Mayor’s Column
September 2014
My wife, Mary, and I have lived in Heath 28 years. It’s been a wonderful community to raise our own family and enjoy an upscale rural feel with gorgeous lakeside views and some of the best people in Texas as our friends and neighbors!
When we moved here, Heath had approximately 1,700 residents. Now, we are home to more than 7,400 and growing as others recognize our community as an exceptional place to have a home or business.
This year we will welcome our first national retailer, CVS, now under construction in the retail center located at FM 740 and FM 1140/Heathland Crossing. Bringing CVS to Heath is right in line with our economic development goal to secure high quality businesses that enhance our resident’s quality of life and expand our sales tax base. I want to personally applaud the Heath Economic Development Corporation for this success.
While the City Council and staff will continue to support the EDC’s efforts to attract distinctive businesses that contribute to our reputation as a premier DFW community, we have been and will remain primarily a residential community. As your drive around Heath, it’s evident that our population is growing rapidly, as new residential developments break ground, and existing communities expand.
Currently, there are 16 residential developments with over 2,500 lots in various stages of planning and development in our City and in our Extraterritorial Jurisdiction. These developments range from concept plan proposals to fully zoned and platted subdivisions which are ready for home construction. We had a dramatic increase in residential construction in 2013. Even so, the number of residential permits issued so far this year is up 13% from a year ago. The total value of these permits is also up from a year ago; with an average value of $524,780.
As much as we welcome new developments to our City, we are working to maintain Heath as the type of community that drew each of us to move here. Thanks to the City’s stringent building codes and ordinances which are guided by the Comprehensive Plan, these new homes uphold the quality residents want as the talented and dedicated developers and builders working in Heath embrace our vision for an exceptional lakeside community. We have also been fortunate to have significant citizen input which helps the City and developers create developments and neighborhoods of which we can all be proud.
The residential growth also brings new amenities as each developer contributes infrastructure improvements as well as hike and bike trails, green belts and parkland that beautify Heath and encourage outdoor recreation.
These residential subdivisions offer great lifestyle and home choices, and I encourage you to welcome the new residents that will be moving into our community. Nothing makes for a stronger or closer community than knowing the people who live around you. Whether you want to organize a block party, have a neighborhood cookout, or just invite someone over for dinner, please take the opportunity to get know our new residents.
Everyone who lives in Heath knows that it is a great community. Let’s all make an effort to make it an even better place as we continue to be a community of great promise, and great progress.
