March 3, 2025 • 28 mins
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A growing population brings new challenges to our neighborhoods as residential developments rise. We delve into the proposed plans for a subdivision that could drastically change our community, examining privacy, traffic impacts, and environmental concerns. Join us as we reflect on resident Phil Hemmer's passionate insights and explore how community members can actively influence local development decisions.
• Discussion of new housing developments encroaching on residential privacy
• Concerns surrounding rental properties affecting neighborhood stability
• Examination of traffic issues resulting from increased population density
• Insights from community meetings emphasizing resident advocacy
• Proposals for maintaining green spaces and defining development standards
Call to action: Attend the meeting on Tuesday, March 4th at 6 PM at Little Elm City Hall to voice your opinion against the proposed development.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(01:04):
Good morning Cross Roads.
On the show today I have PhilHemmer, my neighbor from across
Oak Grove Lane in the HillstonePoint Little Elm Side Housing
Division.
Welcome to the show, Phil.
Phil Hemmer (01:20):
Thank
Steven Killfoil (02:25):
Late last month about February 18th I received
a letter from the city of LittleElm inviting me to attend a
Public Hearing/Arbors at OakGrove (PD-24-004830).
A request to rezoneapproximately 10 acres of land,
currently zoned Agriculture(AC), approximately located
2,000 feet north of theintersection of US HWY 380 and
Oak Grove, within Little Elm'stown limits, to establish a new
Planned Development - SingleFamily 4 District with modified
development standards to allowfor development of a new
residential subdivision.
Does that about sum it up Phil?
What happened?
Well, we got in front of theplanning and zoning committee
and the developer came in withhis plan and what he was showing
and we're not happy with whathe's planning on developing in
that area.
So what is it going to doplanning on developing in that
area?
So what is it going to do?
(02:45):
It's going to put 50 homeswithin that small 10-acre lot
and those homes are all going tobe two-story homes and,
honestly, looking at the designthat I went and got from
planning and zoning, it surelooks like rentals, which I have
big concerns about.
And the two-story homes they'rebuilding are going to be 20
(03:08):
foot from the existing HillstonePoint homes.
So the two-story homes aregoing to be looking into all of
the Hillstone Point homes'backyard and homes.
They could shoot a basketballdown into your backyard from
their balcony, huh.
Phil Hemmer (03:20):
Yeah, they could, absolutely.
Steven Killfoil (03:22):
That's
Phil Hemmer (03:26):
Too close.
And Little Elm did not submitto the drawing of the
development to anyone.
They just gave this letter.
I went to Little Elm City Halland acquired that design, what
they're planning on doing.
I was shocked what I saw.
Steven Killfoil (03:48):
Yeah, it's a little bit tight from what you
showed me.
Uh, not something.
I want that close to my houseeither, and my home happens to
be in that little circle thatthey put on the map on the back
of this letter I got.
So, yeah, I don't want somebodyto be able to peer over my
fence and be able to seeanything.
It's none of their business.
That privacy fence is wellabove the road level and nobody
(04:08):
driving a car or even a truckcan come and peer down into my
backyard.
So I'm happy with that.
But I don't want a big oldtwo-story house where they can
look right down and see if I'mhome or not.
That's not cool, definitely not.
Well, you handed me a list ofquestions that you asked at this
meeting and I'm going to readthem off.
Phil Hemmer (04:31):
I asked the questions.
I only had a three-minute timelimit, but I was talking as
quickly as I could.
All right, and you didn't getany answers, I assume, Right,
they didn't answer any questions, but I did provide the
following day.
I did provide a list of allthose questions I asked to the
planning and zoning committeeokay, have you heard back from
them yet?
Steven Killfoil (04:52):
I have not hmm , all right folks out there
listening, let me list, let mehear.
Give you these questions verysimple.
One who's the builder?
Two are the homes shown in theplan one or two-story?
3.
Are the homes being built goingto be for sale or rentals only?
4.
If rentals, how many will beSection 8 housing?
(05:14):
5.
Are the trees shown in the parkarea existing trees or new ones
going to be planted?
6.
Proposed red zone letter statesmodified development standards.
What are these modifieddevelopment standards?
Seven why would the city grantmodified development standards
rather than normal standards?
(05:36):
Eight why would the cityentertain a development knowing
that it would reduce the marketvalue of 25 homes?
9.
The trees along the east lotline are approximately 135 feet
wide and there are 706 treesgreater than 6 inches within
this area.
(05:56):
The trees are specimen trees,not mesquite or small scrub
trees.
Some of them are 30 inches indiameter.
I would never purchase a homethat has a two-story home behind
me, looking into my backyard.
Existing homes here enjoy thewoods and the green space.
It makes our homes moremarketable to buyers.
(06:20):
My number one proposaleliminates the six homes and
leaves all the trees on the eastproperty line.
All homes on the south propertyline will be one story only,
and 14 concerned about wildlifethat live within the trees, for
example, owls that are heardnightly.
(06:41):
And 15 instead of putting allthese houses in like a bunch of
tuna in a can, how about makingthis a park by little elm?
It's perfect size for it andit's something that the area
could really use, and I think itwould be well received by all
persons in the area.
(07:02):
No problem, I would supportthat absolutely.
I would go walk in it nightly.
You know, like that, that woodsarea that I'm talking about on
the east side, you could make anice mulch trail throughout
those woods.
Would be wonderful for people towalk through.
Absolutely, and and I think we need to keep a
little bit of the green space.
(07:23):
Good lord man, what are youguys thinking of?
Little elmm, and it's just.
I mean, my God, Denton Countyhas just literally squeezed in
millions of people.
I've got some stats I'm goingto share with you in a little
bit on that.
