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Content from our friends over at Candy's Dirt
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Opinion: There’s something fishy about Oak Cliff business owner’s claim of harassment from city
The owner could be convinced to move, if the price is right.
WFAA: Bishop Arts business owner claims city harassing him to sell property
We love the Bishop Arts District and every piece of real estate surrounding it. We love us those craftsmen bungalows and all the cute little cottages to be had for under $300,000. In fact, we fetch most of our Tuesday $200Ks from this part of town.
But then there’s Roy’s Transmission and Auto Care. Roy Smith has been fixing cars at this location for 18 years, and making a living this way for more than 40 years. Not sure I follow that, but OK. I know we all need places to get tires fixed but really, a tire shop in the middle of Bishop Arts?
Now the city wants to buy Smith’s tire shop property to build a way cool entrance to Bishop Arts, including a children’s playground. Smith has no objections except the green kind: He wants to be paid enough money to relocate and get another business. He says he has had his property appraised at $775,000 but the city is offering him “only” about $205,000, according to WFAA-TV, and this price comes after deducting for cleaning and clearing costs.
Lots of tires to move, I guess. So if the property is worth a whopping $775,000, let’s see what Roy has been paying in taxes on this gold mine?
$54.62 on property valued at $2000? Surely something is wrong here. How come the city valued this at $2,000, and how could someone appraise it for $775,000?
Smith said no way to the $205,000 deal, now he says the city is harassing him. They are bugging him to clean up his property, mow his grass, and remove some cars.
Wow, imagine that: They want him to keep the place tidy. Isn’t that the whole point of what code enforcement does?
The department said it doesn’t use its power to bully people into selling their property, but Smith kind of thinks they are, at least until he sells. But I say someone whose been paying taxes on a property valued at $2,000 to get 10, no wait, 100 times that amount is one nice fat payday check.
Pegasus News Content partner - Candy's Dirt
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yvcleveland, anonymous:
Per DallasCAD below. Please report all the facts. 1 138 W DAVIS ST $109,760 COMMERCIAL
2 138 W DAVIS ST $2,000 BPP
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yvcleveland, anonymous:
In fact, you should probably post a correction since you are the one who is clearly wrong with your facts. http://www.dallascad.org/AcctDetailCo...
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banquo, anonymous:
Dirt, at least, is true. No candy in this cynical report. This person has every right to operate his business as he chooses. Bishop Arts was also not supposed to be overrun with real estate speculators and infested with bars and restaurants at the expense of the ARTS part.
I'll bet none of these automobiles or tires are whooping it up at 2am, disturbing the sleeping residents. Whoever wrote this is an idiot.
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rhonda2830, anonymous:
I live in North Oak Cliff and rarely go to Bishop Arts....I think it has gotten too big for its britches!
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requipmentusa, anonymous:
"Roy Smith has been fixing cars at this location for 18 years, and making a living this way for more than 40 years. Not sure I follow that, but OK."
What don't you get? That the guy made a living doing auto repairs for 40 years, been in that location for 18....pretty easy to understand if you have any common sense which you clearly lack as evidenced by this article.
You may want to learn how to actually get the facts before you post them.
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requipmentusa, anonymous:
FYI. City has 2 types of taxes that can be found in the property taxes
property tax, as in the property itself
and
business property, as in assets and equipment.
However you clearly stated that you don't understand why the city valued his property at 2,000. Why didn't you do some checking into that?
You need to make some retractions and probably some apologies for your ignorance.
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MikeyLikesIt, anonymous:
Candy thinks everything she doesn't like is a tear down so in essence she feels the structure is worthless even though the man is supposed to go find another in the area to do his work. Of course, the contempt she displays for the man's profession requires he go far away from her delicate sensibilities to do it.
