Residents of the Riverbend neighborhood are campaigning to thwart a Dallas man’s request to rezone roughly an acre of land on Brightside Drive for multifamily use, citing an abundance of existing apartments in the area and drainage concerns.
Adrienne Bowser, a Riverbend resident helping to organize neighborhood opposition, is concerned the property—nestled between the subdivision and Thrive Academy—will be used for student apartments.
“Every time they add more apartments for students, it brings down property values,” Bowser says. “We understand development, but development of homes is different than condos and apartments. This particular rezoning has nothing attached (to its application) as a plan, it just asks to be rezoned. This could open a can of worms for everything.”
Bowser, who moved into the neighborhood in the 1990s, says the area is overbuilt and Brightside already has “horrendous traffic.” She’s also concerned the Planning Commission isn’t considering how developments affect area drainage.
As of Friday morning, Clifford Grout, vice chairman of the Planning Commission, said he had received seven letters of opposition to the property being rezoned for multifamily use. Several of the letters stated the rezoning wasn’t good for the community, while others cited concerns about crime, traffic, an abundance of apartments and drainage.
Property owner Dheeraj “Raj” Akula says he’s surprised to hear residents are opposing the rezoning and that he and his wife, who moved to Dallas from Baton Rouge in 2007, didn’t think it would be a concern. There’s no definitive immediate plans for the .83-acre property, but Akula does hope to build townhomes there in the future.
Akula says they bought the property with the intention of moving back to Baton Rouge one day and just want to put it to use.
“I’m trying to find a better use for the land I own,” Akula says. “But we’re going to abide by what the city-parish advises.”
The Planning Commission meeting starts at 5 p.m. tomorrow at City Hall.
Read the full agenda.