Anyway, phil knocked on my doorearlier this afternoon and asked
(07:46):
me to sign a protest for thedevelopment of those houses,
which I gladly signed and haveinvited him on the show today,
and here he is to discuss oursituation and exactly how it
affects not only us, but ourneighbors in Providence Village
as well.
As you know, with all theconstruction, navigating traffic
(08:06):
has been anything butpleasurable.
The construction navigatingtraffic has been anything but
pleasurable.
When we purchased our home in2018, we were surrounded by
horse ranches, peace and quietand very little traffic.
That all disappeared with theonslaught of home builders and
putting houses up all around us.
Phil, what do you think aboutall this development and tell
(08:27):
our listeners why these 50 homesdefinitely should not be built.
Phil Hemmer (08:32):
Well to me.
They really looking at thedesign once again, they sure
look like rentals to me, youknow, with the size of the lots
and the size of the homes also,and it just it invades the
privacy of 25 homes and all theother people around this area
homes and all the other peoplearound this area.
I know it takes me.
(08:52):
I just live two blocks off ofthe entrance and it takes me 20
minutes at eight o'clock to getout of my subdivision.
Steven Killfoil (08:56):
And that's unacceptable.
Phil Hemmer (08:57):
It's unacceptable.
Steven Killfoil (08:58):
That's just terrible.
Phil Hemmer (09:00):
And they you know.
Granting them modifieddevelopment standards is just
totally ridiculous.
I'd say Little Elm needs to goback to adhering to their
standards, which is much betterfor all the residents.
Steven Killfoil (09:13):
I agree, I agree.
Well, my wife?
She has to wake up at 4.30 amMonday, tuesday and sometimes
Wednesdays just to leave thehouse at 5 am in order to avoid
that absolute chaos that ensueswith traffic on Oak Grove.
Myself, I get up around 525,and so I can leave my home at
(09:38):
615.
I go in the opposite direction,but I do this in order to avoid
even more congested trafficthere on Fish Trap.
More congested traffic there onfish trap.
But there's times, if I don'tget out from my neighborhood by
625, I can't even get out of myneighborhood due to the heavy
traffic coming from the west tothe east on fish trap, coming
(10:03):
off of Highway 377.
And this is not acceptable.
And it's not entirely due tothe construction, but more so
due to so many houses that havebeen quickly built in our
immediate area.
Let me share with you somestats has gone from in 2018 to
(10:27):
present, from 858,148 people toa staggering 1,007,703 people,
averaging almost 3% to 4%increase per year.
Okay, I say enough is enough.
Stop building so many houses soclose together.
(10:48):
And then let's not forget whatabout?
Businesses support all theneeds of those million people.
What do you think about this,phil?
Phil Hemmer (10:58):
Way too congested for my life, oh man, and there's
no reason.
Reason for it it's.
Steven Killfoil (11:05):
It's terrible and I feel sorry for the people
in providence village.
I'm certain they're having theexact same problem that we're
having over here.
You can't get out to goanywhere.
At certain times of the dayit's just a nightmare.
And of course, naturally in themorning when you go to work
good Lord, you know it'sterrible.
And they've got all thatcongestion going all the way
(11:26):
down there Main Street, all theway up to where it dead ends at
Friendship Road.
They're talking about theDenton County Road.
Commissioner told me that thatMain Street is going to be
widened to six lanes.
Highway 377 is going to bewidened to six lanes.
Those two parallel one another.
Now when I go up into PilotPoint, half the time I shoot up
(11:48):
Main Street because it's faster.
Phil Hemmer (11:51):
It is.
Steven Killfoil (11:52):
It's faster because of the congestion of the
traffic, because all thosehouses that they build up there
in Aubrey and Kugerville it'sinsane and enough is enough.
These guys got to stop.
They got to stop.
Yes, take a break.
We need some land open spaces
Phil Hemmer (12:11):
Well, can I talk a little about about this meeting
that I went to the plan
Steven Killfoil (12:14):
Absolutely
Phil Hemmer (12:16):
The uh planning zoning committee did listen to .
you know the people who spokeand they listened to all my
questions and everything.
At the end of the meeting theydenied the developers rights on
the modified developmentstandards.
They told them to come back tothe table with those gone.
The trees remain as they areand all the houses along the
(12:40):
existing homes are all one-storyhomes.
Okay, that's how the meetingended, but the land zoning.
they denied what they wanted todo.
Good, which is good, but now—
Steven Killfoil (12:51):
Now we have another meeting coming up when
Phil Hemmer (12:54):
Tuesday at six o'clock at Little Elm City Hall
Steven Killfoil (12:57):
This Tuesday?
Phil Hemmer (12:58):
This Tuesday.
March 4th,
Steven Killfoil (13:00):
March 4th six o'clock.
Mark this on your calendars,everybody March the 4th, Little
Elm City Hall.
It's right there, off of ElDorado Parkway, right behind the
fire station.
Phil Hemmer (13:13):
Walk through the library to get to the meeting.
Steven Killfoil (13:15):
Walk through the library to get to the
meeting.
I'm going to be there,definitely going to be there.
Phil Hemmer (13:20):
So what's happening is the developer is protesting,
the planning and zoning denial.
That's what they're doing.
They're going before the citycouncil.
You better believe I'm going tobe at that meeting.
Steven Killfoil (13:35):
Absolutely, this is our time to voice our
opinion, and definitely so.
How can we, the people, bothdemocrat and republican, get our
voices heard so Little Elm willfirst not build these homes,
which I understand could alsopossibly be Section 8 housing.
Enough is enough.
I didn't buy a home here to besurrounded by a bunch of houses
(13:57):
and people who don't care abouttheir neighborhood.
