Guess who is screwing South Dallas again? Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price says South Dallas needs a master plan for development, and wants to create some kind of new government entity that will levy new fees and regulations on developers just as they’re trying to get things going.
The Allen Group (I profiled them here in January 2007) which has invested more than four years and $20 million (several million just in getting approvals) for its owned planned 6,000-acre logistics hub, says it will “add unnecessary delays and uncertainty as well as another layer of bureaucracy that will scare off investors with new regulations.” And it’s for certain the Allen Group would have to start all over again on a project that promises 35,000 new jobs over its 20-year build-out. No one will invest in the area, CEO Richard Allen said, if they “don’t know what the rules are.”
JWP wasn’t happy, according to the DMN.
Mr. Price bristled at the criticism, telling one developer sarcastically, “We’re glad you finally got there,” referring to southern Dallas County.
Well, you’ve been county commissioner “there” for 23 years, John Wiley, and things are as crappy as when you first took office. Why get in the way of new arrivals who want to actually make the place better? Oh, right — people like you profit from keeping constituents in poverty.