic backup on this lane going to
this neighborhood), and add a left-turn lane (heading west) for the senior high school. Last but not least,
the City could add a roundabout at the interception between White Chapel and Highland Street. This
would reduce the traffic backups during school zone hours and weekday's between 5 to 7pm. The traffic
backup extends to Hwy 114 on any given days.
Building too many houses on very small lots, therefore crushing CISD with huge enrollment issues. The
City seems to disregard this issue, however, parents of CISD students do not. We have seen class sizes
increase every year for the past 5 years.
The need to keep the city as a vibrant place, in places like our neighborhood the few people still living in
my community are families with older kids and the same that have work trying to make it a community.
Maintaining quality of the city's schools
The city becoming too large and not being able to support the needs of the community. All the housing
going in and the school system. The roads being too crowded. No one wants to live in another Dallas.
Retail stores becoming abandon buildings. Because there are too many of them.
Development of large tracts of land in the City.
I think Southlake should re- open the debate over fracking . Those resources will be removed by drilling
efforts that surround this city, and Southlake citizens will be denied the royalties from same. I will not vote
for anyone who opposes such drilling, especially when they are benefitting from same. We need to face
fiscal reality. The city can use the revenue to create a rainy day fund and the local citizens could do the
same. I think it is prudent given the current economic conditions to be pro-active and take advantage of
this economic opportunity.
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Q9 - KEYWORD: CITY
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Development. There is way too much development going on to build medical buildings and retail space
that never gets filled - what's wrong with green space?? We have too many strip centers that have
uninteresting shops that move around when a new strip center is built leaving others vacant. Also, a long
time ago when this city started growing it was made clear that there would not be multi-family housing that is what sets Southlake apart from Plano, Frisco, etc. Now we as citizens are having to fight for this apartments are not good for city economy and school quality. When you pay property taxes you care
more about what is going on in your city.
The trend toward higher density development and the CONSIDERATION OF MULTI FAMILY
development within our city
Continuing to develop the remainder of the city in the quality manner we have developed to this point,
growing the tax base with quality long-term tenants, but keeping an emphasis on residents (taxpayers)
and their quality of life / safety / security / traffic. General thoughts are that the median placed down 1709
has created more problems than it solved, as U-Turns being required to get where you're going is more
dangerous than the left-hand turns that were made before. It has also been detrimental to many
businesses - if too hard to get to, people just go elsewhere.
Staying true to planned zoning. Keeping the city competitive to the newer communities springing up
around the Frisco, Allen and Plano areas.
Allowing the citizens of Southlake to truly enjoy their own city. We use to love going to the fourth of July
celebration with friends. A nice blanket with family in the square. Now we don't even think about fighting
the mobs of folks driving in from other cities. I appreciate the merchants want folks driving for these
events and spending monies, but I believe we have forgotten folks live here. We like enjoying our parks
and special events. I lived in Austin, Tx for several years. You simply hate going into the city on weekends
because they have some type of major event going own resulting in streets being closed and traffic
snares everywhere. WE need better police patrols among our residential streets. I am amazed how folks
speed up and down Kimball Rd, Dove Rd, and I pick up trash/wine bottles in front of my yard several
mornings each week. Do we really have folks driving around our residential streets drinking and driving
without any fear of being arrested?? I believe the city must do a better job of addressing the needs of
folks who have and will be living here for years. It often appears we are doing all we can do recruit the
corporate families who move here, stay three years and then they are off do their next "corporate
community". Lastly, DFW airport has chosen a new strategy to send more planes more often right down
Hwy 114 and over Dove Rd. This has not been the norm and the city should not allow it to become the
norm. It's loud and dangerous.
Keeping the growth low enough that the city doesn't become overcrowded and undesirable. Currently not
pleased with all these developments going up with very small lot sizes and houses close together. When I
think of Southlake, I think of beautiful, spread out beauty - not a city like Plano or Frisco.
Holding to the high standards the city prides themselves for. Do not sell out to keep up with other
communities. Be innovative and creative. .
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
WATER ISSUES
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
LACK OF ADEQUATE WATER SUPPLY, LACK OF ADEQUATE INGRESS & EGRESS WITH
DOWNTOWN STREETS ONTO CARROLL
increased traffic and water supply
Water--average American uses 70 gallons per day, SLK residents use 350--on lawns. How do we tackle
that? Traffic on SLK BLVD--can hardly turn left on Carroll, how will it be when new retail development
goes in across from Central Market?
