Ballot Wording and Proposed City Ordinance
On November 6, the following appeared on the ballot.
"An ordinance amending Chapter 32, “Parks and Water
Reservoirs,” of the Dallas City Code by adding Article VII (composed of Section
32-84) to prohibit the construction, maintenance, or improvement of, or the
expenditure of funds for, any roadways within the Trinity River levees unless
certain restrictions relating to use, location, number of travel lanes, and
speed limits are met, and to provide for enforcement of the ordinance by suit
for injunctive or declaratory relief and penalties not to exceed $500."
Thus, if the majority of the Dallas voters vote "Yes", the Trinity Parkway
cannot be built as a toll road as currently planned and under contract with the
North Texas Tollway Authority. It is questionable what the final impact of a Yes
vote would have on the transportation system. Many predict dire consequences.
If the majority vote "No", the Trinity Parkway will continue to be developed
as the "reliever" road included in the 1998 Bond Election. The reliever would be
a limited access toll road.
THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE
If Proposition 1 above had passed, the ordinance below would have gone into effect.
ORDINANCE NO. ________
An ordinance amending CHAPTER 32, “PARKS AND WATER RESERVOIRS,” of the Dallas
City Code, by creating a new Article VII, “Trinity River Greenbelt,” comprising
Section 32-84 of said chapter; prohibiting certain roadways within the Trinity
River levees; prohibiting the expenditure of funds for certain roadways within
the Trinity River levees; providing for enforcement by suit for injunctive or
declaratory relief; providing a penalty not to exceed $500; providing a saving
clause; providing a severability clause; and providing an effective date.
WHEREAS, the Trinity River Corridor is among Dallas’ greatest natural assets;
and
WHEREAS, in 1998 voters approved $246 million in City of Dallas bond funds
to improve the Trinity River Corridor, including transforming the Downtown
portion into a premier urban park, improving floodway protections, and
constructing the Trinity Parkway; and
WHEREAS, the Trinity Parkway was envisioned as a low-speed reliever route that
would provide direct access to the park and would be built within the Trinity
River levees; and
WHEREAS, the Trinity Parkway has changed significantly from what voters approved
in 1998, to wit: it has become a high-speed toll road, direct access to the park
has been eliminated, it is nearly $600 million over budget, its proposed
location has been moved farther into the park area thus eliminating substantial
amounts of parkland, and its location in the floodway would make it susceptible
to flooding; and
WHEREAS, locating such a toll road in the Downtown Trinity Park would have a
significant, damaging effect on the quality of the Downtown Trinity Park for
generations to come; and
WHEREAS, this ordinance was submitted by petition to the City Council, and was
passed by the City Council or was submitted to the voters of the City of Dallas
at an election held pursuant to Chapter XVIII, Sections 11 through 15, of the
Charter of the City of Dallas, and was duly adopted by the voters at said
election;
Now, therefore, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OR CITIZENS OF THE CITY OF
DALLAS:
SECTION 1. That a new Article VII, “Trinity River Greenbelt,” comprising Section
32- 84, “Road Construction, Improvement, and Maintenance Within Trinity River
Levees,” is added to CHAPTER 32, “PARKS AND WATER RESERVOIRS,” of the Dallas
City Code, to read as follows:
ARTICLE VII.
TRINITY RIVER GREENBELT.
SEC. 32-84. ROAD CONSTRUCTION, IMPROVEMENT, AND
MAINTENANCE WITHIN TRINITY RIVER LEVEES.
(a) No person shall construct, maintain, or improve any roadway, or portion
thereof, horizontally situated between the respective crests of the Trinity
River levees, including those levees in the Dallas Floodway Extension Project,
between Westmoreland Road/Mockingbird Lane on the north and Interstate 45 on the
south.
(b) No person shall directly or indirectly expend funds of the City or of any
person for the construction, improvement, or maintenance of any roadway, or
portion thereof, horizontally situated between the respective crests of the
Trinity River levees, including those levees in the Dallas Floodway Extension
Project, between Westmoreland Road/Mockingbird Lane on the north and Interstate
45 on the south.
(c) Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to:
(1) a roadway that
crosses the entirety of the Trinity River floodplain between the crests of the
levees and that was fully constructed and open to the public on or before the
effective date of this ordinance;
(2) a roadway that
perpendicularly crosses the entirety of the Trinity River floodplain between the
crests of the levees;
(3) a roadway consisting
of no more than two travel lanes in each direction, used for access to points
within the Trinity River levees, and having a maximum speed limit not to exceed
thirty-five (35) miles per hour; or
4) a roadway consisting
of no more than two travel lanes, situated at or within fifty (50) feet of the
crest of a levee, used solely for maintenance purposes, and not open to the
general public for vehicular use.
(d) In this section:
(1) a roadway crosses
“perpendicularly” when the straight line between the point of intersection of
the roadway with the crest of one levee and the point of intersection of the
roadway with the crest of the other levee bears at an angle of at least seventy
(70) degrees to the line tangent to the crest of each levee at the point of
intersection of the roadway with the crest of that levee;
(2) the term “person” (i)
means any individual and any corporation (including any nonprofit corporation),
estate, partnership, trust, unincorporated association, or other legal entity
organized under the laws of any state or country; and (ii) includes the United
States of America or any agency thereof and the State of Texas or any agency
thereof, and any person acting under the authority thereof, but only to the
maximum extent that the City of Dallas may lawfully regulate the activities of
such persons or entities occurring on the property subject to this ordinance;
(3) “roadway” means any
street, alley, road, highway, tollway, turnpike, parkway, boulevard, avenue,
bridge, viaduct, tunnel, underpass, overpass, or causeway open to use by motor
vehicles; and
(4) “agency” means a
board, commission, department, officer, political subdivision, or other agency
or instrumentality in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of
government.
(e) In addition to all other enforcement mechanisms authorized by law, this
ordinance may be enforced by a suit for injunctive or declaratory relief brought
by any registered voter of the City of Dallas."
SECTION 2. That a person violating a provision of this ordinance, upon
conviction, is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.
SECTION 3. That CHAPTER 32, “PARKS AND WATER RESERVOIRS,” of the Dallas City
Code is unaffected by this ordinance except insofar as said chapter is
explicitly amended by this ordinance.
SECTION 4. That the terms and provisions of this ordinance are severable and are
governed by Section 1-4 of CHAPTER 1 of the Dallas City Code, as amended. If the
application of this ordinance to any person, entity, or circumstance is invalid,
the invalidity does not affect other applications of the ordinance that can be
given effect without the invalid application, since the same would have been
enacted by the City Council or the citizens of Dallas without regard to any such
invalid application.
SECTION 5. That in the event this ordinance is adopted by the City Council, it
shall take effect immediately from and after its passage and publication in
accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the City of Dallas, and in the
event this ordinance is adopted by the citizens of Dallas in an election called
for that purpose, it shall take effect immediately after the canvass of the
election in which it is adopted, in accordance with the provisions of the
Charter of the City of Dallas, and it is accordingly so ordained.
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