Blanchard Homes - A Real Live Wire

We had a little excitement here in Our Little Corner of Paradise - University Terrace - Sunday morning. I was walking my dog down Middlebury, passing by our Soon-to-be-Torn-Down blighted property at 7349 Rockhurst when I noticed this:

You may be able to see the wires hanging down the pole. I had seen a couple fellas in a pickup on Friday messing around with the wires, but figured they knew what they were doing. But when I saw that wire nearly touching the guide wire - which is just bare metal and an excellent conductor - I decided to call Oncor and let them decide if it was safe.

Then I wandered down to 7235 Clemson to see if they'd done a better job of terminating the electricity and found this:

It's harder to see, but look about the center of the photo and you'll see a bunch of wires taped to the limb of the tree. So, I called Oncor again, and they said they'd notify the guy they just sent to look at Rockhurst. I was there when he showed up a few minutes later and lo and behold, it turns out those guys I saw on Friday really DIDN'T know what they were doing. They just cut the wires with the power on, according to the Oncor representative.

But he said they won't do it too many more times, because one of these times they're going to end up dead...

This is The Beginning, folks. A builder trying to save a few bucks by having a handyman cut power to the property instead of doing what he's supposed to do and calling Oncor for a disconnect. So keep your eyes on these job sites and when you see something that doesn't look right. And don't assume they're doing it right. Ask questions of the people on the job site, or call 311, or Oncor, or Atmos; whoever can help.

As a result of this, Oncor Damage Prevention will be calling Blanchard -  the owner -  and Ramer Concrete -  the company performing the demolition on Clemson, and give them a "stern talking to".

Let's hope this is the last blog piece about problems on these job sites.

Blanchard Homes, LLC Has Landed... with a THUD!!!

The Residents in the 7200 block of Clemson Drive awoke to the sound of a bulldozer destroying what has been, for the last fifty-seven years, a neighbor's home. Now it's just fodder for the blade of Frank Blanchard's bulldozer.

This is all that's left...

Click on the PIC to make it larger

He has another permit for demolition for the home at 7119 Haverford Dr. I don't have a picture of that one yet, but I do have a picture of what I suspect will be his next demolition job once he gets these two finished; 7349 Rockhurst. Here's a picture of Rockhurst:

Click on the PIC to make it larger

As you can see, he's cut down all the trees, left the stumps, and stacked all the debris in the driveway. Guess he didn't know about monthly brush pickup, huh? I called 311 and they say he was supposed to have it all cleaned up by Friday, August 30th at 6:00 pm. I took this pic this morning while I was walking the dog. Guess he missed his deadline, huh? They say it will take up to 10 days for an inspector to get out here and take a look. Maybe if a few more people called to complain we could raise the profile of it.

So we're stuck with Frank Blanchard for awhile. In the meantime, we just have to make sure that he builds to the restrictions of the NSO. You can find a copy of the NSO HERE. And then dial 3-1-1...

That's what I did.

Van Gogh is Finished!

Back here, some of our neighbors used this house to belabor the point that if the NSO passed no one would ever spend money to maintain their homes and nobody would invest in homes that needed repair because the NSO would remove that incentive. They sighted the house shown at that link as their example.

Here's how that house looks today.

Guess they were wrong.

Why Site Meters Are Great

Everyone who contemplates running a blog should add a Site Meter. It's a great way to keep track of how many visitors you get each day. Also, because it lists the visitor's IP address, you can tell how many unique visitors you have and how many return visitors.

You can even figure out, by using the Visit Details function, whose IP address is being used to leave comments. That way, if the comments get out of control, you always have that path to track back on.

Just a Helpful Hint in case you're considering running your own blog.

WE WON

Editorial Note: All you folks getting here from D Magazine: Welcome. I just wanted to say, before you read this; this post was my idea. Me. Steve Riley. I didn't ask anyone on the NSO Committee if they thought it was a good idea. 

It's my post. 

No one's ever accused me of being a diplomat, but I've played nice throughout the many months of this NSO, even when others weren't. I've been called a jackass, an idiot, a criminal, a vote stealer and worse, and all those things in print - except criminal, which you'll read more about down the page. So, after you've read all this, and the hilarious mud-slinging comments that arose from it; remember, it's between two of the neighborhood's crankiest residents; me and old what's-his-name.

So, read on! I haven't changed a word. Just added these few in italics. And when you're done, click HERE and read the whole blog. There's lots of good stuff here if you're considering an NSO for your neighborhood.

Just a few words to say;

WE WON!

Your home is now protected by the University Terrace Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay.

I know I shouldn't, but I just gotta;

HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH... HO HO HO... HEE HEE HEE... HAH HAH HAH...

As much as I'd like to write more, I really need to go celebrate now. But very soon I will be posting a blow by blow of the City Council meeting, highlighting all of the heroes - and antiheroes - of the day. It was a memorable experience, made especially more memorable by Mason Coplin storming out of Council Chambers and announcing, "Congratulations, criminals!" to all of us Pro NSOer's, proving, once again, the depth of his wit and intelligence.

But the insults didn't stop there. But that will have to wait. Like I said, time to celebrate!

An NSO Success Story

  Click To Enlarge Photo


There is a brand new home on Kenwood. What makes that news is that it's in the Greenland Hills NSO. You know, the same kind of NSO that The Others say will keep the builders from wanting houses in our neighborhood. The Greenland Hills NSO was enacted on March 28th, 2007. This home, the one you see in the picture above, was built by J. Gregory Homes. According to Dallas Central Appraisal District property records, J. Gregory Homes bought this property on 7/25/2007 (click on this link and see the deed transfer date on  the data for 2007). That's four months after the NSO was enacted. It's hard to imagine that they didn't know they were buying in an NSO neighborhood. J. Gregory Homes sold the home on 9/8/2008. That's 13 months and a few days from start of project to finish.

