Property line changes OK'd for Bush library

[Water Pony]

Property line changes OK'd for Bush library

12:00 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 8, 2010
By LORI STAHL / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]

The University Park City Council voted on Tuesday to rezone land south of the future George W. Bush Presidential Library at SMU, incorporating two slivers of land from the former University Gardens condominiums into the library site.

The vote capped years of court battles over who was the rightful owner of the condominium land, and whether the Bush Foundation needed it to build the presidential library. A lawsuit filed by two former condo owners ended after Southern Methodist University paid an undisclosed sum to settle the case.

The Bush Foundation, which is raising money to build the library, has long said it didn't need the disputed land. But the vote this week moves the library's property line slightly onto what was once the condo land.

Bush and SMU officials described the changes as minor.

"We could make it work [under previous zoning], but it wasn't optimal," said James Harris, the attorney representing the foundation.

The property line adjustments this week provide a driveway for the Bush Institute and basement parking. A second sliver of land will be used to expand the area for library bus parking. Together, the bits of land amount to less than an acre.

Groundbreaking for the library is set for later this year.

In a separate vote, the City Council agreed to change the zoning for land south of the library along Central Expressway to Mockingbird Lane. The new zoning category would theoretically allow SMU to use the land in a variety of ways. Permitted uses include a dormitory, theater, science lab, fire station, religious institution, community center, fraternity or sorority, rooming house or kindergarten.

But SMU officials said they plan to limit it to things that will be compatible with the presidential library to the north, namely a multipurpose athletic field, an informal recreational-use area, a storage facility, landscaping and outdoor tennis courts.

They also noted that, although University Park zoning would permit a wide range of uses, SMU must abide by deed restrictions that were negotiated when the university agreed to build the Bush Library.

The rezoned land also includes a former Chase Bank, now vacant, near Mockingbird Lane and Central Expressway. Plans call for it to be a temporary construction office.

SMU also owns the Mrs Baird's bakery site south of Mockingbird Lane, but that property is in Dallas. SMU has been seeking a municipal setting designation for that site, which would allow it to develop the property despite contaminated groundwater from previous owners.

On Tuesday, University Park officials voted to support SMU's effort. The vote was nonbinding. Dallas officials have already given approval, and the matter will be reviewed by state officials.

SMU officials have said they will put tennis courts, an electrical substation and an information systems technology station on the site.

[RednBlue11]

any truth to the rumor that UP will be voting on whether to approve the sale of beer and possibly wine at the 7-11 on hillcrest?

[smupony94]

any truth to the rumor that UP will be voting on whether to approve the sale of beer and possibly wine at the 7-11 on hillcrest?

has been discussed and a few residents are trying to get petition signatures

[RednBlue11]

any truth to the rumor that UP will be voting on whether to approve the sale of beer and possibly wine at the 7-11 on hillcrest?

has been discussed and a few residents are trying to get petition signatures

ill sign it.

wait...arent you in austin?

[skyscraper]

UNIVERSITY PARK – Mayor [deleted] Davis plans to join forces with other civic leaders to defeat a Nov. 2 ballot measure that could ease long-standing restrictions on alcohol sales in dry areas.

Davis said he is joining a new opposition campaign because some residents mistakenly believe two liquor-related measures were placed on the ballot with an endorsement from University Park City Hall.

In reality, the city had no official role in the process. Some merchants circulated petitions for voters to sign, triggering a vote on the issue after the signatures were verified.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 020b7.html