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PD161-CS 970612WHOSE TREES ARE THESE The Dal/as Morning Ney;s: Michael Mulvey Elsie Edwards plans to sell her Coppell property for development. She says if neighbors keep objecting, she'll have all the trees cut down. Coppell woman, neighbors clash over her plans for wooded property By Todd Bensman Stair Writer o! The Dallas Morning News COPPELL -- For the last two years, this north Dallas County community has earned the proud designation "Tree City USA" from the National Arbor Day Foundation. But along DeForest Lane, a street whose name is being spoken sardonically around town these days, a clash pitting old and new in Coppell is brewing over the fate of one of the city's last tracts of virgin-forest bottom land. Neighbors and conservationists fear that the road's name could prove prophetic unless differences can be resolved between a determined 77-year-old woman named Elsie Edwards and her new neighbors in the $300,000-plus homes of Cambridge Manor Estates. Ms. Edwards, whose family has owned the land since 1908, wants to sell her strip of watery jungle along Denton Creek for a housing development. The neighbors -- more than 300 of whom have signed a petition -- want the city to preserve the majestic, vine-draped oaks and two dozen other species. Thursday night, the issue will land in the lap of the City Council, which faces a decision on whether to approve the rezoning and housing plats essential to Ms. Edwards' Please see COPPELL on Page 14A. 14 A ~ile~alla~'~lorniuB~¥1o5 Thursday, June 12, 1997 A Coppell tree battle to land in: uncil's lap tonight Continued from Page lA. pendill~ land sale. The neighbors say they want time to explore alternatives that might preserve at least some of the scenic woods that they think underpins theirhome values and is a biologically valuable vestig~ of Coppell's shrinking wild past. . "tt~s beautiful," said Jeanette Auerbach, the neighbor who began th~ preservation crusade, sitting in the back yard of her 6-month-old house and staring up at the canopy. "It.Tould be to anyone." ' BUt ,'Miss Elsie," as she is known, can transform from sweet to j~iSt i{lain mean when pushed, re~tives say. And she is so mad ati~mt newcomers trying to tell her what to do that she is willing to sl~y~ry last oak to get her way t that horrified neighbors c~.~errorism." 'M~. Edwards declined requests for an interview. But her attorney said h~lient is serious about cuttin~down every tree on the property ~ to be replaced by cash crops ~if her sale is threatened at the co~il meeting. City officials confirm that every tree can be cut because the land is still zoned agric~i~ral. "Cl~tr that land. Just go in. and bring it as level as we can," said the at~j ~ {~y, Timothy Sorenson. "I t~iiat would silence everyone. W~ld get at least one good cutting~f hay next year.' Ki~lison, an attorney for the prosp~ive buyer, Stratford Manor Develel~ment, said that any delay would lti~ll the deal with Ms. Edwards and that the investors were already becoming skittish. "Sooner or later, the developer's got to decide what risks he's willing to assun~e," Mr. Allison said. "If this is denied, they have to re-evaluate whether to continue to pursue it." Ailing from a recent broken hip and other health problems, Ms. Edwards needs money from the land deal to live more conveniently elseWhere, he said. ' "~hAs represents her entire fotttfne'for the rest of her years," The Dallas Morning News Mr. Sorenson said. "She frankly needs the money." The neighbors say Ms. Edwards took to carrying a shotgun on walks around the property a couple of months ago before she broke her hip, refusing entry to all the strangers who had begun asking for a closer look at the trees. Her relatives said they doubted that but couldn't rule it out, given her feistiness. Not all of the strangers come calling about the trees; many come with offers to buy the prime land, one of the last places in the 14-square-mile city of 27,000 where homes ca~ still be built. Large private tracts have been steadily devoured over the last 10 years by an onslaught of housing. All along the south side of that growth presses in on Ms. Edwards' land. The street forms a line where new meets old. "For Sale" signs hang from a few remaining old houses on the north side of DeForest. Ms. Auerbach and her neighbor Tracey Garman are among the few who have made incursions north of DeForest in the new neighborhood of Cambridge Estates. They said they came with their families in part because of the trees, under the impression that they would remain. The two women launched a campaign to save the trees in March, as soon as they discovered that the city planning commission was about to approve the rezoning of Ms. Edwards' land to residential -- and that the council would soon consider approving a plan to fell many of the trees and fill in the floodplain to accommodate 31 houses. Even under the city's 4-year-old tree preservation ordinance, they learned, most of the trees could come down. Neither resident had ever been involved in an environmental cause. Both say they were concerned about their property values first, then became genuinely concerned about the environment. Efforts on the part of Cambridge neighbors to save some of the trees have involved a growing cast of players who will be on hand at Thursday's 7:30 p.m. council meeting. They include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, state wildlife officials, conservationists and lawyers. With a hired attorney, the neighbors have tried various strategies, from trying to get federal intervention by having the land declared a national wetland to asking for flood studies and probing city ordinances for loopholes. "The beauty of our lot comes from this piece of property," said DeForest Road, the leading edge of ~Ms. Garman. "I would benefit if I had 20- to SO-foot trees in my back yard, but the whole community would also benefit -- everyone -- if this forest were preserved." But the group soon ran into trouble. City officials opposed its efforts, saying the objections smacked of self-interest. City planners say they stand by their recommendation for immediate council approval of the rezoning and development. "From where I sit, I see a concern for trying to preserve the natural environment," said Gary Sieb, director of planning. "But I also see some self-serving demands being placed on a property owner that might not be totally reasonable." One suggestion, that the city buy the land for a park, also fell by the wayside. "I don't have a million bucks," said City MasM~r, J4an Witt. The plan?_~~ in May unanimously approved the new wetland of any sort. zoning and forwarded its The group has lately turned to recommendation to the council. But national conservation groups tha~ the commission did agree to a specialize in purchasing threatene..~ 20.foot buffer zone of trees; the ' lands to make private preserves. group was pushing for 60 feet. The A representative of one such city said requiring more would group, the Natural Area illegally diminish the value of Preservation Association Inc., said private land and invite lawsuits, he would be at the council meeting But the neighbors were Thursday after having viewed the undeterred. Ms. Auerbach and the land from afar. He also was not others have invited the Corps of allowed on the land. Engineers to assess whether the "We're definitely interested in Edwards property is a wetland. If it that type of area," said Joe is, a study and possible mitigation Pumphrey, the organization's would be required before president. development could occur. A consultant who does wetlands But Mr. Sorenson, the Edward~,~ assessment work for the corps went family attorney, said Ms. Edwards; to have a look but told the group it would not entertain any such couldn't fully assess wetland status notion. without entering the property. And "There won't be any trees to that would not be allowed on protect" if the council delays, he private land without an owner's said. "She's a spunky, spunky lady. invitation. City officials said they an~l she's going to do what she did not consider the property a __ _ darned well pleases."