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This year’s event will be held on Thursday July 4th from 9am to 11:30am. In the meantime, we need your help ensuring the event will be a success. To offer all the concessions and activities free of charge to our residents, we rely on sponsorships and volunteers. To find out more about what a $400 sponsorship gets your organization or company, please reach out to us. We also accept family donations! Our thanks to the sponsors and donations we have received so far:

• Ready Roofing & Solar
• Melinda Spence, Compass Real Estate
• Willard Cooling, Heating, Plumbing, Electrical
• Leslie Pulaski, Ebby Halliday Realtors
• Craig Henderson, NHHA Member
• Mitra Shamsa, Ebby Halliday Realtors
• Robin Burch, NHHA Member
• The Redpath Team, Allie Beth Allman
• Van Wunnik and Marcum, CPAs
• Traver Construction

We need volunteers for the morning of the 4th, starting as early as 6:30am, for numerous activities including setup, parade registration, judging, handing out concessions, supervising the kids games, and take-down. Please review the volunteer opportunities through this link and sign up if you can pitch in, even for just 30 minutes: Festival Volunteers. We could also use a few coolers, tables, and folding chairs. 

Neighborhood leaders recently met with property owner Greg Miller, representatives from Masterplan (consulting firm), D11 Plan Commissioner Brandy Treadway, and D11 Council Member Jaynie Schultz to discuss the status of the rezoning request for the northeast corner of Belt Line & Preston Roads, referred to as Pepper Square. The seemingly final proposal presented for feedback included many of the same aspects as prior proposals we’ve seen, with some variation in building height this time. To review the presentation, please click here.

Essentially, the rezoning request is seeking approval for a mixed-use development to be built over the next 10 years that would include retail and/or restaurant options on the main floor and residential units above them. It would be built in 3 phases, with a 2 acre publicly-accessible park to be included in the first phase. If full allowable build-out is achieved, there would potentially be 1,550 residential units on the site, most likely all rental units, but possibly some owner-occupied units depending on market demand at the time future phases are started. The renderings in the presentation linked earlier show two options the property owner is considering. One would involve a 5-story building and the park, followed by a 12-story building, followed by a 5-story building. The other option would involve a 7-story building and the park, followed by a 7 story building, followed by a 7-story building. The first phase would be on the Belt Line side, followed by the second phase on the Preston side, ending with the third phase in possibly 10 years at the northwest corner of the site. Either option would include the same attributes – retail/restaurant on ground floor, residential units above, restricted interior garage parking for residents, some garage parking and surface parking for patrons and guests, fitness/pool/interior green space for residents, and enhanced sidewalks and landscaping.

After hearing the presentation, neighborhood leaders again reiterated their concerns regarding traffic and potential strain on city resources, especially considering the other developments slated to take place around the same intersection. They also asked for copies of the proposed Planned Development restrictions to see what guidelines the property owner would be required to follow if the rezoning request is approved.

UPDATE AS OF 2/28/24: LOCATION CHANGE A community meeting is scheduled to address these concerns and others you may have. It will take place on Tuesday, March 5th at 7pm at the Dallas Bible Church (15765 Hillcrest Rd). We are anticipating a high turn-out, so we encourage you to arrive early to allow time to park and find a seat inside. Make sure to check our website a day or two before the meeting to confirm the location and time haven’t changed. It’s our understanding this meeting will also include updates about Tonti’s construction plans south of Alexis, the traffic study conducted along Preston Road, and updates from DFR and DPD concerning city resources.

All viewpoints are welcome at this meeting, as long as decorum is maintained. Whether you oppose the rezoning request or welcome the redevelopment, we encourage you to attend, listen to the information, and provide meaningful feedback to the developer and our elected representative. The City Plan Commission and the City Council ultimately decide whether the rezoning request is approved, so they need to hear directly from their constituents.