Fighting the BS at City Hall is Not for the Fainthearted

My heart is warmed with the outpouring of support for this fight. In less than a week, we have raised nearly 30% of our goal!

Thank you, to each and every last one of you who have been able to contribute to the legal fund, shared the posts, cheered this cause on and have my back.  You have the backs of every family, kid and adult who has ever eaten from our harvest, market days or learned at a class. This farm's project is much bigger than farmer Marie. It's about Food - and we all gotta eat. It's about housing - we all gotta live somewhere. And we all would like a cool place to hang out and bring our families - near home. Well, to get all of that, you need to re-zone. You need to think a bit outside the box and be creative. You have to let go of old grudges. THAT's what this fight is about. 

Anyone who is from around here and pays attention - knows what happened. Watch the meetings, the briefings, and you can't deny this was nothing more than a bunch of personal bias against me, a former opponent to 2 of the members, and just someone the others don't apparently like much. I never even worked with one of the antagonists. But she's gone now. Dropped a bomb and then left.

 

 

Never mind that when I was on council we had one of the most productive councils in years;

• We were successful at getting real raises for nearly all employees, including the FD and PD. 
• We got the ball rolling on a huge mixed use development in Dist. 7, and expanded the city's boundary by annexing more land - AND putting a new Huffines homes subdivision in on it.
  
• We secured funds from TXDot to RE-landscape the exit/entry ramps on 635 and started the ball rolling to re-apply for more funds the next year to fix them ALL. 
• We initiated a government efficiency study. 
• We initiated a street/traffic study along Belt Line & on McKenzie, since the majority of council thought it would be a good idea to put apartment housing AND retail along the round-a-bout. (I thought the traffic impact study times were lame, but I was outvoted.)
• We hired a city manager who has had city management and economic development experience - and it sure looks like streets are finally starting to get fixed once some money was set aside for repairs - something we could never get the old city manager to do.

I'm sure I wasn't perfect - no one is. And maybe my directness is not what some people are used to - but we got stuff DONE!  That was our job.

I never once voted against a rezoning because I didn't like the applicant. I did vote against uses like gambling. I pushed for fewer dollar stores. I pushed for a new supermarket on the east side. I voted to allow a future restaurant (not fast food), at the cost of a new, state of the art car wash - that increased the city's property tax revenue. 

My time on council was in service of and for the betterment of the residents and businesses of this community. 

Now, I'm ready to expand my service by NOT leaving the land I own to some commercial developer who will surely not be as concerned about the old growth trees (remember how beautiful Double D was - before?), and will likely end up making this another trucking/warehouse facility b/c it's only a block off of I20! 

Or how about a strip mall off the frontage road? Full of half empty store fronts, nail salons, taco joints and ice cream? 

 

This is where YOU live. Is that what you want here? I don't hear that when I talk to residents. I hear folks who say this farm reminds them of home. I hear people who love to see the animals and hear the chickens/roosters - see the green space and trees. We need to protect this - not every owner is going to be this stubborn and fight for the land. Trust me, if someone can come in here and convince me they'll do a responsible job with a commercial project, I'll be ok with that - but I don't see it happening, do you? 

Fighting city hall is not gonna be cheap. I don't know all of the ins and outs but I need to go into an attorney's office with some money in hand, not mine out. I don't work for free - I don't expect anyone else to either. I've tried the volunteer places - they're booked ATM. Probably with discrimination cases, etc. I know, it's crazy times. But we can't just roll over. Help us if you can. here's the link. 

If you're worried someone from the city will see your name - make it an anonymous donation - only I'll see your name. I'll never tell if you don't want me to. But I'll be forever grateful. The wildlife, the prairie, the trees, the pond - the future residents and business owners who'll bring cool, new shops to us - will all be grateful. 

Tourism and events have been ongoing since 2008 - no traffic issues....another hypothetical bs excuse - and NOT related to zoning anyway - it's ALREADY commercial.

