Dallas

Residents Vote To ‘Keep Fairview Country'

Some residents voted on Saturday to preserve Fairview's small-town feel

Sitting in the midst of Collin County’s population boom, some people living in the small town of Fairview went to the polls Saturday to “keep Fairview country.”

Three new town council members will soon be sworn in promising to help preserve the nature and multi-acre lots that drew many to Fairview in the first place.

It’s what brought Diana Mussett there in 1994. She and her husband were looking for a place not only to call home but also to raise horses. Back then she could ride trails for miles around town. Now she takes horses and riding students outside of town for lessons.

“For the last 5 years, I’ve been surrounded by houses gradually and they’re closing in. It’s been very apparent that it’s going to be difficult not only to hold onto what I love but to hold onto my business,” said Mussett.

Just recently, Mussett helped an elderly neighbor fight the rezoning of her farm off Old Stacey Road so that it couldn’t later be divided into multiple lots to replicate a housing development across the street.

They succeeded with the help Cynthia Brugge, who was in the process of running for town council.

“We’re all having to wake up and make our voices heard if we want something different,” said Brugge.

Brugge said she decided to run after stumbling across a vision for Fairview to “keep it country.” She felt it had slipped from the forefront as growth crept into the city.

“The tendency is for cities to allow developments to occur because people want to move here and there’s a lot of money that you can make if you can convince the town to do that, but then what happens is the town has to respond with the additional infrastructure that’s needed,” said Brugge.

She, however, believes Fairview isn’t set up for that and was never intended to be. Instead she wants to protect the features of Fairview that continue to draw new families in.

Lisa Wilkins relocated her family to Fairview last June after feeling like Dallas was closing in around them.

“It means plenty of open space. It means a thoughtful way of development, so that the residential development isn’t packed in… isn’t high density. It means that the beauty of the country roads and the natural topography isn’t ruined when developers come in,” said Wilkins.

Collin County’s population is projected to reach more than three million by 2050.

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