Next month, some Lakewood neighbors will dispute 99-year dance hall permit for the Far West nightclub at the corner of Gaston and Garland.
Just a perception based on scattered conversations and observations regarding the club: lots of people like to go there. Few people like living next to it — likely because of the traffic, noise and crime it produces.
That said, most of those working to address the issue, including Lakewood Neighborhood Association president Henda Salmeron, say it isn’t about the club per se, only that the permit allowing the club to operate indefinitely is outlandish.
It is an out-of-the-ordinary permit — the city granted Far West an unprecedented 99-year permit back in 1995 (when it was still Cowboys) to operate as a dance hall. Salmeron and other concerned neighbors were successful in gaining a City Plan Commission hearing, now scheduled for Oct. 16, to attempt to undo this.
The same neighborhood groups were also successful recently at getting Club Babalu to withdraw a dance hall permit proposal to operate at the OK Sports Bar, next door to Far West.
Salmeron says there are certainly "safety concerns" related to the club’s close proximity to the residents of Lakewood. Look around Dallas, she says, there aren’t many dance halls operating this close to people’s homes.
Interesting that a developer wants to build 250-350 apartment homes across the street from Far West … wonder if he’ll be at the hearing.