Tell our listeners out therewhat they can do to help Phil.
Phil Hemmer (14:05):
Show up for the meeting Tuesday, march 4th, at 6
o'clock.
6 o'clock At the Little.
Elm little elm city hall thatlittle elm city hall.
You have to voice your opinionto be heard that's a fact, so
you heard it.
This is the only time we'regoing to be able to voice our
opinion.
You got it to put a stop to it
Steven Killfoil (14:25):
How many times have I said it, folks if you
want to know what's going on,you've got to be in those
meetings.
If you don't show up to thosemeetings and then you bitch
about something that happened,you got to shut up because you
weren't there.
You don't have a voice.
So this is one chance to getyour voice heard.
So, with all the challenges andovercrowding in our public
(14:47):
schools, I don't believe ourlittle area can handle much more
.
In regards to single familydwellings, Braswell High School
is way overcrowded.
They have started building anew high school here in Cross
Roads, but I believe if thehouses keep getting built at the
speed that they're going up now, Cross Roads High School is
going to be overcrowded beforeit even opens its doors.
(15:09):
It's beginning to feel likewe're being crammed in together
like a bunch of tuna, and Idon't like it.
What about you, Phil?
Phil Hemmer (15:17):
I'm the same way.
I'm same way with you it's justit's.
Steven Killfoil (15:23):
It's just ridiculous.
There's, there's no way.
I did not.
I did not buy my house with theintentions of this much going
on around me.
I bought my house to get awayfrom overcrowding.
We moved from a neighborhoodwhere the street looked like a
(15:44):
parking garage it's at hillstonepoint you're talking about yes,
that's a hillstone point, hoain a jennifer, henry, if you're
listening, you listen up andlisten.
Good, both cities Cross Roadsand Little Elm have informed me
that our roads within our HOAare private.
(16:05):
They are not monitored by theCity of Cross Roads or the City
of Little Elm.
So guess what that means?
You, with Essex, need toenforce the rules that we all
agreed upon when we bought ourhomes in this HOA that nobody
(16:28):
can park their car on the streetand if they do, tow it away.
You got a driveway, put yourblasted car in it.
If you got a garage, park it inthere.
If you got stuff in your garage, that's not my problem.
There's storage around thecorner.
Put it in the storage so youcan park your car in the garage.
(16:49):
Your garage is meant for a car,not a man cave.
Sorry, I'm not going toapologize for it.
And you guys out there thathave gotten your mirrors knocked
off and dings and dents andscratches and so forth and
vandalism and broken into, it'syour own fault.
If you'd have parked your carin the garage, that would have
never happened, or on yourdriveway, at least you could
(17:10):
have had it monitorable by yourown standards, but no, you got
to park it on the street, forwhatever reason.
Get it off the damn street.
People come on.
Enough's enough, Jennifer.
Henry, president of theHillstone Point, HOA, please do
something.
And if Essex isn't going to doanything about it, their
(17:31):
contracts come and do up.
I propose, as an owner in thisHOA, that we replace them with a
management company that's goingto enforce the rules that we
set forth and agreed upon.
End of story.
No more commercial vehicles onthe street, everything.
Get them off.
(17:52):
Get them in the driveway.
If they want a commercialvehicle, I'm fine with that.
Just park it in your driveway.
Get it off the street.
Because I asked the fire chieffrom Little Elm known fire
department who is ourfirefighter for our neighborhood
, if we ever get a fire.
If there's a fire at a home andthey can't get access to that
(18:12):
house to put that fire out.
Those fire trucks have a greatbig bumper for a reason they
will ram your car, turn it intoa tuna can, shove it out of the
way like a bulldozer and they'llput the fire out.
And they will not be heldresponsible for the damage done
to your car because you were sostupid to park it on the street
when you should have had it inthe driveway, end of story.
(18:34):
That's enough said.
I'll get off my soapbox on that.
But uh, I know from your sideyou're having the same exact
trouble, right that.
And then these people drivingthrough here like it's a nascar
right.
Phil Hemmer (18:46):
This is a Hillstone Point.
On the other side it's a onelane traffic because of the
parked cars.
Yep, you can't go down thestreet without having to stop
and pull over and let anoncoming vehicle come through
Exactly, and we shouldn't dothat and wave to them when they
go by.
Yeah, it's nothing they're doingwrong, not their fault.
Yeah, not at all Exactly.
(19:08):
It's allowing the modifiedstandard design, that's what's
wrong?
With it.
The city allowed that.
That's what happens, exactly,paying the price for it
Steven Killfoil (19:14):
I hear you well , and then you know another
thing we can do.
It's been brought up severaltimes, but Jennifer Henry just
doesn't seem to get it anddoesn't want.
I don't know if she doesn'twant to do anything about it, if
she's comfortable in herposition or just doesn't give a
damn, I don't know what.
But the point is we can gateour communities and that'll put
(19:36):
an end to the cut throughtraffic.
Oh yeah, lots of cut through.
And those gates, I mean, dude,they're not that expensive and
it would only take about I don'tknow what.
Did they estimate about five,six, seven gates total.
I don't know how many openingsthat we got.
You know, on your side, on myside, my side, there's three,
(19:56):
there's three on our side.
So there's six gates, all right.
If each gate is 10 grand apiece and you divide that by the
number of homeowners we have inthis hoa, we could pay for that
very easily, absolutely, Iwould definitely do it.
Phil Hemmer (20:10):
I'd go for a gated community.
Steven Killfoil (20:12):
Yep, and we can do it because we have private
roads.
There's nothing saying we can't, but you know that we're
meeting with resistance.
