Residents at odds over equestrian trail at Post Oak Park

Add equestrian trails to the list of hotly-debated issues in Flower Mound.

A near capacity crowd filled the council chambers Wednesday at Flower Mound Town Hall to hear a presentation and give opinions on the newest concept plans designed for renovation of Post Oak Park, a 19-acre tract of land at the intersection of Flower Mound Road and Skillern Boulevard.

The three-hour meeting began with a brief description of the three plans the town’s undeveloped parkland subcommittee and Dunaway Associates have proposed.

The majority of the night was filled with comments from 22 residents, 19 who opposed the plans for safety reasons. While all three plans featured use of the natural wetlands, they also included an equestrian trail, something that local equestrians say the town has promised them for years.

The vehicle entrance to the trail differed on each plan, but residents said all of them were in places that would cause a traffic hazard.

Concept “A” has the vehicle entrance coming directly off Flower Mound Road, on the northeast side of the park. The entrance on plans “B” and “C” are both on Skillern, along the west side of the park.

“This is the wrong place to keep those promises,” said Sandy Roller, who lives in River Oaks Estates, one of the subdivisions that borders the park to the west. “(It’s as if) we’ll take this little piece of land where none of the neighbors want us, where horses can get killed … we’re going to have to change the street name to Killern. If you’re listening, you’ll see that the equestrian aspect is not worth it.”

Denise White, who also lives in River Oaks Estates, said there are two dangerous parts of Skillern, including the intersection of Skillern and River Hill Drive, where concept “B” has a planned entrance. She said the hill makes visibility an issue.

“If you put an entrance to a park right there, you’re just asking for more trouble than need be,” White said.

She said the narrowness of Skillern near Flower Mound Road would make concept “C” entrance dangerous as well.

“To put school buses, horses, kids, bikes, pedestrian traffic and cars on that road seems to be an idea that to me is lacking common sense,” White said.

“If we are going to appease the equestrians, I think we need to look at land to the west part of town where the horse barns are,” White said. “The equestrians could be accommodated, and the people who come into Flower Mound with their horses could be accommodated. This park needs to be for the public use and for the neighbors who live in the surrounding area.”

The few who were in favor of the equestrian trial said it’s been long overdue and that the concerns of having it at Post Oak are not founded.

“We have, sitting on our (Parks, Arts and Library Services) PALS board, a woman who has 52 years of horse riding experience,” said Cherillyn Flick, referring to Peggy Kimberlin. “I rely on her and respect her input greatly, and if Peggy Kimberlin thought this was a bad idea for a trailhead, she would say so. She’s all about safety.”

Flick added that a trailhead is low impact because it would use gravel instead of concrete, and that it is quiet and doesn’t require lighting.

Other concerns dealt with the access from four cul-de-sacs into the eastern side of the park as residents debated on having an open or closed in part to that side.

Residents were also at odds over the best use of the park. Some wanted to keep the natural theme while others want playground equipment.

The subcommittee will meet again June 19 to discuss the concepts following the public’s comments, and a public hearing on any new concepts is scheduled for July 8. The process would then go to the Parks, Arts and Library Services (PALS) board, and then on to the planning and zoning commission and then the town council.

“The next concept will probably not show a trailhead,” said Tony Nielsen, manager of park development in Flower Mound. “But, these concepts are very fluid. They’re conceptual and not a done deal. The lists are very much generated from what our focus group wanted, and there were some people who wanted an equestrian trail. It’s not on the master plan, so it might or might not happen. But, it was brought up, so we had to explore it.”

Post Oak Park is one of three park lands on the committee’s plate in terms of renovations. Work on the Braden tract and the Wilson, Ruff and Carmel tracts near Gerault and Bakersfield Parks is also in discussion. The projects will be funded by the 4b sales tax revenue.

The designs for Post Oak include conservation areas that border the park, a vegetative buffer and two ponds in the middle, as well as connections to existing trails. It also includes woodland observation decks, a beaver lodge and an interpretive nature pavilion.

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