Community
The Office of Cultural Affairs has recommended artist Brower Hatcher to design a $272,000 sculpture on Garland Road near the White Rock spillway. Funding for the sculpture is coming from the city water department, and the parks department selected the site for it. The White Rock Lake Centennial celebration committee was consulted in the planning, as the sculpture is intended to represent the 100th anniversary of the lake. The sculpture would sit atop a base, with a slender aluminum structure about 24 feet tall, which ends in three wave-like tiers. The base would be covered in tiles superimposed with historical images of White Rock Lake. The city council must ultimately approve the design. The cultural affairs office hopes to get the proposal approved this spring.
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has given its support to a formal protest neighbors submitted in an attempt to prevent the Far West Nightclub from renewing its liquor license. Neighborhood resident Delores Wolfe, who is an attorney, submitted the protest in November on behalf of 15 neighborhood organizations, including the Lakewood Hills Neighborhood Association, the Hollywood Santa Monica Neighborhood Association and the Ferguson Road Initiative. Now the case is in the hands of a state office of administrative appeals, where two attorneys have been assigned to the case. They are expected to set a hearing in the next few months. In the meantime, the club can sell alcohol until the protest is resolved.
The city reports that it earned $186,450 from the $15 garage sale permit fee residents have been required to pay during the past fiscal year. According to the city briefing, more than 12,430 permits were issued, and the city also dished out 720 violation notices and 17 criminal citations.
The owners of Lakewood Theater are planning a two-level parking garage on Paulus, which backs up to the theater. The parking structure would have 60 spaces where there is vacant land now. The property has a 7.5-foot elevation change, which could allow the owners to install some 30 spaces partially underground and 30 spaces at street level.
