Gennie Figel’s Introduction to Life in the Walnut Hill Homeowners Association OR 41 Years in a Nut Shell
July 27, 2013
Paul and I and our six children moved back to Dallas December, 1971 to a house on Fieldfare Court. I surprised the neighbors by first unpacking our Christmas tree. The 12 houses had over fifty children to play with and walk to school. We joked that we were either prolific Protestants or Catholics. We all became family including the adjoining streets.
Summer of 1972, letters arrived, calling for a homeowners meeting. Developers wanted to build zero-lot-line houses on land zoned R-16, We learned real fast what was going on. The officers were caving in to the developer. During the meeting, one man asked to be heard and they would not let him speak. Being new to the game, I wanted to hear what he had to say. That was my introduction to Roy Hudson, He explained the zoning in Dallas and what this meant to our property. A vote was taken and those who voted against the development won against the officers. (Paul worked out of town). We worked day and night getting letters signed by the whole neighborhood. Next we had the hearings at the Dallas City Hall. First the Plan Commission then the Council. The president of WHHA testified before the City Council that the majority of homeowners voted FOR the new development. Our spokesman testified that we were AGAINST the development and we had the letters to prove it.
After that we called for a new meeting and an election of officers. We were prepared with a list of volunteers for all positions. We had a large room full of homeowners. Roy Hudson informed us of the rules. How to speak at Council, time limits etc. We had a huge map made showing the complete neighborhood. We learned to use slides (which I took) of the houses closest to the development and how to show them at City Hall. We officially became The Walnut Hill Homeowners Association.
Our WHHA territory had a lot of empty land that developers were drooling over. We would win one case and turn around to fight another. First, we drafted a WHHA Constitution. The main reason for our existence was to protect the neighborhood to be Single Family Homes, R-16 or better. We had two meetings a year for all the members. But the officers of the association were busy every week.
The City allows anyone to build a church on their private property as long as there is enough parking for the number of cars. TAX FREE! The first being the little church on Merrell Road near Marsh. We had twelve churches in our area. when we had a tornado go through the neighborhood in June,1976. It took out the church that was on the N/E corner of Merrell and Midway. Only the podium was left standing. Some houses lost their chimneys and fences were stacked from the back of the houses to the front lawns, very neatly. You’re a plugger if you remember H&H, Mr. Peace Drug Store, and who put the cow on top of Thomas Jefferson High School?
We were constantly at City Hall. Those who worked tirelessly: Anita Martinez, Roy Hudson, Edith Swan, Dr. and Kitty Johnston, Florence Lively, Marion Lohr and Pat Padian. I was Secretary of WHHA. We were young and energized.
The property on Betty Lane and Walnut Hill was a problem area. A man named Morgan owned the land where the three Hispanic churches are now. Morgan also owned the townhouses behind Radio Shack and lived there. He inherited the land on Betty Lane along with his sister-in-law. The Wimberlys also had acreage.
Morgan wanted to build townhouses on his land, the others did not. They called us for help and we won at City Hall. Morgan eventually sold his land to his sister- in-law and later she sold to the Wimberlys and we now have the beautiful homes on Wimberly Court. Two other estates had problems on Betty Jane, (up the road from Wimberly Court we helped solve) we helped solve.
Morgan threatened us if we went against him. That’s why we have three Hispanic churches there. There is also a Greek Orthodox Church on the West side of Betty Jane Lane, at Walnut Hill. The house on that property fell in disrepair and later was renovated becoming a church.
The Episcopal School of Dallas was first built only on the South side of Merrell. When Fox and Jacobs wanted to put tiny duplex houses on the North side of Merrell we had a tough fight. We talked Fr. Swann, headmaster, into getting his supporters to purchase the land and we would not oppose it. We told him the school would grow. What a beautiful campus! Did you know that behind the school on Montwood is a quarry filled with water and they use it to water their grass?