I don't know if it's Essex orJennifer Henry, but somebody
needs to get it done becausewe're we're waiting far too long
for this nonsense to come tofruition completely.
(20:33):
But I definitely am going to beat that Little Elm on Tuesday
please do.
Phil Hemmer (20:38):
And everyone listening.
Please show up at the meeting
Steven Killfoil (20:40):
Yes, it's very important folks
Phil Hemmer (20:42):
Tuesday ,Tuesday march 4th, at six o'clock Little
Elm City HallI agree and voice our opinion
about what's happening to us
Steven Killfoil (20:49):
Right because I don't need any more cars on Oak
Grove Lane.
Good lord man, it's hard enoughnavigating at any time of the
day now.
It used to be it was only earlyin the morning and just I think
around probably between threeand six, that it was just a
nightmare to navigate, but nowit's just.
Yeah, I don't understand.
(21:11):
People tell me I mean, ifyou're in this area and you're
doing it, please stop.
If you got to get on 380, justget on 380.
But trying to cut through theneighborhood through fish trap
and all that, that's not savingyou any time at all.
In fact, all you're doing iscreating a bigger problem for
everybody.
You're making the traffic morecongested and I give kudos to
(21:36):
the Cross Roads PoliceDepartment and the Little Elm
Police Department for theamazing job that they do to
ensure that our traffic doesflow as good as it does.
You know TxDOT, they got totweak the timing every now and
then, but pretty soon our up andover will be completed and a
lot of this traffic problem willgo away, I'm hoping.
Phil Hemmer (22:00):
Yeah, but you know I was thinking about that
because I back up to the woodsthere, but it is going to
increase our noise level atremendous amount.
Steven Killfoil (22:08):
Yeah, somewhat.
Phil Hemmer (22:09):
Because right now the roads are ground level.
It's elevated Right.
Steven Killfoil (22:15):
But they can put sound barriers up on that
bridge.
Phil Hemmer (22:18):
Yes, they could, but you think that's going to
happen.
Well, we, the people, we'regoing to have to speak our voice
.
Steven Killfoil (22:28):
You've got to bring it up.
Txdot's pretty good about doingthat.
Uh, I'm hoping that that'll, uh, that'll be alleviated, but at
least the traffic will flow mucheasier once they get the lanes
widened yes uh, they're gonnahave to fix oak grove lane
because it's just, it gotscrewed up way before I moved
into this area.
(22:49):
Apparently at one point in time,under a previous administration
, that lane Oak Grove Lane was astraight street from the
highway, all the way to Fishtrap.
But somebody got in there andthought putting a little curvy
thingy in there would be neat,and they screwed it up.
Phil Hemmer (23:05):
Well, you know why that is.
If you look on the back of theletter you received, the yellow
line is in Oak Grove Road.
Yeah, that property line is inOak Grove Road.
Yeah, that property line's inOak Grove Road.
Steven Killfoil (23:16):
Oh, yeah, yeah, Well, like I told you
everything from that road overhere to Fish Trap belongs to
Cross Roads.
Right.
But this was done.
The crooked thing, snake of theroad, was done long before
Crossroads inherited that partof it.
Cross Roads- just inherited thisokay.
When we, when we first movedhere, uh, back in 2018, to buy
(23:41):
our house, we were asked by thelady at the trailer at lenar, uh
, if we wanted to live on theside that had 3.75 percent tax
and a mud or the side that had1.75 percent and no mud, I said,
well, that's a no-brainer, Iwant the 175, no mud.
I got the 375.
(24:01):
Thank you so we chose to put ourhouse over on this side of the
road.
Lessons learned well, and theystarted filling up.
My neighbor had filled up waybefore this one does, and they
fired her because they weresupposed to fill up Little Elm
side first, then come over toCross Roads.
That's not how it happened.
But I mean, you know, it's justa matter of asking the right
(24:25):
questions.
Hey, what's the deal on this?
Are these in the same?
I didn't even know they were intwo separate towns.
I didn't.
So after the fact I'm like whyin the world do we have our hoa
divided by two towns?
They should have made twoseparate HOAs, one in Little Elm
and one in Cross Roads.
But hey, are you taking jennifer?
Are you taking jennifer on yourhoa?
(24:48):
Henry?
She's the president of our HOA,I know, but if we're going to
divide it, you want to take herwith your side or you want to
come on our side?
I just wish they'd startlistening to us.
Yeah, they need to.
Absolutely, they need to.
I just wish they'd startlistening to us.
Well, everybody, make sure yougo to that meeting on tuesday
(25:11):
six o'clock, little elm cityhall, be there, or b square, and
thank you for coming on theshow today and perhaps uh, we
can have you back once.
Uh, we set into place goes intofruition.
To report back on the resultsabsolutely, absolutely.
I want to do that, definitely.
Okay For local events andmeetings coming up.
(25:33):
Make sure to check out the towncalendar on wwwcrossroadstxgov.
Town council will be meetingMonday, march 3rd, at 6 pm.
Tuesday at 7 pm.
Planning and zoning will bemeeting Wednesday, march 5th.
Parks and Recreation Board willbe meeting at 6 pm.
If you want to find out what'sgoing on in our community and
(25:55):
the surrounding area, attendingone of these meetings is
imperative.
Don't be fooled, be informed,and if you do nothing at all,
then you give up your voice.
Don't be a bench warmer, be aplayer.
So reach out to us on ourFacebook page, Cross Roads
Podcast, and let us know whatyou think about this Li ttle Elm
City Hall situation.
Call .
(26:17):
No, don't call them.
Show up to the meeting onTuesday the time for calls or is
over.
You need to show up in person.
Open your mouth, let your voicebe heard, let them know what
you think.
