Letters to the editor: May 31, 2018

Zoning change wrong
for Lockhart

Lockhart is at a cross roads. We can still retain some of the charm for which our town is famous, or we can become another Kyle with its rows of unimaginative cookie cutter homes and portable class rooms. There is a reason that movies are made here.
We are under siege by D, R. Horton, the largest builder of homes in the country. D.R. Horton is attempting to change the zoning on one of Lockhart’s most desirable pieces of in-town property. This land is located between San Jacinto and the Junior High. Why change the zoning? Certainly not for the good of Lockhart and her citizens. No….rather, to allow more cement board houses to be crammed into less space. Try 278 houses in the two plowed fields. Just think ……the 45 foot frontage with roofs 10 feet apart would allow this. There is precious little public or private green space, but requirements are met by calling retention ponds “green space”.
This is high density, no matter how our Planning Department parses the words. Are we that stupid? Present zoning is low density with 65 foot frontage. There will be enough children to fill another school. The builder said in an earlier meeting, “That’s your problem.” Yes, it is our problem, and we intend to do something about it by stopping this rapacious use of our precious land. D. R. Horton builds houses, some better than others, and moves on, chasing the almighty buck. We are little people at war with a giant. We will fight. We are here now and would like to stay. We owe it to all Lockhartians to speak for them and all who came before us.
Just because the 18-year-old 2020 Land Use Plan calls for Maple Street to be extended down to San Jacinto, and St. Thomas and Dove be extended into the development doesn’t mean that it is the right thing to do. We live in our neighborhoods and have for years. We accept the fact that there will be houses built here. But should a plan ruin our lives for the sake of a bigger profit for America’s largest builder? Should our planner(s) be so regimented that the damage that we will sustain is not visible to them? Maybe they don’t care. A pretty street layout that ignores the folks that already inhabit the area should not be tolerated.
Our planner(s) should get out and talk to the people. Listen to us! Lockhart is us! Plans on paper can be and should be changed. We demand that our needs be addressed. Lockhart City Council will vote on the Horton zoning change at the next Council meeting on June 5. Plan to be there and let them know how we feel about D.R. Horton and their cement board houses with 45-foot frontage.
If you want to know more about the quality of D. R. Horton homes, Google: “Rate Horton homes” and “D. R. Horton lawsuits”. It will open your eyes.

Bill Stanley
Lockhart

Convenience store
overshadows larger issue

I am writing in regard to a recent letter from an individual who expressed concerns and complaints regarding a new convenience store coming to an area that is adjacent to the person’s neighborhood. I find this very interesting that this individual and his neighbors are upset about a convenience store when a 17-story dump is proposed in Caldwell County. I understand that these individuals would prefer not to have a convenience store nearby, but in comparison to a 17 story mountain of trash in our neighborhood, a convenience store seems a small problem. My wife and I and our neighbors are all very upset at the prospect of the dump and find it ironic that this store has caused so much angst.
Apparently many people in Lockhart, as well as the judge and all of the county commissioners except one, think the dump is a great idea because of any monies it might bring to the city and the eight minimum wage jobs it might provide. These same individuals believe the smell, hazardous waste, vermin, water and air pollution, traffic, etc won’t affect them at all. The fact that the dump would be in a flood plain, adjacent to two aquifers, a 150-acre reservoir in bad need of repair, and an elementary school apparently is not a problem either in their view.
We are adamantly opposed to the mountain of trash and transfer station that Green Group Holding, a Georgia company, is trying their hardest to foist upon Caldwell County and its residents. Consider this: the trash heap would be higher than the courthouse, the smell would be horrific, trash from the dump would blow all across the beautiful acreage and seep into our waterways, and eventually Plum Creek, the roads will be more hazardous due to the addition of garbage trucks coming and going and this is just to mention a few of the ill effects that could occur. Those of us whose fate might be living in the shadow of a mountain of environment-destroying refuse would gladly trade it for several benign convenience stores any day.

Robert and Claudia Brown
Lockhart