Wal-Mart wants to put a 200,000 s.f. superstore in McKinney, Texas, but the residents in McKinney aren’t cooperating. This week, the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission voted 4-3 to deny Wal-Mart’s request to rezone 30 acres of land near Lake Forest Drive. The proposed location is surrounded by the Eldorado Heights housing subdivision, and homeowners there do not want a Wal-Mart for a night light. Despite being rebuffed, Wal-Mart is now setting its sights on the City Council, where the P&Z recommendation goes next on January 7th. However, because of the Planning & Zoning rejection, Wal-Mart now has to get a supermajority vote from the City Council. Local residents are working hard to ensure that the Council follows the advice of their own Planning Commission appointees. If two members of the 7 member Council vote against Wal-Mart, the project is dead. The rezoning for Wal-Mart is part of a larger request, that includes a 4 acre office park , and land for residential use. Of the rezoning request, Wal-Mart needs another 9 acres zoned commercial. The land-owner claims that the Wal-Mart will “create” 500 jobs, contribute $1.2 million in sales tax, and $250,000 in property taxes. These figures, however, are from Wal-Mart, and do not consider lost jobs and revenues elsewhere in McKinney as other businesses are impacted by lost sales. At least 25 residents testified at the hearing against the plan, citing noise, traffic and loss of residential property values. They complained that a store the size of 5 football fields was too large for their subdivision. According to the Dallas Morning News, one P&Z Commissioner told area residents: “There are a lot of issues raised by you folks, and I understand what you’re saying. But you have to look at the global picture.” A second Commissioner responded by saying: “What is the global picture?” he said. “Do you exchange that tax money for people’s property values, welfare and safety?” Local residents told me that after the meeting, Wal-Mart told opponents that if the company did not get the whole area rezoned to meet their needs, that they would then press ahead to build it on the smaller parcel of land that was already zoned commercial. Residents responded to that as a threat, and vowed to defeat this first proposal, and go on to fight a second one if necessary.
Wal-Mart is having problems in Texas. They just lost a decision in Dallas, and now another is on the rocks in nearby McKinney. Maybe Texans are beginning to realize that they are the number one state for “dark stores” (empty Wal-Marts) in the nation. Texas has at least 45 stores that Wal-Mart is trying to lease or sell. 3.3 million square feet of unwanted space. That’s large — even by Texas standards. For more information on the “global picture” in McKinney, contact [email protected]