You can send us a text messageright from the link on the
website crossroadspodcast.
buzzsprout.
com.
Just click on the link ForQuestions or Comments.
(26:38):
Send Us a Text Message or dropus an email at
crossroadspodcast2023@ gmail.
com.
If you liked what you heardtoday, drop us a text on the
episode.
Stay tuned in and until nextweek we'll see you at the top!
Good morning Cross Roads.
On the show today I have PhilHemmer, my neighbor from across
Oak Grove Lane in the HillstonePoint Little Elm Side Housing
Division.
Welcome to the show, Phil.
Phil Hemmer (01:20):
Thank
Steven Killfoil (02:25):
Late last month about February 18th I received
a letter from the city of LittleElm inviting me to attend a
Public Hearing/Arbors at OakGrove (PD-24-004830).
A request to rezoneapproximately 10 acres of land,
currently zoned Agriculture(AC), approximately located
2,000 feet north of theintersection of US HWY 380 and
Oak Grove, within Little Elm'stown limits, to establish a new
Planned Development - SingleFamily 4 District with modified
development standards to allowfor development of a new
residential subdivision.
Does that about sum it up Phil?
What happened?
Well, we got in front of theplanning and zoning committee
and the developer came in withhis plan and what he was showing
and we're not happy with whathe's planning on developing in
that area.
So what is it going to doplanning on developing in that
area?
So what is it going to do?
(02:45):
It's going to put 50 homeswithin that small 10-acre lot
and those homes are all going tobe two-story homes and,
honestly, looking at the designthat I went and got from
planning and zoning, it surelooks like rentals, which I have
big concerns about.
And the two-story homes they'rebuilding are going to be 20
(03:08):
foot from the existing HillstonePoint homes.
So the two-story homes aregoing to be looking into all of
the Hillstone Point homes'backyard and homes.
They could shoot a basketballdown into your backyard from
their balcony, huh.
Phil Hemmer (03:20):
Yeah, they could, absolutely.
Steven Killfoil (03:22):
That's
Phil Hemmer (03:26):
Too close.
And Little Elm did not submitto the drawing of the
development to anyone.
They just gave this letter.
I went to Little Elm City Halland acquired that design, what
they're planning on doing.
I was shocked what I saw.
Steven Killfoil (03:48):
Yeah, it's a little bit tight from what you
showed me.
Uh, not something.
I want that close to my houseeither, and my home happens to
be in that little circle thatthey put on the map on the back
of this letter I got.
So, yeah, I don't want somebodyto be able to peer over my
fence and be able to seeanything.
It's none of their business.
That privacy fence is wellabove the road level and nobody
(04:08):
driving a car or even a truckcan come and peer down into my
backyard.
So I'm happy with that.
But I don't want a big oldtwo-story house where they can
look right down and see if I'mhome or not.
That's not cool, definitely not.
Well, you handed me a list ofquestions that you asked at this
meeting and I'm going to readthem off.
Phil Hemmer (04:31):
I asked the questions.
I only had a three-minute timelimit, but I was talking as
quickly as I could.
All right, and you didn't getany answers, I assume, Right,
they didn't answer any questions, but I did provide the
following day.
I did provide a list of allthose questions I asked to the
planning and zoning committeeokay, have you heard back from
them yet?
Steven Killfoil (04:52):
I have not hmm , all right folks out there
listening, let me list, let mehear.
Give you these questions verysimple.
One who's the builder?
Two are the homes shown in theplan one or two-story?
3.
Are the homes being built goingto be for sale or rentals only?
4.
If rentals, how many will beSection 8 housing?
(05:14):
5.
Are the trees shown in the parkarea existing trees or new ones
going to be planted?
6.
Proposed red zone letter statesmodified development standards.
What are these modifieddevelopment standards?
Seven why would the city grantmodified development standards
rather than normal standards?
(05:36):
Eight why would the cityentertain a development knowing
that it would reduce the marketvalue of 25 homes?
9.
The trees along the east lotline are approximately 135 feet
wide and there are 706 treesgreater than 6 inches within
this area.
(05:56):
The trees are specimen trees,not mesquite or small scrub
trees.
Some of them are 30 inches indiameter.
I would never purchase a homethat has a two-story home behind
me, looking into my backyard.
Existing homes here enjoy thewoods and the green space.
It makes our homes moremarketable to buyers.
(06:20):
My number one proposaleliminates the six homes and
leaves all the trees on the eastproperty line.
All homes on the south propertyline will be one story only,
and 14 concerned about wildlifethat live within the trees, for
example, owls that are heardnightly.
(06:41):
And 15 instead of putting allthese houses in like a bunch of
tuna in a can, how about makingthis a park by little elm?
It's perfect size for it andit's something that the area
could really use, and I think itwould be well received by all
persons in the area.
(07:02):
No problem, I would supportthat absolutely.
I would go walk in it nightly.
You know, like that, that woodsarea that I'm talking about on
the east side, you could make anice mulch trail throughout
those woods.
Would be wonderful for people towalk through.
Absolutely, and and I think we need to keep a
little bit of the green space.
(07:23):
Good lord man, what are youguys thinking of?
Little elmm, and it's just.
I mean, my God, Denton Countyhas just literally squeezed in
millions of people.
I've got some stats I'm goingto share with you in a little
bit on that.
Anyway, phil knocked on my doorearlier this afternoon and asked
(07:46):
me to sign a protest for thedevelopment of those houses,
which I gladly signed and haveinvited him on the show today,
and here he is to discuss oursituation and exactly how it
affects not only us, but ourneighbors in Providence Village
as well.
As you know, with all theconstruction, navigating traffic
(08:06):
has been anything butpleasurable.