A new, expanded driveway with plenty of parking and emergency fire lanes, (as required), etc. were built into the proposed renderings. Sorry we didn't draw a little fire truck to scale - but we DID offer an in person tour of the grounds that none of council bothered to come to.... But that's in the details worked out later, anyway, - AFTER zoning is approved - and we determine how to re-plat to accommodate a road, trails, etc., and have a full engineering study done. NO developments are required to do all of that w/o adequate zoning. And neither should we. 

 

 

We want to bring back market days - mixed use, makes sense!

 

This was a deal done in bad faith. It was blatantly obvious.  Please help us be able to pay an attorney. We've got one appt lined up in June and are awaiting a couple of other call backs. Let's do this! 

Thank you. 

Marie

 Eat Your Food - Naturally!

A Small Farmer's Dream & the City that Said No

If you follow the farm, then you know that for the past several years, I’ve been planning for my retirement. To transition out of farming, anyway. In doing so, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with a dedicated, experienced and professional team of generous, like-minded individuals. Together we brought life to a vision I’ve had practically since I first started farming this land.

It is a plan that would preserve and restore at least half of the beautiful green space, including the acreage under production for vegetables and small livestock, support several new small businesses, give countless visitors and local families a place to experience a slice of local history, and provide high-quality starter cottage style homes for 38-40 first-time home buyers or maybe someone looking for a truly unique, community oriented place to downsize and retire.

Pioneer Grove was never just a “project.” It was — and still is — a very personal mission for me to preserve the integrity of the land I’ve stewarded for over 20 years, find a way to share it with the community, and still to be able to retire with some dignity.

This proposed project received widespread support from local residents, with nearly 100 signatures on a citizen petition, unanimous support from Planning & Zoning last spring, City staff’s recommendation, alignment with the city’s 2036 comprehensive plan, and had interest from local artisans, potential residents, small businesses and neighboring developers, and farmers - all eager to be part of its future.

Big profits were never my driving force. Just ask my CPA — he told me I was leaving a lot on the table by not selling out and partnering with a big residential or commercial developer, who'd drop hundreds of houses or apartment homes, or worse, on this land without flinching. But he also understood what motivated me: to do something meaningful with the land and give back to a community that has become my adulthood hometown.

My highest priority has always been to balance the continued responsible land stewardship I've tried my best to provide with the opportunity to create something practical. Much of this land has remained in its natural state since long before this city was founded. There is a responsible way to develop land, and I'd found a team to help me do just that. 

It’s also not lost on me that I did not arrive where I am without help along the way. This project mix of community interest, residential and business, was my way of paying it forward: helping those starting out, as I begin to step back. A way to share with the community, what I was so lucky to find and be able to acquire many years ago - some of whom grew up running across this place as kids, fishing in the pond, climbing the trees and jumping out of the barn loft. I've heard the stories and it made me all the more determined to try to save the farm's place in this town's history. A history that stretches far beyond the brief tenures or the residencies of any of those leaders on our council.  

For the most recent City Council meeting on Monday, May 12, our development team had formally requested that our zoning application item be tabled. We had had to make this same request during the most prior meeting, after learning the item had been placed on the agenda without notifying us. 

We need time to reassess the project’s financial feasibility in its current form, given the current economic uncertainty across the nation facing many industries, including construction, and we also faced scheduling conflicts with key members of our team. Despite the formal request by the Pioneer Grove development team, outgoing Council-member Whitley placed the item on the agenda again, without formal notice to us, the applicants, (we once again found out through the grapevine that it was posted on the agenda), refused our 2nd request to table, and pushed forward a 1-sided discussion containing falsehoods, information irrelevant to this phase of the development process, personal attacks against me, until ultimately the majority voted down our application to re-zone. 

The representative for my district chose to abstain from the vote altogether. Councilman Salau has no conflict of interest, that I am aware of, and while he did express that the developer deserved the right to be present for the discussion — a fair and reasonable position - when the final vote came, he chose to remain neutral in a moment that called for leadership, even though his constituents had spoken in support of the project.

