TEMPLE, Texas (KXXV) — The City of Temple has another neighborhood revitalization plan in the works. The multi-million dollar long-range project, known as the Oak Hill Neighborhood District Plan, will feature sidewalk, road, and park improvements to make the streets more attractive as the area continues to grow.
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Residents in the proposed neighborhood district were surveyed and asked what the biggest issues are that they want to see changed in the area. Some of the problems listed included a lack of commercial businesses, lighting, and flooding.
Calvin Kelley has lived in the far west Temple neighborhood for seven years, right next door to a water detention pond. He tells 25 News the lot is unkept by the city, and back-to-back rainstorms cause more problems for him and his neighbors.
"The water drains this way and it's designed to go over, but if this isn't cut, then it, it clogs up the pipe and then it starts to back flow and then I get a lot of water in my yard," Kelley said. "This is supposed to be a no flood zone, so we shouldn't have um uh flood insurance, but it's been necessary the last few years because I've been paranoid."
Steve Womack recently moved into the neighborhood and says the unkept areas are a big eyesore.
"When it rains it attracts armadillos and rattlesnakes, so it just needs to be kept up and as you can see there's a fence on the other side to the main road that people see, but over here there's not. If that fence was over on this side, you'd have a different story. They'd keep it up," Womack said.
Neighbors say the revitalization effort is needed in the area.
"I think that'd be great. I mean, our neighborhood needs it. We just moved in not too long ago and this is a big eyesore," Womack said.
"I love the fact that they putting thought in the area as far as walking, I think the paths that they've made are good as they are, but this neighborhood really only has one sidewalk and it's right there," Kelley said.
Elements of the plan will still have to be approved by the City Council before initiating.
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