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Carrollton City Council is interested in learning more about a proposed ski resort in the city, but some residents have heard enough.
During an Aug. 11 meeting, council members unanimously passed a memorandum of understanding with Alpine-X, a company looking to bring indoor snow skiing to North Texas.
The purpose of the resolution was to "facilitate the project’s advancement and establish a formal, nonbinding framework for planning, due diligence, and coordination." It is the next step in the company's goal to develop a large indoor ski facility and a surrounding mixed-use development on 70 acres near the intersection of Interstate Highway 35 and the President George Bush Turnpike.
During a public hearing on the issue, residents expressed a high degree of skepticism over the project and the company in charge. Many were concerned about the impact that the development would have on the forested area near Trinity Mills Station. The space is currently adjacent to a large nature park and is located in a floodplain. Developers may need to change the landscape and potentially redirect the flow of water to make the ski resort a reality.
Suzanna Dooling, a Texas A&M AgriLife water specialist, was one of four who voiced opposition.
"My overall concern is how our city keeps poaching our 244-acre nature preserve TC Rice as a junk bank to chop trees and dig out important soil. This important ecosystem helps keep Carrollton from extreme flooding.
"As you eradicate 70 acres plus of trees, why does the city not have to hold itself to the same standards as Carrollton residents do when it comes to chopping down a tree?"
Former councilman Adam Poulter worries that the project could be a snow job. With no resorts opened to date, despite consistent attempts for the last decade, Poulter said Alpine-X may not be a reliable partner.
"Alpine-X has zero proven experience as a master developer," Poulter said. "Alpine-X has broken ground on zero large-scale projects, much less completed or substantially completed any for council to reference and thus make an informed decision on Alpine-X. I've seen babysitters with better references. They have a history of making grandiose promises and failing to follow through such as the ski resort project in Fairfax County, Virginia, citing economic and financial hurdles such as higher construction costs and higher entry rates."
Poulter argued that any tax dollars spent by the city on the project could be better spent on public infrastructure and emergency services. He pointed to a decrease in tax revenues and several recent examples of uncompleted or unsuccessful city projects to argue for a more cautious approach.
"Carrollton has a history of looking enviably at amenities and developments in neighboring cities and align that envy to form the basis of bad decisions," Poulter said.
Mayor Steve Babick said projects like Alpine-X addressed residents' desires for healthy and active entertainment opportunities, expressed in recent Vision 2040 surveys. With the memorandum being nonbinding, council members argued there was no risk in seeking more information from Alpine-X.
Some on the council argued that the project could create more diverse revenue streams for the city.
"I believe it is important that we work on more than one economic development prospect at a time because as noted, we did have a shortfall and we do have state legislation coming around the corner that could shortfall us more, and I believe it's important for us to do more things than focus on one thing like Trinity Mills Project for us to move on," Councilwoman Lisa Sutter said. "Since it's an MOU and we are not committing to anything, I think this is a great project to look at."
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