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Residents press Benbrook council for answers on Trinity Estates development, cite safety and pollution worries
Summary
Multiple residents told the council they remain concerned about public safety, ordinance enforcement, transparency and dust from construction at Trinity Estates; several asked why city enforcement did not follow up while the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality investigated dust complaints.
Multiple Benbrook residents used the July 2 public-comment period to renew longstanding concerns about the Trinity Estates development, pressing the City Council for clearer answers about public-safety protections, code compliance and enforcement.
Greg Clem (1236 South Timberline) said he had spent hundreds of hours reviewing records and repeatedly asking questions about how decisions affecting the neighborhood were made. He said recent emails from the city came back as legal responses from an outside law firm and described the experience as feeling like "an AI bot" rather than a direct answer. Clem cited City Code 15.40.290(e)(5) and said Phase 3 of the development is "non compliant with their own city codes." He asked to see an authoritative decision record showing how that issue was resolved.
Donna Clem, who lives across from Trinity Estates Phase 3, told the council that residents "want to know that every ordinance adopted to protect their safety had been fully met before they were handed the keys." Barry Nicholl, another longtime resident, said that "following the process" does not necessarily mean the process achieved its intended protections and asked for transparency about any waivers or exceptions granted during approvals.
Whitney Hughes said residents repeatedly reported excessive dust and air pollution from the construction site and that, after repeated complaints, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality conducted an investigation. Hughes asked why the city did not issue citations while residents were reporting conditions and urged staff to enforce city ordinances equally regardless of the violator.
Other speakers—including Edwin Barnett and Linda Daniel—urged the council and staff to improve responsiveness and restore residents’ confidence by enforcing ordinances consistently and communicating more clearly. No formal council action on the Trinity Estates complaints was recorded in the transcript; residents asked for follow-up and for the council to apply ordinances consistently in the future.
