Residents Gather Over Concern for Meadow Park

Residents Gather Over Concern for the Future of Meadow Park

August 22, 2024

A group of concerned Bedford residents, known as the Meadow Park Action Committee, gathered Wednesday evening to discuss the future of one of the last undeveloped parcels of land in the City. Of the estimated 35 participants, most live near or around Meadow Park, a 57-acre property that the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District (HEB ISD) has owned for 55 years with the original intention of building a third high school.

The group’s concern comes ahead of a joint special session of City Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August 27. In the meeting, the Council and Commission plan to review Bedford’s proposed Comprehensive Plan, which includes Meadow Park, and what it may look like after HEB ISD, as expected, sells the property and is reshaped by a developer.

The Comprehensive Plan, according to the City website, is “the official guide for making decisions about future growth and redevelopment.” It is “updated regularly as the community changes,” the website states, and is a time “to look at our community and prepare for the future.”

Acknowledging that the days of Meadow Park’s rolling hills, open grassland and trees are numbered, Jean Freeman and Melody Farquhar Chang arranged Wednesday’s meeting to organize residents. “Our purpose was to build awareness and educate the neighborhood about Meadow Park,” Freeman commented. Even though the property is not owned by the City, she said, “the objective is “to give the neighbors a voice in the development of Meadow Park and create a realistic, conceptual plan that expresses the desires of the neighbors.”

The property is also home to Bedford’s Bark Park as well as a couple of baseball fields and two youth soccer fields that make up the Meadow Park Athletic Complex.

Freeman said she accepts that the “greenspace” is going to be developed, but that she and other residents want to have some say about how it will be done.

According to City of Bedford records, Meadow Park is zoned as an R15 single-family residential classification. This means that if bought by a developer and divided into lots for homes, the zoning would require minimum lot sizes of 15,000 square feet, which equals about a third of an acre each.

Many of her neighbors, Freeman stated, moved to the area around Meadow Park based on that R15 zoning, if it ever was developed. But they are concerned the proposed concept for the land in the Comprehensive Plan shows a higher density housing, including townhomes with zero lot lines that could be up to three stories high.

Freeman stated, “We have been assured that it won’t be apartments.” But, she added, when it comes to housing density she sees “no difference between apartments and townhomes.”

Higher density may produce more profit for a developer, she explained, but she is concerned they could lose “the small-town feel and a haven from the rat race. It will change the character of our neighborhood.” She added that “what draws new residents to Bedford is the small-town feel and the safe environment for their families. It is what makes Bedford unique.”

As reported on May 7 by the Bedford Journal Project, the consensus among at least a few City Council members is that the City has limited influence on any sale of Meadow Park, other than working with which ever developer buys the property.

“Unfortunately, Bedford made the mistake in 1969 of selling this property to HEB ISD,” said Bedford Mayor Dan Cogan, “which limits our ability to ultimately control what goes there.”

Any development at Meadow Park, Cogan said, “could include residential and commercial components while also preserving mature trees with designated park space.” But he acknowledged the City is “unable to change the zoning to designate it as a ‘park.’” That, he said, “would be considered a ‘taking’ of the property and is illegal.”

Cogan further explained it would also be “fiscally irresponsible to use a significant amount of city funds to purchase back the land.” “However,” he asserted, “Bedford needs to be a part of the conversations on how this property will develop and ask for preservation of trees and addition of green spaces before the sale of the land.” In any case, “I would need for Bedford to be represented in the conversations with potential developers,” he added, since the City is better experienced and prepared than the school district to work with whoever purchases the land.

HEB ISD “has talked about selling for years,” commented Amy Sabol, Bedford Council Member, Place 3. Sabol said “HEB ISD will sell it and the developer will build homes there because of zoning,” which would “increase tax revenue.” In any case, she frankly said, the school district will do what they choose to do and we’ll only be included when it comes to zoning.” But, “we play the long game,” she explained. “A good development brings a city property tax, sales tax and appreciated value.”

Sabol added, “I have seen social media comments wanting to keep greenspace.” She agreed that “it would be nice, but my guess is HEB ISD will take the highest bidder when the time comes and not consult with us.”

Council Member, Place 4, Rich Steves agreed, saying that he “would love to see the property developed into a park,” but acknowledged “it is not a financially realistic aspiration.” As a former member of Bedford’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and current Council liaison to the Board, he said, “I’m a strong supporter of our park system.”

Instead, Steves further echoed Council Member Sabol, saying “the HEB ISD will need to get the highest value they can” for the land and added that Bedford already “has a significant amount of tax dollars tied up in the Bedford Commons and Cross City (Gateway) projects.” More realistically, Steves again concurred with Cogan and Sabol, that he would like to see the zoning for Meadow Park remain residential. Further he said, “the City needs to make sure that with all the ‘development,’ we are still able to provide quality services (police, fire, utilities, etc..) to our residents.”

Free Monthly Email Newsletter Recap

No time to follow news developments in the Bedford Journal Project?

The Project introduces a free email newsletter with its feature articles delivered to your inbox at the end of each month.

Visit the ‘About’ page to read more and sign up!