Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Market Street project scheduled for P & Z

After a contentious debate by the town council, the proposal to bring a Market Street grocery store to Flower Mound is scheduled for another review by the Planning and Zoning Committee on Monday, Jan. 8.

We received the following comments from a resident of Flower Mound whose house is located in an affected development.

According to the February 2006, North Central Texas of Office Government report, the highest traffic count is at the intersection of FM1171 & FM2499 at 62,337 counts.

Source: http://www.nctcog.org/trans/data/tcins/cityweb.asp

It states on the Town of Flower Mound website that truck traffic is already an issue on FM1171, and building the Shops at Market Street would only further compound the traffic congestion at the intersection of FM1171 and FM2499.

Does Flower Mound want to be known for grocery store chains or that they are one of the few cities that actually have only three urban forests left in our town? Flower Mound has enough grocery stores. Why not add other retail offices that will not require parking lots that will result in decimating 150-year-old Post Oak trees, cause traffic quagmires or require S.U.P. amendments that will require removing our highly prized trees from the urban forest?

I am not against smart growth but I am against urban sprawl. I am for smart growth that makes sense for both the urban forest and the Flower Mound citizens. Please show your support to keep our neighborhoods from becoming "urban sprawl" and saving our urban forest. Just say "NO" at the January 18th, 2007 Flower Mound Town Council meeting at 2121 Cross Timbers to express your opinion or better yet send an email to

http://www.flower-mound.com/council/council.php.

Shannon Summerlin

Not everyone sees the value of an urban forest. In an interview with the News Connection, Michelle Pacifico, a real estate agent with Keller Williams not directly involved with the proposal, offered this unscientific opinion.

“Really, the forest is not doing our town any good,” retorted Ms. Pacifico. “We're not enjoying it. You can't even see it from the road. It is just a bunch of trash and leaves. But if some developer wants to go in and clean it up a little bit, make it a little more prominent for people who shop there ... That sounds like real smart growth to me.”

Because deciduous trees are just so untidy. Anyway, back at the News Connection, Stephen Webster reports that the developer, J. C. Burciaga, is facing deadlines that make the next 30 days critical to the future of his proposed development.

Due to the council’s inaction, he has been forced to request loan extensions for the next 30 days. If the matter remains unsettled at the end of that period, barring some world-class negotiating, JCB Unlimited will no longer be part of the project.

The Market Street plan was previously reviewed by P&Z, and rejected by a vote of 3-4. The extensive minutes from this meeting are available online. The Flower Mound Town Council will reconsider the issue at its Jan. 18 meeting.

5 comments:

Bradley said...

I agree with Shannon's sentiments... Flower Mound already has too many grocery stores and banks. We need to fight to save what nature we have left.

The Gonzo Muckraker said...

Market Street is going forward whether you like it or not. P&Z approved rezoning the 17-acre urban forest site on Monday night, 4-2. The story will be in Friday's News Connection.

Unknown said...

Stephen, I think that vote represents a significant loss for Flower Mound residents but I appreciate the update.

B2BMarketingGuru said...

For the record and the factual truth, Market Street is not going forward as it was voted down by the Town Council on January 18th with 4 against and 1 for it. Also, a Market Street rep was quoted in the newspaper stating that they are not moving forward. Flower MOund has 18 grocery stores and we don't need another one. Stay up to date with the someone who keeps up with the FACTS not opinions!
Article from the Messenger is below.
Market Street Drops Flower Mound Site
By Cécile Satin
Staff Writer

United Supermarkets is no longer considering the site at Cross Timbers and Long Prairie roads for a Market Street grocery store after the Flower Mound Town Council voted 4-1 on Thursday to reject the developers’ request to build on part of the urban forest on the property, a company spokesman said.
“It is my understanding that this leaves us to start over in our site selection process,” Eddie Owens, a spokesman for the Lubbock-based United Supermarkets, said in a phone interview Friday. “It means that the current plan is abandoned as far as we are concerned.”

Meanwhile, developer J.C. Burciaga and investors met on Friday and over the weekend in a last-ditch effort to hammer out a new plan to satisfy United officials and the Town Council in time for the Jan. 25 council meeting.

United officials said Flower Mound had been on the company’s radar for years and will continue to be despite the setback.

“We still hold the Flower Mound community in high regard and hope that the opportunity to serve the people there will present itself again in the future,” Owens said.

See next week’s Messenger for more.

Anonymous said...

Their back, a new developer is planning to build something in the land where the urban forest is located in Flower Mound at the intersection of FM1171 and FM2499. Let's hope he saves the urban forest. Keep your eyes open for what happens next.