Dreams of many people, were derailed by the Balch Springs City Council — not due to the project's ethos or benefits for the city, merits by which a re-zoning is generally awarded, but because of immaterial misrepresentations made amongst themselves about the plan, political hostility towards me personally including lobbing some very serious accusations against me by sitting City Council member Hill - all without the developer or me there to set the record straight and fight for the project or counter the highly inflammatory personal accusations hurled. 

These are people the public elected, and recently, two of them - RE-elected, to serve their best interests in the city. They are not there to carry out political hatchet jobs, supersede the order of standing development polices and accuse citizens of illegal activity. They are not supposed to be there to use their power for their own personal vendettas against a former opponent, either.  

It was clear since the day the Council decided instead of voting, (suddenly, after being virtually silent in a prior briefing, (other than appearing to be in favor of the concepts presented), skipping public meetings and an offer of a guided site tour, failing to ask a single question while our entire development team was in attendance during the meeting scheduled for discussion and action), they needed a workshop because they had "so many questions" about the project. Again, questions never raised or passed on to the development team to address prior to the scheduled initial vote.

It was not until the night of the vote, that this group then suddenly determined they had too many questions to ask in the scheduled council meeting for that purpose, even with the entire team in attendance, including project engineer, architect, urban planners and property owner.

Delaying things for two months, the questions raised during the eventual workshop, were irrelevant and completely immaterial to the zoning application consideration and the established city development process itself. The tone from the dais was often hostile, condescending and disrespectful. I’ve been on that dais and asked questions of developers myself – but this was an interrogation intended to derail the project, cast doubt upon its validity and feasibility and not to understand its ethos and benefit to the community to grant a re-zoning. I've seen projects with much less benefit to the community receive more political will and gain passage. It has been very rare for our city to reject a re-zoning application unless there was a valid reason such as conflicts with neighboring land uses, documented traffic issues that would remain unaddressed or made worse by the proposed land use change, or the land use would not serve in the best interest of the community at large. Decisions are to be based on planning standards - not personal biases.  

At this last meeting night, Councilmember Tartisha Hill whom I narrowly lost to during her 3rd run for council, literally accused me of taking kickbacks (on my own project?) and alleged I had engaged in a conflict of interest while I served on council.

Let me be clear: while in office, before anything was presented to the city, I consulted the city attorney, who confirmed, that under Texas law, elected officials are permitted to develop property, even their own, so long as they recuse themselves from related discussions and votes. And there is certainly no law against a former council member from living their life and doing the same.

I was, of course, prepared to fully comply with those requirements - had I remained on Council. To suggest otherwise—publicly and without evidence— was not only baseless — it was a reckless abuse of power, rooted in willful ignorance and clearly intended to discredit both my reputation and the integrity of this project. As was available in public records, I had been out of office for nearly a year before the application was even filed, and the suggestion that I could somehow be taking a 'kickback' on my own project is not only absurd — it's malicious. It appears to be an orchestrated attempt to undermine years of honest work and intentions, and to distract from the facts in front of her, and smear my name.

Is this how we support fellow women trying to do something good for their community? Willfully attacking and besmirching their reputation? To think I once helped support this woman’s run for Congress.

That same night, Councilmember Elishama Myles, who’s district I previously helped defend against a proposed logistic center, (aka trucking and warehouse depot), that would most certainly have disrupted the quality of life of her constituents that lived on its border, as well as the school zone that would suddenly see a considerable influx of 18-wheelers, also shared mischaracterizations and hypothetical scenarios of the project, that distorted the facts of the proposed project's merits, and were irrelevant to this juncture of the project anyway. 

But just to be clear, this farm has hosted plenty of events, under the current CO, which has brought in visitors and tourists, some from all over the world, including a bi-monthly market day, for over 15 years, without disrupting traffic or impeding emergency vehicles, as was suggested would certainly happen, with a driveway half the size of the required new ingress/egress and parking lot that we outlined on our architectural drawings - preliminary but to scale. What I might find most ironic, is now this property could very well, by right as a commercially zoned parcel, become exactly what I spoke out against for her constituents’ sake.

