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Aug 13, 2009 3:24 pm US/Central
Ray Road Rebel Wins Dallas City Hall Fight
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
There's an update to
the story aired on CBS 11 News Wednesday night and it shows that the little man can fight city hall and win. Thursday the Dallas Plan Commission denied a North Texas developers plan to build a warehouse district just 60 yards from a 104 year old home on Ray Road.
The plan commission denied the plan of Ridge Property Trust to build the warehouses near the home of Jim Dodd in far South Dallas.
The commission agreed with Dodd's concerns that the new road, scheduled to replace the 160 year old Ray Road, would run too close to Dodd's house.
After his victory, Dodd told CBS 11 News, "It just gratifies me that somebody down here [city hall] finally realized there is a big issue. It only took 5 1/2 years to get my story across."
The commission also agreed with Mr. Dodd's fear that construction of the warehouse district would create massive flooding problems on his property.
The Plan Commission instructed the developer to go back and rework the plan to address the problems. Once the plan has been reworked, Ridge Property Trust can resubmit their proposal.
In an interview Wednesday, Dodd told CBS 11 News, ""We're going to have 650 trucks per day coming down the road. One hundred twenty during the morning rush. One hundred twenty during the afternoon rush."
Dodd, his wife, their son and his grandchildren are the last living souls on Ray Road. But the area also has a rich history. The family says their ancestors donated land to build an all-black school in 1891. While the school is long gone, the well that provided water to the students remains to this day.
The Dodd's had feared that well and their home would have been lost to developers that they say are too eager to forget the past.
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