I have already sounded off on the water restrictions so I'll just add this is only going to get worse as our
water resources are depleted. The way the city is handling it now actually turns people off and doesn't do
much to inspire trust in the process. The city will have to continue to manage development wisely, only
approving development that reaches the city's high standards, wile also encouraging walkable
neighborhoods.
We are growing very fast and are afraid that water will be an issue to get and pay for. Water in Southlake
is very costly and we have to conserve now. What happens when more development brings more
companies and families to Southlake. What will happen to the future with our water issues? Why is the
water here so expensive. We came from Florida three years ago and the first thing people from here tell
you is "don't faint when you get your water bill".
Too much growth will contribute to water shortages and increase cost.
Fixing the continual shortage of water in the city. We understand this is an infrastructure problem not a
true shortage of water.
Water availability and cost. There is no grandfather plan for existing property on large lots vs. current
smaller lots and future development. Growth and support of business outside of Town Square. It appears
that Town Square get's preferential treatment.
water rights,finances, allowing apartments into community
Residential watering restrictions
Water usage, wasteful spending among school officials in the name of "keeping schools excellent". Im in
support of school excellence but not when its wasteful. Also Keep out high density housing!!!!
Water availability and cost. There is no grandfather plan for existing property on large lots vs. current
smaller lots and future development. Growth and support of business outside of Town Square. It appears
that Town Square get's preferential treatment.
There are a few to look at: Getting our own -lower costs water supply throughout the city and reducing the
High Property taxes/ adding more restaurants/businesses.
Fixing the continual shortage of water in the city. We understand this is an infrastructure problem not a
true shortage of water.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
BUDGET/FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
No smaller scale, but luxury housing for retirees, that you can "lock and leave" while traveling, etc. The
Brownstones are very nice, but not friendly for seniors. Would prefer something like townhomes or
condos, when we're ready to downsize.
To cut the waste. We now have a very fancy police headquarter. I haven't been inside but was told from a
person who has been that they spend a lot of money to furnish the interior as well. I was surprised when I
saw the wooden garage door used at the fire station when I was at the Schrotzsky's sandwich restaurant.
It is not visible from Southlake Blvd. We don't need that fancy for the fire station garage door and
specially it is not even visible from the street. A long time ago, I noticed the office light was on in the
Bicentennial Park office early in the morning. When people were not in, the light should be off. Small
cheap things can go a long way from paper waste to water restriction. Thank you!
Planning for fiscal responsibility as the city buildout occurs and the fiscal growth potential decreases.
Without careful planning, tax increases are certain in that scenario.
It is the City Council's responsibility to control spending & live within their means. Rubber-stamping every
suggestion of the city departments' management staff is unacceptable. A perfect example of waste was
the $50,000 spend on a study to determine where the new police station should be built. The
recommendation was on 114, but where did city council build it? Right in the middle of prime retail
property. A government bldg. which will never generate a dime for the citizens is sucking up prime
commercial real estate. Southlake is the proud owner of a $28 million police department....that doesn't
even have a Jail!
To cut the waste. We now have a very fancy police headquarter. I haven't been inside but was told from a
person who has been that they spend a lot of money to furnish the interior as well. I was surprised when I
saw the wooden garage door used at the fire station when I was at the Schrotzsky's sandwich restaurant.
It is not visible from Southlake Blvd. We don't need that fancy for the fire station garage door and
specially it is not even visible from the street. A long time ago, I noticed the office light was on in the
Bicentennial Park office early in the morning. When people were not in, the light should be off. Small
cheap things can go a long way from paper waste to water restriction. Thank you!
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
SENIORS/AGING POPULATION
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Increased traffic patterns/congestion. As well as, an aging population that will nolonger need estate size
homes.
No smaller scale, but luxury housing for retirees, that you can "lock and leave" while traveling, etc. The
Brownstones are very nice, but not friendly for seniors. Would prefer something like townhomes or
condos, when we're ready to downsize.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
GOVERNMENT/CITY COUNCIL
•
Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Special interests gaining influence, driving decisions, and railroading over individual property rights. I was
very disappointed when the current city managers sided with the school district to put up lights at the
senior high school due to majority pressure rather than do the right thing by all of its citizens, even if
unpopular, and lead by honoring past promises made. We need principled leadership that see that our
values, things like integrity and trust, are more important in planning our future than simply giving people
what they want. We need leadership not just management. Southlake needs to better define who we are,
what we value and stand for, before we decide what we should do to improve our collective quality of life.