What was said about me and the project during the meeting was not only misleading of the project's merit and an attempt to discredit my good name —it was completely false and unnecessarily vindictive.

Furthermore, all of this was just a distraction from what really mattered: the transformation of existing, mostly underused, land into a sustainable, thoughtful development that would have created jobs, preserved green space including valuable farmland, increased tax revenue - both sales and property, and provided new home-ownership opportunities for folks with quality built, true starter sized and priced cottage homes in a truly uniquely designed walkable community. 

The development team’s preliminary plans met or exceeded all current city requirements for roads, fire lanes, and emergency access for this phase of the process. We would not have received preliminary staff approval and recommendation or a unanimous recommendation from Planning & Zoning, otherwise. Many of the concerns raised — like a through-fare road and circulation — were platting matters, considerations to be addressed in a later phase, not a requirement for re-zoning approval. Even the city’s attorney said so. The mayor also tried to clarify the process for the council to keep them on track. And for the record, we have NOT met with city staff or Mr. Fenner regarding the project, since this council declined to vote on the application last fall, two more months after the inquisition disguised as a workshop was held in July of 2024.  

What happened at these meetings was not about zoning or feeder roads through a farm field, instead of following the current thoroughfare plan, or any one in a number of the other so-called issues. It was about personal agendas to enact petty grudges held by former opponents and leaders who differed from me on city issues, some stemming back over 2 years ago when I, too, served my community on Council.

The real loss is to the community — to the citizens who support this project and understand its value, and to all those who would have benefited from it: families, local entrepreneurs, and future generations for the wealth building opportunities - and not in the least, the environment itself. If I'm not able to enact this project, or one very similar, thousands of native trees, acres of native prairie and countless wildlife will be unearthed, killed and lost. The disrespect shown by this Council towards the professional developers of this project will not go unforgotten, either. 

To all of my CSA farm members, past and present, who support me in farming, market customers over the years, local and traveling chefs who have supported small farms, including this one, in their endeavors, to everyone who signed the petition in our favor, spoke at the several meetings held, sent emails and letter to this Council in support of the project, or stood with us in the many ways you all did — thank you. Your support means more than I can express.

I would also like to thank Dir. Chris Dyser and his development team at the city who were open to partnering with my team to design a truly unique and forward looking community project that would have included adding another acre of publicly accessible park land and walking trails - at no cost to the city.

Additionally, I’d like to thank outgoing, and as of this writing, now former, Mayor Gordon and sitting Councilman Gabriel and the planning and zoning board members for their vision to see a project worthy of political will.

Whether Pioneer Grove at Eden's can still be realized remains to be seen—but I will not allow my character, the expertise, passion and skill-set of my talented team, or intentions of the project, to be defined by those who seek only to abuse their power to satisfy their own vendettas and divide people.

You, the people of Balch Springs, and the greater DFW area, will be left with whatever ends up here instead, if the project can not be saved and I am forced to sell the property outright. You deserve better and better leaders making better decisions for you and your families.

It is a shame to lose such valuable working farmland, hundreds if not thousands of native, old growth trees and the wildlife that call them home and the opportunity for so many more families to share in this amazing place I’ve called Eden’s – and home - for over 20 years. I know that no amount of money can replace those things. And it is for these losses, that I am most sad. 

 While the future for me and this land is uncertain, and the timetable for any kind of transition remains indefinite, I am and will remain proud of the project my team and I created and the dream we all shared together.

There’s no defending the way the city’s leadership treated my team. We had hoped that the strength and substance of the project would rise above any personal bias or private, personal grievances still held by those in leadership. Was all of this legal? That’s a question I can’t answer. The handling of this application was certainly not done in good faith by certain members of the council, and their actions were mean spirited. 