The construction navigatingtraffic has been anything but
pleasurable.
When we purchased our home in2018, we were surrounded by
horse ranches, peace and quietand very little traffic.
That all disappeared with theonslaught of home builders and
putting houses up all around us.
Phil, what do you think aboutall this development and tell
(08:27):
our listeners why these 50 homesdefinitely should not be built.
Phil Hemmer (08:32):
Well to me.
They really looking at thedesign once again, they sure
look like rentals to me, youknow, with the size of the lots
and the size of the homes also,and it just it invades the
privacy of 25 homes and all theother people around this area
homes and all the other peoplearound this area.
I know it takes me.
(08:52):
I just live two blocks off ofthe entrance and it takes me 20
minutes at eight o'clock to getout of my subdivision.
Steven Killfoil (08:56):
And that's unacceptable.
Phil Hemmer (08:57):
It's unacceptable.
Steven Killfoil (08:58):
That's just terrible.
Phil Hemmer (09:00):
And they you know.
Granting them modifieddevelopment standards is just
totally ridiculous.
I'd say Little Elm needs to goback to adhering to their
standards, which is much betterfor all the residents.
Steven Killfoil (09:13):
I agree, I agree.
Well, my wife?
She has to wake up at 4.30 amMonday, tuesday and sometimes
Wednesdays just to leave thehouse at 5 am in order to avoid
that absolute chaos that ensueswith traffic on Oak Grove.
Myself, I get up around 525,and so I can leave my home at
(09:38):
615.
I go in the opposite direction,but I do this in order to avoid
even more congested trafficthere on Fish Trap.
More congested traffic there onfish trap.
But there's times, if I don'tget out from my neighborhood by
625, I can't even get out of myneighborhood due to the heavy
traffic coming from the west tothe east on fish trap, coming
(10:03):
off of Highway 377.
And this is not acceptable.
And it's not entirely due tothe construction, but more so
due to so many houses that havebeen quickly built in our
immediate area.
Let me share with you somestats has gone from in 2018 to
(10:27):
present, from 858,148 people toa staggering 1,007,703 people,
averaging almost 3% to 4%increase per year.
Okay, I say enough is enough.
Stop building so many houses soclose together.
(10:48):
And then let's not forget whatabout?
Businesses support all theneeds of those million people.
What do you think about this,phil?
Phil Hemmer (10:58):
Way too congested for my life, oh man, and there's
no reason.
Reason for it it's.
Steven Killfoil (11:05):
It's terrible and I feel sorry for the people
in providence village.
I'm certain they're having theexact same problem that we're
having over here.
You can't get out to goanywhere.
At certain times of the dayit's just a nightmare.
And of course, naturally in themorning when you go to work
good Lord, you know it'sterrible.
And they've got all thatcongestion going all the way
(11:26):
down there Main Street, all theway up to where it dead ends at
Friendship Road.
They're talking about theDenton County Road.
Commissioner told me that thatMain Street is going to be
widened to six lanes.
Highway 377 is going to bewidened to six lanes.
Those two parallel one another.
Now when I go up into PilotPoint, half the time I shoot up
(11:48):
Main Street because it's faster.
Phil Hemmer (11:51):
It is.
Steven Killfoil (11:52):
It's faster because of the congestion of the
traffic, because all thosehouses that they build up there
in Aubrey and Kugerville it'sinsane and enough is enough.
These guys got to stop.
They got to stop.
Yes, take a break.
We need some land open spaces
Phil Hemmer (12:11):
Well, can I talk a little about about this meeting
that I went to the plan
Steven Killfoil (12:14):
Absolutely
Phil Hemmer (12:16):
The uh planning zoning committee did listen to .
you know the people who spokeand they listened to all my
questions and everything.
At the end of the meeting theydenied the developers rights on
the modified developmentstandards.
They told them to come back tothe table with those gone.
The trees remain as they areand all the houses along the
(12:40):
existing homes are all one-storyhomes.
Okay, that's how the meetingended, but the land zoning.
they denied what they wanted todo.
Good, which is good, but now—
Steven Killfoil (12:51):
Now we have another meeting coming up when
Phil Hemmer (12:54):
Tuesday at six o'clock at Little Elm City Hall
Steven Killfoil (12:57):
This Tuesday?
Phil Hemmer (12:58):
This Tuesday.
March 4th,
Steven Killfoil (13:00):
March 4th six o'clock.
Mark this on your calendars,everybody March the 4th, Little
Elm City Hall.
It's right there, off of ElDorado Parkway, right behind the
fire station.
Phil Hemmer (13:13):
Walk through the library to get to the meeting.
Steven Killfoil (13:15):
Walk through the library to get to the
meeting.
I'm going to be there,definitely going to be there.
Phil Hemmer (13:20):
So what's happening is the developer is protesting,
the planning and zoning denial.
That's what they're doing.
They're going before the citycouncil.
You better believe I'm going tobe at that meeting.
Steven Killfoil (13:35):
Absolutely, this is our time to voice our
opinion, and definitely so.
How can we, the people, bothdemocrat and republican, get our
voices heard so Little Elm willfirst not build these homes,
which I understand could alsopossibly be Section 8 housing.
Enough is enough.
I didn't buy a home here to besurrounded by a bunch of houses
(13:57):
and people who don't care abouttheir neighborhood.
Tell our listeners out therewhat they can do to help Phil.
Phil Hemmer (14:05):
Show up for the meeting Tuesday, march 4th, at 6
o'clock.
6 o'clock At the Little.
Elm little elm city hall thatlittle elm city hall.
You have to voice your opinionto be heard that's a fact, so
you heard it.