Out of touch city council. The city council should focus the city on providing basic services (police, fire,
water) and basic infrastructure (parks, libraries) and doing that well and efficiently. Other kinds of
plans/controls should be left to the people. Businesses are trying to come here, there's no reason to try to
attract them, unless the city council is interested in some kind of payoff.
overdevelopment including apartments which ruin the residential feel of our community and de-value our
homes. Perceived corruption in city council . City council acting in self serving manners ( see above)
Build out final open area's in a responsible manner consistent with the original development plans.
Current council seems to ignore the development plans that were created for our city before they became
council members. Special interests seems to be taking over rather than the wishes of the citizens.
Build out final open area's in a responsible manner consistent with the original development plans.
Current council seems to ignore the development plans that were created for our city before they became
council members. Special interests seems to be taking over rather than the wishes of the citizens.
all these ridiculous fees the city is always trying to charge. Like this "stormwater fee." I haven't seen any
improvement in my neighborhood since i've lived here. Water just sits in our ditches and just breeds
mosquitos until it finally absorbs or evaporates. I would like to see EXACTLY where all this money is
going.
City Council does not appear to recognize or support the residents' opposition to apartments and
commercially leased housing; it almost seems that the Council is determined to proceed with their desires
as opposed to what the residents desire.
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Q9 - KEYWORD:
DRUGS/CRIME
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
Drugs in our schools. Unfortunately, I have personal knowledge of the drug scene in Southlake. And as
the experts in the field in this area that I have had to become aquanted with have told me, "It is epidemic
in Southlake" I would have to agree with them. I am awarte SL has been trying to get a permanent DEA
position and I have been to the SPIN meetings . I think what needs to be done is someone, Chief of
Police or Mayor come out and say it, SL has a drug problem so parents can be informed now, before it is
to lateand effects there family.
keeping our teens drug-free and prepared for the future
Drugs and absent parents
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Q9 – MISCELLANEOUS
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Now, thinking about the City of Southlake overall, what would you say is the most
important issue facing Southlake today?
The airplane traffic over Southlake. I have been here for 15 years. The traffic over my
house/neighborhood has tripled. A new study came out about heart disease and stroke. If you live ear
shot of an airport- Noise Pollution from airplanes- you are 30% ? more likely to have heart disease and
stroke. We need to seriously look at this issue. We need noise abatement procedures from the FAA. For
take offs over Southlake. Curfews on take of/ landings over Southlake. I get woken up from 1-3 Am most
nights. Then at 4-6AM Certain approaches only at 10 thousand feet. Not 5,000. Power back engines
before they get to Southlake. Full power over a house at 5,000-10,000 ft is loud. Maybe only regional jets/
corporate jets on the side runway. The patterns were changed slightly in 2005. Also, opening of the side
runway. That is when I started noticing the changes. I am not talking about runway construction. I am
sure patterns can not change. Maybe some of the others can. I have spoken to the noise man for the
airport. I do not need to have another conversation with him. He can offer no solutions. He says, "nothing
has changed."
I'd love to see Southlake's reputation be less about wealth and pretentiousness. I think people that do not
live in Southlake love to label the entire city of Southlake as being a bunch of rich shallow people. That's
not what we are. Southlake is an amazing place to live and the people who live here are genuine, caring
souls!
Allowing the citizens of Southlake to truly enjoy their own city. We use to love going to the fourth of July
celebration with friends. A nice blanket with family in the square. Now we don't even think about fighting
the mobs of folks driving in from other cities. I appreciate the merchants want folks driving for these
events and spending monies, but I believe we have forgotten folks live here. We like enjoying our parks
and special events. I lived in Austin, Tx for several years. You simply hate going into the city on weekends
because they have some type of major event going own resulting in streets being closed and traffic
snares everywhere. WE need better police patrols among our residential streets. I am amazed how folks
speed up and down Kimball Rd, Dove Rd, and I pick up trash/wine bottles in front of my yard several
mornings each week. Do we really have folks driving around our residential streets drinking and driving
without any fear of being arrested?? I believe the city must do a better job of addressing the needs of
folks who have and will be living here for years. It often appears we are doing all we can do recruit the
corporate families who move here, stay three years and then they are off do their next "corporate
community". Lastly, DFW airport has chosen a new strategy to send more planes more often right down
Hwy 114 and over Dove Rd. This has not been the norm and the city should not allow it to become the
norm. It's loud and dangerous.
I think Southlake should re- open the debate over fracking . Those resources will be removed by drilling
efforts that surround this city, and Southlake citizens will be denied the royalties from same. I will not vote
for anyone who opposes such drilling, especially when they are benefitting from same. We need to face
fiscal reality. The city can use the revenue to create a rainy day fund and the local citizens could do the
same. I think it is prudent given the current economic conditions to be pro-active and take advantage of
this economic opportunity.
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