After watching the meeting on replay, (as we’ve yet to be formally contacted by the city), as I understand it, we are now restricted from even reapplying to re-zone for this property for a year, unless there are "substantial" changes. At this point, I’m pretty sure my team is fairly disheartened and fed up with the city’s treatment of this process, and I’m in no position to ask anything more of them than they’ve already given.

I will move forward and away at some point. It is both for personal considerations and health-related factors that I will eventually retire from farming. But I remain committed to transparency, sustainability, and community. And, to pay the bills, I'll continue to utilize this land's rich soil and grow food for my CSA and the community. With the help of another farmer who has found himself without a place to farm, I can do so with two more hands to help carry the load. (So join Eden's CSA and chefs, get ready - we're ramping up again!)  We've already got a summer crop of veggies and fruits in the ground, with more planting in the works. A water well would be helpful for securing a long summer crop, but expensive, long-term investments at this juncture are on hold, for obvious reasons.

 Coming back - soon!

Due to new city restrictions, we are not allowed to host a farmer's market any longer, but - the good news is, we are permitted by State law to set up Market Day events to sell food produced here at the farm. So once we gain momentum, we will explore that option as well as the CSA and farm to fork eateries.

I’ll do my best to find a responsible buyer if I am not permitted re-zoning needed to build out the Pioneer Grove Agri-village and am forced to sell. But, considering most developer's obsession with the bottom line, often at the expense of environmental integrity and historic character, this felt like a rare and meaningful opportunity to do something genuinely special with this place. I'm open to suggestions. Feel free to reach out. 

 And again, thank you all for reading, and supporting local food.  

That's all for now.

Eat Your Food - Naturally!

Farmer Marie 

Follow the farm on FB, IG, or BlueSky and of course, as time allows, here on the farm blog.

Changes

Changes

You may be living under a rock, or purposely ignoring the world around you right now, if you don't already know that there are all sorts of changes going on. But I'm here to tell you, some of those changes, that some of you may have hoped for, are affecting things you may not have realized they'd affect. So if you'll excuse the soap box rant, I have a little something to get off my chest. I'll concede that budgets and procedures can usually benefit from tweaking from time to time. But tossing a grenade into a fully furnished area and starting over - is never the most efficient way of tweaking anything.

I'm not going to go into all of the international ramifications of these changes, because I'm not as familiar with that arena. 

But I am familiar with how these changes are affecting some things closer to home. One of those things, are farms. Like mine. Like so many others around the country.

There are various organizations that work with farms of all sizes, to help us do our jobs better. So we can grow more, nutritionally dense, safe food and do it in a way that is efficient, and better for the environment, which in turn, benefits the food and you, in the long run, because it ends up being more nutritionally dense. You see, it's a cycle. 

Some of those organizations use funds that are partially federally supplied.  I think we can all agree it makes sense for us to have a stable, safe and ample food supply here at home, right? 

Arriving at how best to do this thing called farming, comes in many different ways.  Sometimes they hold conferences that bring the private and public sector to central locations to share information, form co-ops where equipment and knowledge is shared. Some form partnerships with farms to protect top soil, livestock, water, etc.

Another one of those ways is through field research grants – where in real time, farmers give up the use of part of their land in order to allow these organizations to conduct various field tests to better serve all farmers who later tap into the knowledge base formed from the results.

I am one such farm. I have been cultivating and over-seeding a fairly large swath of growing area with cover seeds and tracking the results of weed suppression with the assistance of my NCAT representative, who secured grant funds through another organization. And I can't tell you how many times I've tapped into those vast bases of knowledge formed by previous farmers who partnered with research folks. This information is invaluable. 

Several years ago, I partnered with the NRCS to help preserve top soil at the farm by erecting a high tunnel that not only saves erosion, but allows me to grow more produce, better, for my community in the colder months.

Both of these projects were partially funded through federal grant monies. Fortunately, I have already completed the contract with the NRCS and was reimbursed the agreed upon amount.

