Texas has more Wal-Marts and more dead Wal-Marts than any state in the union — and some residents have had enough. The latest dust up comes in Dallas, where the following report to Sprawl-Busters originated today: “Wal-Mart is planning on building a supercenter at the Northwest corner of Forest and Abrams – right next to a residential neighborhood in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas. This Wal-Mart will increase the noise and traffic in the area and will most likely have a negative impact on other businesses and the property values of houses nearby. The Dallas Planning Commission has already agreed to rezone the area so the Wal-Mart can be built. The Dallas City Council meets on October 26th to decide the fate of this Wal-Mart. Lake Highlands residents will be meeting to debate the Wal-Mart on October 17th. It seems that some residents have bought into the idea that Wal-Mart will be a positive improvement for the area. Those of us who have done the research know otherwise. We must stop this Wal-Mart from being built and ruining the Lake Highlands neighborhood!!
Whenever land is up for rezoning to commercial, local residents need to act quickly to appeal the rezoning — going to court if necessary to block it. Otherwise, the next announcement will be that a Wal-Mart or other big box is coming. All if takes is 10 acres or more of rezoned land. In this case, the neighbors are correct about the likely impact: it will turn the Lake Highlands area into Lake Lowlands. The Dallas area already has more than enough access to big box shopping. For related stories about unrest in Texas, search Newsflash by “Texas.”
