submitted by Tom Linehan [Email address: tlinehan #AT# austin.rr.com - replace #AT# with @ ]
Here are my notes from yesterday’s meeting. It was held at the
offices of Armbrust & Brown from 11:00 to 1:30. Representatives
from Allandale, North Shoal Creek, Crestview and Brentwood
neighborhood associations and RG4N were in attendance as well as Laura
Morrison with the Austin Neighborhood Council, Laura Huffman, Assistant City
Manager, other City staff, a number of lawyers and Wal-Mart and Lincoln
Property experts. The room was crowded.
The purpose of the meeting
was to provide the neighborhoods with their response to the issues the
neighborhoods submitted to the City regarding
the project and to get
feedback. There will be an open house on March
5th, (location yet to be
determined), where people can come by, see the
elevations and plans, and ask
questions. A number of questions were
asked and more information was
promised. Here are some of the main
points:
-
Lincoln increased the
traffic counts closer to what they found at the WalMart on Ben White and I-35
and found them to come out at an acceptable level with the execption of the
Burnet Rd and Anderson Ln intersection. As a result, they have agreed to add
more turning capacity at that intersection. -
Lincoln will explore
modifying Foster from Shoal Creek so that it’s not a straight shot into the
development. -
Add a turn lane into the development from Northcross
drive. -
Wal-Mart would route Wal-mart truck traffic up 183 to Burnet and
down Burnet to enter at Northcross Drive. Anticipate 89 deliveries a
week, 1/2 of which would be Wal-Mart 18 wheelers. -
They will reduce the
square footage of the Wal-Mart form 224,000 to 219,000 sq feet. -
Wal-Mart
is willing to consider closing from 1:00 to 5:00 a.m. -
The new elevations
showed sidewalks and greenspace along the eastern side of the Wal-Mart
structure -
They said revised site design comes closer to complying with
the City’s recent design standards, -
Willing to modify the design to
allow for small stores at the ground floor of the WalMart parking
garage, - have a rainwater capture and water quality system for runoff
- will not have gas or tire & lube operations as part of the development
- no RV parking
- 24-hour security camera
-
Lincoln and Wal-Mart showed the
revised elevations – it did not look like a typical WalMart
Lincoln
has already begun work on the inside of the eastern half of the mall. They
would like to move forward on the project as soon as April. Work on the
Wal-Mart would not start until late summer.
Read today’s writeup in on the meeting which includes photos and comments from neighborhood residents: "Wal-Mart agrees to alter Northcross supercenter" by Sarah Coppola.
Please give us your comments.
It was refreshing to see comments from neighborhood representatives with a realistic view of all this. It seems like Walmart is trying to be a good neighbor. I ask, if this was a Whole Foods with the same footprint, would there be this much opposition? I am not a big Walmart fan, but they have followed the law and the zoning rules. If any successful business went into Northcross traffic would increase.
I don’t know how many of you have actually been to Northcross Mall (except to blindly protest that mean and nasty “big box” concept), but this mall is going down the tubes. I believe most of the the people protesting just hate Wal-Mart, but if Central Market moved there with the same footprint, these same people would greet them with open arms. I have seen the signs against Wal-Mart as far away as south of 45th Street. These people just hate Wal-Mart, they have no right to complain.
Big business is what is needed in the area. Where else is there to buy groceries? The HEB at Koenig and Burnet? Ever been there? Filthy and too small. Randall’s at Balcones and Northland? Almost as pricey as Central Market, but without the snob appeal. So what’s left for my 80-year-old mother to shop? Wal-Mart would be a godsend to her. The location is already zoned commercial, they don’t need to get the neighborhood input to build. The people protesting are the same type who move next to an airport and then complain that there is jet noise. My family welcomes Wal-Mart! Your “160 Allandale neighbors” who met on a “cold, rainy Saturday” don’t represent us, or, I daresay, a majority of the residents.
In response to Mr. Lawrence, I would suggest that he take a minute to appreciate how fortunate he is to live amongst neighbors that care so deeply about where they live –especially in light of the major changes coming to those of us who are likely to live so close to the proposed mega retail center.
However comfortable you may or may not be with Wal-mart’s reputation (globalization, unions, living wages, low prices, health care…etc.) one must acknowledge that whatever accomodations they are offering in this development plan would not be on the table had the rest of the neighborhood shared your enthusiasm for this project. I would agree that Northcross is a pretty dismal developement as is, but can you imagine it with one of the cookie-cutter throw-away metal buildings that Wal-mart has bestowed on so many other parts of town? — many of which are deserted after only a few years (Check out the buildings left behind on I-35 and Stassney and the old Sam’s on N. Lamar).
Call people snobs, hypocrites, whatever…everybody’s entitled to an opinion. Even if the project does go forward, it’s comforting to know that our neighborhood had a such a strong voice (also, it is a relief that some of the traffic issues may be addressed). Also, the newsletter volunteers deserve a heartfelt thank you for their involvement with this issue. The thoroughness and thoughtfulness of their coverage of this issue rivals any of the other local media attempts to do the same.
Thank you, Mr. Carolan, for proving my point: the only reason you don’t want a Wal-Mart is because of “Wal-mart’s reputation (globalization, unions, living wages, low prices, health care…etc.)”.
No, Thank you Mr. Lawrence–though I think you actually missed my point. It was still nice of you to respond.