The City Council approved a new 300-home development for the land left vacant with the 2014 closing of Eastern Hills Country Club.
One-third of the homes will be earmarked to afford special needs clients of My Possibilities an opportunity to live independently. The nonprofit’s clients age, so do their parents or caretakers and there is an urgent need for places for the special needs adults to live and thrive when their caretakers can no longer care for them.
The other 200 homes will hopefully be sold to the general public, possibly to couples who are looking to downsize, folks who like community-style living, those who wish to be surrounded with more green space or enjoy the various amenities offered by the development.
The nonprofit My Possibilities organization made changes to their original plan that include increasing the size of the smaller homes as well as increasing the amount of green space. They also added concrete walking trails.
Several advocates of a plan that would bring in the 300 new homes attended the council meeting to voice their approval for the project.
Attorney and longtime South Garland resident Wesley Johnson said that he is “enthusiastically in support of this concept, of this decision, of My Possibilities being there.”
“I think that the whole concept of this educational opportunity for this type of community is a great benefit to South Garland,” Johnson said.
Jerry Carter, who built a number of the Eastern Hills homes is also in favor of the development. He praised the group and the way they have worked to accommodate the wishes of everyone. He added that this type of community development is the new way for the 2000s.
Former Council Member Stephen Stanley, along with several others, spoke out against the development. Objections include size of the homes and lots, emergency vehicle access and other traffic problems.
The only other option Eastern Hills residents had been offered, which they whole-heartedly rejected, was a Henry S. Miller development that would have included 550 homes.
The My Possibilities developer will come back to council with a detail plan in the future.
About: My Possibilities is a 501(c)(3) for cause organization serving adults with disabilities such as Down Syndrome, Autism, Asperger’s, Prader-Willi, head injuries and more. My Possibilities is the first full-day, full-year educational program of its kind in Collin County. My Possibilities is designed to provide people with cognitive disabilities the chance to continue their education. We provide vocational skills, socialization opportunities, trade skills, and independent living skills to HIPsters that give them the chance to live the life they deserve. What began as the vision of three mothers looking for a better future for their children has turned into the first-of-its-kind continuing education program for adults with cognitive disabilities in Collin County.