Originally there were three estates on land facing Walnut Hill Lane, between the Walnut Hill part and Thomas Jefferson High School. The first house was called ‘His House’, and they used it as a hang-out for teens to come and sit on the lawn, smoke pot and read the bible. They went broke and sold to a single family. The center estate had farm land, horses and chickens, owned by the Stephens Family. They go way back in Dallas history. The third property was owned by Mrs. Watts. She had a very large family. It had a small school house at the comer of Walnut Hill and Gooding with I big bell on it. It had many small sheds like most farms. The Cook Sisters, Mary and Odessa, told me they had to haul water from the well on the Watts property. Their farm was one block north of N’W’ Highway. Mr. Watts supposedly poured the concrete streets for most of Dallas. For us it was a delight, like country living.
Times got tough and two of the properties were up for sale. Mrs. Watts was getting frail. She wanted someone to build an assisted living center on the middle property and a nursing home on her land so that she would not have to move very far. Then another group wanted to use the ‘His House’ property as a retreat for women who had face lifts, to stay and heal and they would put up cabanas around the pool for male visitors. Annette Strauss was mayor at the time. She helped us win against that. You should have seen her expression when told of the cabanas. Shades of Harry Hines!
Everything was in our favor at the Council Meeting, when Pat Cotton stood up and suggested that we officers attend the council hearings and come up with an answer for “Where Should Assisted Living and Nursing Homes be Allowed to Build.” For the next year, every week we had to attend those hearings downtown! This resulted in the Bentley and others on Forest Lane. (Note: Now these structures are aging and changing ownership.) But our homeowners keep improving their properly and Walnut Hill Homeowners are getting younger, each July 4th at our annual parade and picnic we see more children.
Things remained the same until the property at Walnut Hill and Gooding was sold to the minister from the “little church” on Merrell. He threatened us with Section 8 housing if we didn’t change our vote. It was obvious that being next to T.J. and a city park, we couldn’t get R-16. We worked with Woodward, the developer, to have two less houses than he had planned, based on possible flooding problems. We were able to get them to put up brick walls and make sure they would keep the land mowed all around the Walnut Meadows property. There was an issue with a storm drain from our alley south to Walnut Hill right under where these houses would be built. Councilwoman Donna Bloomer worked with me to keep them sticking to promises made.
Sharon Moore, former neighbor on Killion, resurrected Crime Watch and would have occasional meetings for the neighborhood with the police. She and Jean Breese recruited neighbors to act as Section Leaders and Block Captains distributing information and notices of meetings to the nine hundred plus residences in our neighborhood. We even had a telephone hotline to report crime to and place tips and statistics on. In 1995 with the further help of Sharon Moore, Ross Coulter, Tom Dietchel, Carroll and Edna Wolford, Paul Figel and myself, Chuck Pomatto, Art Neubauer, Phil Hughes, and Joyce Tepley the Volunteers in Patrol was formed to be more proactive in preventing crime most of whom were officers of the organization at one time or another.
We continue VIP and Crime Watch always needing more active members for this worthwhile effort. Again I was secretary of VIP for a couple of years creating and redoing the log book. Some members moved or passed away. The police have always said we were doing a great job in keeping crime out of our neighborhood. Once a year we had kids register their bikes and we got HEAT stickers for our cars with the help of the Northwest Division of the Dallas City Police Department. Charlie Lohr, Bill Marx, Gail and Clare Litton, Mike and Margaret Conlin, Heather Glenn and her father Merle Arnold, Bill Fay, Martha Templeton, and Randy Canada were some of the other early VIP-ers.
I believe Sharon Moore and Ross Coulter, the last Walnut Hill Homeowners president before our present, Bob Noyes, started the 4th of July parade and picnic. The picnic was at the Bachman Recreation Center Park until we had so much rain it was a mud puddle so the Fieldfare Court people opened their street for the party. It expanded to more fun every year. We have a lot of unsung heroes. The Friendliest Neighborhood in Dallas!
