Woodard being done wrong!

02/04/08 Why is City Hall so against long-time Dallas businesses?

Remember last year when former Councilman Bill Blaydes with the assistance of several other council members tried to steal Jack Pierce's land where he's operated Hollywood Overhead Doors for over 50 years? Well, it's happening again. Unfortunately, this time, Mayor Miller isn't there to stop it, and Woodard Paint & Body Shop on Ross Avenue may have to close a business they have operated at the same location for over 60 years.

Editor's comment: Allen Woodard called me last week after reading "Why is City Hall so against long-time Dallas businesses?". He told me Woodard Paint & Body has only been on Ross Ave. since 1976. Before that time, they were located on 4.5 acres on Hall & McCoy which they sold to Fox & Jacobs so Bryan Place could be developed. It's ironic that the Board of Bryan Place is opposing Woodard's SUP application, since Bryan Place would not exist without the Woodard Family's assistance. Apparently, not all homeowners in Bryan Place agree with their Board.

As I said before, a car repair business owner knows about fixing cars and paying his employees on time. He should not have to be an expert on the machinations of City Hall power games. I can personally attest to the honesty and integrity of Woodard Paint & Body from times when they repaired my cars. They did what they said they'd do, when they said they'd do it, for a fair price. Don't you wish things went like that at City Hall?

The Woodard Family has been restoring damaged cars and employing people at the same location on Ross Ave. for over 60 years. They were there when nobody was willing to invest in Ross Avenue. They built a nice building and erected a wrought iron fence when everything around them looked third world. They stayed in a troubled area because they believed in the future. They believed East Dallas would come back.

Even if East Dallas had continued to decline, Downtown office workers have always kept Woodard busy with its convenient location to them. But -- East Dallas has been experiencing a renaissance, and the newcomers don't appreciate the sacrifice the Woodard Family has made for three generations.

The Bryan Place neighborhood is opposing Woodard's SUP request to continue its operations. They are calling it "spot zoning". How can it be spot zoning when Woodard Paint & Body has been operating in that location for over 60 years? This is from the Bryan Place website (www.bryanplace.org/Newsletters/2008/Jan2008.pdf):

BPNA Boa rd Opposes Zoning Exception

The BPNA board voted to oppose ?spot zoning? that Woodard Automotive requested for a City Plan Commission hearing in February. The zone change request would allow an exception for the historic auto repair shop to the agreed upon PD 298, the planned development district which would help clean up Ross Avenue and was supported by the neighborhood and our council
member Angela Hunt.

Though the board appreciates the positive part that Woodard plays in our area and promised improvements listed in their request, it also recognized that the exception would undermine the efforts so many neighbors fought for in getting PD 298 approved, opening up requests from other businesses to file for similar exemptions, which is currently the case with Hinja?s Automotive across the street from Woodard?s.

Now, Bryan Place is a nice, little development of zero-lot line homes, but it is hardly a highest use of land at that location. It is a good use of the land, just like Woodard Paint & Body is a good use of their land. A representative of Bryan Place says Woodard should market their property because he thinks their land is too valuable to be used for car repair. Can you believe his arrogance? There are some developers who think there could be a higher and better use of the land under Bryan Place than their little Fox & Jacobs houses.

The Bryan Place Newsletter has pictures of several unfinished projects near their neighborhood. Is that what they want for Woodard's property?

Just in case no one is paying attention, we are in a bit of a building slump right now. Some economists say we are in a recession. So, why would any successful business want to close down now and put their property on the market at a time when East Dallas is obviously being overbuilt, and their property would be worth much more in a few years when things turn around?

For that matter, why does Bryan Place want a bunch of closed businesses on Ross Avenue? New projects may be on the future horizon, but the current financial horizon is not conducive to real estate gambling.

I am sick of gentrifiers, who have the same mindset as conservation nazis. It's not like Bryan Place is having to deal with a bunch of strip clubs on Ross Avenue like we had on Northwest Highway. Woodard Paint & Body is a respectable business catering to a respectable clientele who live or work in the area. People need businesses like Woodard Paint & Body to be convenient to their work or homes. People need convenient dry cleaners and shoe repair places.

More importantly, Dallas needs to be business friendly. Dallas needs to keep long-time businesses operating in our city. We do not need City Hall insiders trying to run honorable businesses out of town because some newcomers have no loyalty to those who invested in the area first.

I hope Councilwoman Angela Hunt thinks long and hard about this one and supports Woodard's request for a Special Use Permit so they can continue to operate in their Ross Ave. location. Their SUP application has to go to Plan Commission first. Neil Emmons will poison the Plan Commission against Woodard Paint & Body to cover his own duplicity in this mess. On his blog site (dallasprogress.blogspot.com), Plan Commissioner Michael Davis says:

Just a hint on the aspect of "following someone's lead" It happens sometimes. When it does, it's usually because the commissioner has spent a lot of time in their district on an issue. However, we have a ton a 9-6 and 8-7 votes on many issues.

I trust Michael, but I am not much comforted by his statement. Neil Emmons was able to shaft the Rodriguez family who own property on McKennon. See Sam Merten's story: Little Mexico Gets Squeezed Out (DallasObserver.com, 1/31/08). The P&Z went along with Neil Emmons on that miscarriage of justice. Hopefully, the Woodard Family will not suffer the same fate as the Rodriguez Family.

If Woodard Paint & Body is forced out of their place of business through no fault of theirs, then your property or business is next. If Woodard Paint & Body is forced to sell their property in a flat market, then someone can do a Jerry Jones on you at any time. If Woodard Paint & Body is forced to close, all of their employees will be out of a job when unemployment is very high.

Let's use common sense and leave a valuable and long-time Dallas business alone, and allow it to keep using its property as it has for over 60 years.

We cannot allow a bunch of newcomers and busybodies to run a good business out of Dallas. We cannot allow Neil Emmons to yank around another Dallas business so he can feel powerful.

We need to demand that City Hall do right by a 60 year old Dallas business.

sb