Now, J. Gregory Homes is a very successful new construction custom home builder here in Dallas. They specialize in buying older homes, scraping the lot and building newer, larger homes in their place. For example, they built 4124 Santa Barbara, at 3,469 square feet, and 4306 Santa Barbara, at 3,512 square feet.

Much like this home on Kenwood. It is 3,419 square feet. It was built after the NSO was enacted and it meets all of the requirements of the NSO. The Greenland Hills NSO is, in many ways, like the one proposed for University Terrace. In some areas, it is even stricter than what is being proposed for our neighborhood. Greenland Hills has a minimum front yard setback of 33 feet. Ours is about the same, but it's not part of the NSO. It turns out that the setback requirement was established when our neighborhood was built. Greenland Hills has a 20 ft height plane restriction, and that's what we're proposing for University Terrace as well. Greenland Hills has a garage placement requirement and it has a driveway entrance requirement. The UT proposal has neither of those.

In fact, this exact home could be built right here in University Terrace within the guidelines of the proposed NSO.

If this doesn't prove that successful builders are willing and able to work with an NSO, I don't know what does. The Other Side wants to enflame everyone with their "opinion" that no one will want our houses.

Wrong.

So, now, who says builders won't want to buy your house? Responsible builders who make an effort to build to scale will be very interested in our neighborhood. But what they won't be able to do is build something like what they built next door to our Santa Barbara neighbors Julie Walters & Eric Van Steenburg. See the next blog article to read their story.

By the way, that house next to them is 4,245 square feet according to DCAD.

A new word in the Lexicon; Garage-Mahal

A letter came to the University Terrace Friends FOR the Overlay from our Santa Barbara neighbors Julie Walters & Eric Van Steenburg via Neicey Whitaker. It's a MUST READ if you have any doubts about your position in the upcoming vote.  Here's a picture of Julie & Eric's situation. Theirs is the home on the left. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

Now I'll get out of the way and let Julie and Eric tell you first hand what it's like to live in a neighborhood without an NSO.

April 20, 2009

To Whom It May Concern:

            Two years ago, Miss Lucile passed away. We loved our 94-year-old next door neighbor. But little did we know the impact that her passing would have on our home life. Miss Lucile’s kids had long ago moved out of the home that Miss Lucile and her late husband purchased brand new in the early 1950s, the same time our modest home was built. So when their mother passed away, they had no need for the home.

They sold it to a custom homebuilder who saw an opportunity to turn a modest homestead into a “garage-Mahal”.

Down went the one-story, 1,400 square foot prairie home, and up went a two-story 4,500-square foot McMansion. And throughout the process, our home and our life were less than an afterthought to the builder – they were no where in his thinking at all.

It started as soon as the demolition of Miss Lucile’s house began. Two days into the demolition, the builder’s bulldozer knocked over Miss Lucile’s garage – straight into our new fence, knocking down two complete panels. Needless to say, our small dog was delighted that it now had a 16-foot escape route out of the side of our yard. We, on the other hand, were not as excited about our brand new fence being demolished.

The demolition crew tried to repair the fence right away, thanks to the insistence or our good friend who was dog-watching for us at the time. If she had not been there to demand that the fence be replaced immediately, our dog would have surely run away.

However, remember that the crew that replaced our fence wasn’t in the fence repair business – they were in the demolition business. Our brand new fence was never the same. It had a bend in it from that day forward, and still has that same crook today.

The view out of our master bedroom and our guest bedroom used to be of landscaping surrounding Miss Lucile’s home. Now, all three windows look directly into an eight-foot high fence with metal poles staring straight back at us. The builder promised to install a second row of pickets on the fence so we wouldn’t have to look at the poles, but he never did. He also promised to stain the back of the fence. But he never did that either.

In fact, the builder promised many things that he never delivered upon. What he did do was damage our sprinkler system, destroy our landscaping, and allowed his construction workers to pee in our flower bed – all the things that make for good neighbors.

The result is the following:

·       No privacy in our backyard – the gargantuan structure adjacent to us includes several rooms with views into what was once our private sanctuary

·       No sunlight into half of our house – the side of our home that is now so close to this two-story monstrosity is in constant darkness

·       Destruction of our iris bed – the lack of sunlight into our once gorgeous iris garden has kept the flowers from blooming

·       Floodlight nights – when the lights are on in the house next door, our entire bedroom is awash in lights so bright, we can’t sleep.

Our neighborhood was reluctant to enact a Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay because they thought it would curtail development. Well, there has been no lack of development in our neighborhood. Houses all over have been torn down, and now it looks like every block in Plano. In fact, the development has been able to run rampant, over the lives, landscaping, and privacy of those who have lived here for years. Don’t let this happen to you. We’ve regretted it from the day Miss Lucile passed away.

Julie Walters and Eric Van Steenburg

4526 Santa Barbara Drive

Dallas, TX 75214

Here are a few more photos of Julie and Eric's home and how it contrasts with what's been built next door. You might have noticed the For Sale sign in their yard, too. They're moving on.

Click to enlarge either of these photos. This first one shows how the house next door really towers over their home. It also shows how much farther forward on the lot the new house is.

The bottom photo give a better perspective of just how close that fence is to Julie & Eric's home. It is right on top of them and runs the whole length of their home.

Don't let this happen to you. Vote FOR the NSO.