This is the only time we'regoing to be able to voice our
opinion.
You got it to put a stop to it
Steven Killfoil (14:25):
How many times have I said it, folks if you
want to know what's going on,you've got to be in those
meetings.
If you don't show up to thosemeetings and then you bitch
about something that happened,you got to shut up because you
weren't there.
You don't have a voice.
So this is one chance to getyour voice heard.
So, with all the challenges andovercrowding in our public
(14:47):
schools, I don't believe ourlittle area can handle much more
.
In regards to single familydwellings, Braswell High School
is way overcrowded.
They have started building anew high school here in Cross
Roads, but I believe if thehouses keep getting built at the
speed that they're going up now, Cross Roads High School is
going to be overcrowded beforeit even opens its doors.
(15:09):
It's beginning to feel likewe're being crammed in together
like a bunch of tuna, and Idon't like it.
What about you, Phil?
Phil Hemmer (15:17):
I'm the same way.
I'm same way with you it's justit's.
Steven Killfoil (15:23):
It's just ridiculous.
There's, there's no way.
I did not.
I did not buy my house with theintentions of this much going
on around me.
I bought my house to get awayfrom overcrowding.
We moved from a neighborhoodwhere the street looked like a
(15:44):
parking garage it's at hillstonepoint you're talking about yes,
that's a hillstone point, hoain a jennifer, henry, if you're
listening, you listen up andlisten.
Good, both cities Cross Roadsand Little Elm have informed me
that our roads within our HOAare private.
(16:05):
They are not monitored by theCity of Cross Roads or the City
of Little Elm.
So guess what that means?
You, with Essex, need toenforce the rules that we all
agreed upon when we bought ourhomes in this HOA that nobody
(16:28):
can park their car on the streetand if they do, tow it away.
You got a driveway, put yourblasted car in it.
If you got a garage, park it inthere.
If you got stuff in your garage, that's not my problem.
There's storage around thecorner.
Put it in the storage so youcan park your car in the garage.
(16:49):
Your garage is meant for a car,not a man cave.
Sorry, I'm not going toapologize for it.
And you guys out there thathave gotten your mirrors knocked
off and dings and dents andscratches and so forth and
vandalism and broken into, it'syour own fault.
If you'd have parked your carin the garage, that would have
never happened, or on yourdriveway, at least you could
(17:10):
have had it monitorable by yourown standards, but no, you got
to park it on the street, forwhatever reason.
Get it off the damn street.
People come on.
Enough's enough, Jennifer.
Henry, president of theHillstone Point, HOA, please do
something.
And if Essex isn't going to doanything about it, their
(17:31):
contracts come and do up.
I propose, as an owner in thisHOA, that we replace them with a
management company that's goingto enforce the rules that we
set forth and agreed upon.
End of story.
No more commercial vehicles onthe street, everything.
Get them off.
(17:52):
Get them in the driveway.
If they want a commercialvehicle, I'm fine with that.
Just park it in your driveway.
Get it off the street.
Because I asked the fire chieffrom Little Elm known fire
department who is ourfirefighter for our neighborhood
, if we ever get a fire.
If there's a fire at a home andthey can't get access to that
(18:12):
house to put that fire out.
Those fire trucks have a greatbig bumper for a reason they
will ram your car, turn it intoa tuna can, shove it out of the
way like a bulldozer and they'llput the fire out.
And they will not be heldresponsible for the damage done
to your car because you were sostupid to park it on the street
when you should have had it inthe driveway, end of story.
(18:34):
That's enough said.
I'll get off my soapbox on that.
But uh, I know from your sideyou're having the same exact
trouble, right that.
And then these people drivingthrough here like it's a nascar
right.
Phil Hemmer (18:46):
This is a Hillstone Point.
On the other side it's a onelane traffic because of the
parked cars.
Yep, you can't go down thestreet without having to stop
and pull over and let anoncoming vehicle come through
Exactly, and we shouldn't dothat and wave to them when they
go by.
Yeah, it's nothing they're doingwrong, not their fault.
Yeah, not at all Exactly.
(19:08):
It's allowing the modifiedstandard design, that's what's
wrong?
With it.
The city allowed that.
That's what happens, exactly,paying the price for it
Steven Killfoil (19:14):
I hear you well , and then you know another
thing we can do.
It's been brought up severaltimes, but Jennifer Henry just
doesn't seem to get it anddoesn't want.
I don't know if she doesn'twant to do anything about it, if
she's comfortable in herposition or just doesn't give a
damn, I don't know what.
But the point is we can gateour communities and that'll put
(19:36):
an end to the cut throughtraffic.
Oh yeah, lots of cut through.
And those gates, I mean, dude,they're not that expensive and
it would only take about I don'tknow what.
Did they estimate about five,six, seven gates total.
I don't know how many openingsthat we got.
You know, on your side, on myside, my side, there's three,
(19:56):
there's three on our side.
So there's six gates, all right.
If each gate is 10 grand apiece and you divide that by the
number of homeowners we have inthis hoa, we could pay for that
very easily, absolutely, Iwould definitely do it.
Phil Hemmer (20:10):
I'd go for a gated community.
Steven Killfoil (20:12):
Yep, and we can do it because we have private
roads.
There's nothing saying we can't, but you know that we're
meeting with resistance.
I don't know if it's Essex orJennifer Henry, but somebody
needs to get it done becausewe're we're waiting far too long
for this nonsense to come tofruition completely.
(20:33):
But I definitely am going to beat that Little Elm on Tuesday
please do.
Phil Hemmer (20:38):
And everyone listening.