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jbeech2006, anonymous:
Existing business owners should not be forced to give up their properties and their livelihood just to make it a little prettier in Bishop Arts. For a business owner it is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOATION. Why should he have to move unless they make it worth his while to. Bishop Arts grew up from nothing with his business right next store, it has not hurt the area yet. The whole point of Bishop Arts is that it is a funky little spot in North Oak Cliff, if we knock down or take over all the old business to make way for new stuff, the area will lose its appeal. The city ruined Deep Elum when they tried to pretty it up years ago and ran off the people who had been going there for years (and the businesses they were supporting), let’s not do the same with Bishop Arts. I think bishop Arts is large enough now, let's start working on the adjoining areas to make all of Oak Cliff a destination, but let’s keep the character. If the city wants to spend a bunch of money on a "gateway" to make BA prettier, why not spending it fixing up the stuff they already own that needs up keep.
On the other hand, it would be nice if some existing business (and some of the new ones) made a little effort to clean up their act, but don't force them out or start jamming code enforcement down their throats for stuff the city never enforced for the last 20 years. There are plenty of more blatant code violations in North Oak Cliff than that.
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hilldale, anonymous:
Oak Cliff Resident for 8 yrs and this story sucks. Davis Street is Highway 180. Research the area of Bishop EATS before you start your next attack story. Stoopid Lady
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alexander troup, verified:
YOU see Audience, of the Pegasus News....here is a real story behind the scene...I moved there with 4 other artist in 1980..when it was the Bishop Ghost Town....
Then this Highland Park guy who is now the Big Space promoter got things going his way, that was in the early 2000 peroid, and by then or 2004.. 3 buildings are bought up, we are told to move out and 14 Creatitive intellictuals, which is a mixed bag of good company of good people not bad company or a bad space....move on...
Yes we Pioneers moved on when the Indians of Highland Park moved us out...hahaha...humor} we had too.. the color character and soul was gone, picked for a new kind of plantaiton production.
And you can gage 2004 to today,17 TO 24 business have come and gone since then so really this is the Vegas of Arts District communities, you wins some and you loose alot....learn to loose as we did new folks who landed in the once upon a time Utopia of OakCliff....I did and then again, you do your research as we did..Give instead of take......and maybe you will have a Cultural dream come true....A/T..Oak Cliff...1977 to 2004....
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cjr_9, anonymous:
This is silly in the fact that it's at least 2 blocks from Bishop Arts District. Rebecca Lopez needs to look at a map. Small businesses pay taxes too...and his tax money is being used to drive him out of business. When did Oak Cliff leave the US of A and become part of a socialist country like Russia, or California. I have lived in Elmwood in Oak Cliff for 12 years.....the place where you can win prizes for things by the neighborhood association, but you never actually get the prizes. I would hate to see the rest of Oak Cliff become such a cesspool. Just because our neighborhood is run by hipsters, for the hipsters, and by the hipsters, doesn't mean that our neighbors east of Bishop Arts should be...
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antoinetty, anonymous:
I would suggest the author spend a little more time in North Oak Cliff and get her bearings...maybe learn what is and is not in BAD. Pay the man what he WANTS for his property. If he wants a fat paycheck, then so be it. It's HIS land, his business and he should be able to get whatever he wants from it. Screwing him out of his land for a "way cool" entrance to BAD does not constitute an appropriate use of imminent domain law.
If anyone wants to pay for ridiculous NONSENSE like a "way cool" entrance and a children's playground at one of the busiest intersections in the area, then it certainly should be the commercial property owners in BAD and NOT the city of Dallas. Your math does not matter.
The city should focus attention on neighborhood infrastructure in all of North Oak Cliff, or, dare I say...all of Oak Cliff, period. Curbs...paved alleys....street repairs? Anyone? Anyone?
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alexander troup, verified:
When I moved there in the 1980's,... we had to pioneer on how to deal with the brutal events that made slums ugly Americans, and we had done our job cleaning up by living in that community, but as long as I go back i dont see much change...really folks....my family moved there in 1916 and I think that was the best time for the whole community from Jefferson to Hampton,while the Hispanics have done good for the area....the aglos might as well realize East is a better climate.....for any thing.....
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What do you think?