Gut punch to residents
Re: “Is 50 homes on 4 acres ‘gentle’ or ‘incremental’? Neighbors who survived a tornado try to remind Dallas of its own housing mantra,” by Robert Wilonsky, Saturday Opinion.
Fifty homes on lots each the size of a tennis court. One look at the ground plan rendering for the proposed Crescent Estates development shows residences that are almost shoulder to shoulder with backyards that look more like dog runs than places for youngsters to play and families to socialize with one another.
Fifty front yards that are devoid of any kind of lawn, forcing youngsters to play in the two lane streets in front of their homes.
Opinion
This project is a gut punch to all of us property owners who have spent decades paying our property taxes, tending to our lawns, updating our homes and working with our neighbors to create beautiful, admired and tranquil neighborhoods bordered by Betty Jane Lane, Royal Lane, Midway Road, Merrill Road, Coppedge Lane and Beutel Court.
I suspect developer Mehrdad Moayedi isn’t someone who puts the cart before the horse and would have blindly purchased the property hoping he would get the variances needed to build mass housing that doesn’t address the needs of retirees (difficult and dangerous stairs to second and third floors) and youngsters given token backyard “dog runs” and a concrete front yards where they can’t run and breathe free.
People in apartment complexes live this way. The developer calls for patio homes. All I see are future tenements with little outdoor space to entertain and enjoy being outside.
Thanks, Robert Wilonsky, for bringing our plight to the attention of the citizens of Dallas and everywhere The Dallas Morning News is read.
Alfred J. Martinez, Dallas
Neighborhood resident since 1959
Mourning consumer protection
Re: “Canceling a subscription should be easier,” by Michelle Singletary, Sunday Business column.
Kudos to Michelle Singletary!
Thanks for mentioning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the only straightforward consumer protection that really existed for U.S. citizens as authentic defense from rabid corporations. The Trump administration, the Federal Trade Commission and the federal courts have neutralized (killed) it.
Singletary’s headline told us one problem. She also told us how corporations “pushed” (hidden) boundaries. And she even offered steps to take.
She exposed us to corporations’ “negative options” and corporations’ favorite fallback — “admits no liability”— after they pay substantial fines subsequent to adjudicated misbehavior.
My recommendation for Singletary is to please read Carmen Segarra’s book, Noncompliant.
Bravo, Singletary, and also to Dave Lieber and Robert Wilonsky for their recent columns.
Clifton Nixon, Dallas
Clear diplomatic path
There are three sides to the peace negotiations between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine. First, the aggressor is seeking ultimate domination after his lawless invading and attacking a peaceful country.
Second, the victim will settle for nothing other than the complete withdrawal of the attackers, and regain the ownership of the lands that were illegally seized.
And the third pretends to work toward what will be at best a temporary ceasefire. He is poised to readily cave in with the aggressor’s demands. He cares only about himself in his audacious dreams of being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
The only acceptable solution is the second one and nothing less. It doesn’t take much in the way of diplomacy to see that.
Richard Street, Carrollton
Giving it all away
Vladimir Putin’s smirk says it all. Yet again, he played “The Great Negotiator” for a fool. President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for a murderous dictator and treated him like a best friend.
Trump held all the cards, yet gave Putin everything he wanted and received no concessions in return.
Ukraine is the victim in this conflict, yet Trump sold it out, just as he sold out the United States. I can only hope that he is called to account for it.
Mike Sullivan, Carrollton
Defending property rights
As a matter of interest, I looked into the agreements that define Ukraine’s present status. Every binding treaty and agreement from 1954 through 2014 placed Crimea under Ukraine. No valid international treaty or agreement since has transferred it to Russia. In that sense, Ukraine holds a clean deed to Crimea. Not that this seems to matter to Vladimir Putin.
What I find puzzling is why President Donald Trump and before him, President Barack Obama in 2014, appeared so willing to cede it to Russia.
I suspect that if a neighbor in Florida tried to seize a patch of Mar-a-Lago, Trump might suddenly discover a deeper passion for defending property rights.
Gary Lee Parten, Richardson
What about Paxton?
The president is threatening to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for mortgage fraud because she claimed multiple houses as her primary residence in order to obtain a lower interest rate. Despite the fact that this is another blatant attempt to influence the Fed to the detriment of the financial markets, the request is actually legitimate and should be pursued.
However, to avoid another absurd level of hypocrisy, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton should also be fired for the same exact fraud, as reported earlier by The Dallas Morning News.
Bill Moss, Frisco
Where the troops are
Re: “Trump: No U.S. Troops,” Wednesday news story.
President Donald Trump says no U.S. troops will be sent to Ukraine. They’re needed in Washington, D.C.
David Matula, Dallas/Lake Highlands