Please show up at the meeting
Steven Killfoil (20:40):
Yes, it's very important folks
Phil Hemmer (20:42):
Tuesday ,Tuesday march 4th, at six o'clock Little
Elm City HallI agree and voice our opinion
about what's happening to us
Steven Killfoil (20:49):
Right because I don't need any more cars on Oak
Grove Lane.
Good lord man, it's hard enoughnavigating at any time of the
day now.
It used to be it was only earlyin the morning and just I think
around probably between threeand six, that it was just a
nightmare to navigate, but nowit's just.
Yeah, I don't understand.
(21:11):
People tell me I mean, ifyou're in this area and you're
doing it, please stop.
If you got to get on 380, justget on 380.
But trying to cut through theneighborhood through fish trap
and all that, that's not savingyou any time at all.
In fact, all you're doing iscreating a bigger problem for
everybody.
You're making the traffic morecongested and I give kudos to
(21:36):
the Cross Roads PoliceDepartment and the Little Elm
Police Department for theamazing job that they do to
ensure that our traffic doesflow as good as it does.
You know TxDOT, they got totweak the timing every now and
then, but pretty soon our up andover will be completed and a
lot of this traffic problem willgo away, I'm hoping.
Phil Hemmer (22:00):
Yeah, but you know I was thinking about that
because I back up to the woodsthere, but it is going to
increase our noise level atremendous amount.
Steven Killfoil (22:08):
Yeah, somewhat.
Phil Hemmer (22:09):
Because right now the roads are ground level.
It's elevated Right.
Steven Killfoil (22:15):
But they can put sound barriers up on that
bridge.
Phil Hemmer (22:18):
Yes, they could, but you think that's going to
happen.
Well, we, the people, we'regoing to have to speak our voice
.
Steven Killfoil (22:28):
You've got to bring it up.
Txdot's pretty good about doingthat.
Uh, I'm hoping that that'll, uh, that'll be alleviated, but at
least the traffic will flow mucheasier once they get the lanes
widened yes uh, they're gonnahave to fix oak grove lane
because it's just, it gotscrewed up way before I moved
into this area.
(22:49):
Apparently at one point in time,under a previous administration
, that lane Oak Grove Lane was astraight street from the
highway, all the way to Fishtrap.
But somebody got in there andthought putting a little curvy
thingy in there would be neat,and they screwed it up.
Phil Hemmer (23:05):
Well, you know why that is.
If you look on the back of theletter you received, the yellow
line is in Oak Grove Road.
Yeah, that property line is inOak Grove Road.
Yeah, that property line's inOak Grove Road.
Steven Killfoil (23:16):
Oh, yeah, yeah, Well, like I told you
everything from that road overhere to Fish Trap belongs to
Cross Roads.
Right.
But this was done.
The crooked thing, snake of theroad, was done long before
Crossroads inherited that partof it.
Cross Roads- just inherited thisokay.
When we, when we first movedhere, uh, back in 2018, to buy
(23:41):
our house, we were asked by thelady at the trailer at lenar, uh
, if we wanted to live on theside that had 3.75 percent tax
and a mud or the side that had1.75 percent and no mud, I said,
well, that's a no-brainer, Iwant the 175, no mud.
I got the 375.
(24:01):
Thank you so we chose to put ourhouse over on this side of the
road.
Lessons learned well, and theystarted filling up.
My neighbor had filled up waybefore this one does, and they
fired her because they weresupposed to fill up Little Elm
side first, then come over toCross Roads.
That's not how it happened.
But I mean, you know, it's justa matter of asking the right
(24:25):
questions.
Hey, what's the deal on this?
Are these in the same?
I didn't even know they were intwo separate towns.
I didn't.
So after the fact I'm like whyin the world do we have our hoa
divided by two towns?
They should have made twoseparate HOAs, one in Little Elm
and one in Cross Roads.
But hey, are you taking jennifer?
Are you taking jennifer on yourhoa?
(24:48):
Henry?
She's the president of our HOA,I know, but if we're going to
divide it, you want to take herwith your side or you want to
come on our side?
I just wish they'd startlistening to us.
Yeah, they need to.
Absolutely, they need to.
I just wish they'd startlistening to us.
Well, everybody, make sure yougo to that meeting on tuesday
(25:11):
six o'clock, little elm cityhall, be there, or b square, and
thank you for coming on theshow today and perhaps uh, we
can have you back once.
Uh, we set into place goes intofruition.
To report back on the resultsabsolutely, absolutely.
I want to do that, definitely.
Okay For local events andmeetings coming up.
(25:33):
Make sure to check out the towncalendar on wwwcrossroadstxgov.
Town council will be meetingMonday, march 3rd, at 6 pm.
Tuesday at 7 pm.
Planning and zoning will bemeeting Wednesday, march 5th.
Parks and Recreation Board willbe meeting at 6 pm.
If you want to find out what'sgoing on in our community and
(25:55):
the surrounding area, attendingone of these meetings is
imperative.
Don't be fooled, be informed,and if you do nothing at all,
then you give up your voice.
Don't be a bench warmer, be aplayer.
So reach out to us on ourFacebook page, Cross Roads
Podcast, and let us know whatyou think about this Li ttle Elm
City Hall situation.
Call .
(26:17):
No, don't call them.
Show up to the meeting onTuesday the time for calls or is
over.
You need to show up in person.
Open your mouth, let your voicebe heard, let them know what
you think.
You can send us a text messageright from the link on the
website crossroadspodcast.
buzzsprout.
com.
Just click on the link ForQuestions or Comments.
(26:38):
Send Us a Text Message or dropus an email at
crossroadspodcast2023@ gmail.
com.
If you liked what you heardtoday, drop us a text on the
episode.
Stay tuned in and until nextweek we'll see you at the top!
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