Many farmers are in mid-process of various projects, however, and are now out money that they likely did not budget to spend, because they entered into a contract with their local NRCS office, (or name your favorite alphabet soup abbreviation organization), and now their reimbursed amount - isn't coming. Those monies are in jeopardy. And those folks consulting us, their jobs are going away or in jeopardy, too.

So now your farmers are on the hook for costly projects. Projects that they may have eventually undertaken, after they saved up or got low cost loans. And the folks consulting them, are going away, too. 

I took out a bridge loan to pay for the up front costs of the tunnel and had to pay 2 months of interest until the project was approved and sanctioned, and then reimbursed. 

I charged the costs of the cover crop seeds and paid them off when a check came. But the last, final installment, is being held up. So there are expenses I've had, that may just have to sit on the credit cards and cost this farm, and many, many others just like it, extra interest until either that final payment of reimbursement comes, or sales of products we sell cover it. Because our farm income money is already budgeted to pay for things like, mortgages, utilities, insurance. 

Most farms run on small, tight and fairly fixed budgets. And we don't all have outside jobs that keep extra money coming in when we fall short, due to weather or disease that take out a crop, (or a flock of chickens). Many small farmers don't carry crop or livestock insurance because they either don't qualify or it's not cost effective. So those hits hurt. YOU may be paying more for eggs at the store, but the farmer who culled his flock, isn't getting any of that money, because she or he's not selling any eggs for at least 8 months – probably longer. Because that's how long it takes to sterilize the farm, hatch and raise new hens to laying age. 

So, I'm appealing to you all right now. If you have a small farm, farmer's market or CSA farm program near you, reach out to those farmers and see if you can help. Shop those markets, first, before you go to the grocery store. Shop your small, local grocers who are the most likely to support local, small farms. And by all means, when you eat out, celebrate at our farm to fork restaurants who support small farms. Advertise in magazines like Edible DFW who showcase those businesses. 

I don't know what is in store for the foreseeable future. No one really does. But if we're all going to make it, we need to lean on and support one another however we can.

I'm in a weird spot because I'm trying to hand over the farming baton and retire, allowing a younger farmer to take over the plow and continue the farming here at Eden's. It's business as usual till then, though, and I physically can not increase my workload any more.

And if things don't improve, if the city doesn't agree to allow us to re-zone so we can expand the vision at Eden's to allow for that retirement, allow for a new, younger more able farmer, not only will the lack of valued and wise partners like NCAT, NRCS, etc., not be available for future farmers, neither will the land.

Yes, we have CSA memberships open. It costs $1500 a year, or $375 quarter, or $125 pre-paid by month to be a member of this farm, which gives you access to a share of the harvest each season. It gives you peace of mind to know where your food was grown, how it was raised and who has been handling it. It gives you access to the farm, (by appointment and within reason), to see how your food is grown and even offers you a chance to help out from time to time. 

It puts much of your money back to work in the local community where it cycles back around to our local funds.

Your memberships repair equipment, buy seeds, irrigation and growing supplies, and when available, help supplement the bigger projects we look to partner with various agencies to help make farming more efficient so we can feed more people for less. Like our high tunnel. Your membership makes it possible for farmers to farm and worry less about needing to supplement that income with another job. We're not all getting a spouse's income, too. Many of us farm alone. Not a complaint, just a fact. So yes, for those of us who didn't inherit our land, your membership pays the mortgage, too. 

I may never see that final thousand dollar payment that was due in January from that research project. But I'll manage. My CSA folks are good, generous folks who have helped out the farm during tough times in the past, too. 

However, I'd rather not need anything other than to get a few new members for our 2025 season to make up the difference.

So, if you live near the farm (we're in Balch Springs right off of I20/635), and you like fresh, local food, (we partner with other farms who raise grass fed/finished meats, and dairy, too), like the idea of supporting small farmers and can afford to risk the weather with us. We invite you to join us, or another local CSA, market, small grocer, nearer to you.

You can find links to our CSA application and more information on our website.  

Thank you.

 

Marie 

Eat Your Food - Naturally!